Dinah, "And he dishonored her..."

       The formidable caravan of Dinah's father Jacob had crossed the Jordan only a little while before and was now encamped in the Shechem Valley, set among the rough highlands, in the pivotal pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, a pass through which migrants had trekked since the dawn of time.
       After their long journey from Padam-aram, with several years spent in Succoth, Dinah and her mother Leah and others in their large family had come to stay for a time in this land of springs and green valleys. A meaningful event had occurred in the lives of this large family of eleven children by four mothers, Leah and Rachel and their maids Zilpah and Bilhah. That was the erection of an altar, El-elohe-Israel (God, the God of Israel). Land had been purchased from Hamor, prince of Shechem. But it is easy to imagine that the strange city of Shechem offered greater fascination to Dinah than did her father's altar; for she was young, and new and unknown places beckoned her onward.
       Though we have no warrant in the Scriptures, by either direct word or inference, we can visualize Dinah as a beautiful girl, one who more closely resembled her "well favored'' aunt Rachel than she did her mother Leah. We do know that Dinah was now about fourteen or fifteen years old, the marriageable age for orientals.
       Like most girls in a large family of brothers, she longed for the company of other girls and "went out to see the daughters of the land.'' (Gen. 34:1) Josephus relates that she went to attend a festival at Shechem.
       Dinah had every blessing, a father both devout and affluent, "a spiritually sensitive mother, and ten brothers. But because she was an only daughter, she may have been pampered and spoiled, maybe a bit vain.
       Let us imagine it was the spring of the year. The air was cool, and the wind wafted the fragrance of meadow saffron, wild narcissus, and hyacinth, all growing profusely in the Shechem Valley. We can see her wandering off into the picturesque countryside, expecting possibly to go only a short distance. For it is likely she had never been out of sight of her father's tents unaccompanied. Those tents, of black goat's hair woven in narrow strips on a home-made loom, receded into the distance as this simple, inexperienced girl pressed forward into the city of Shechem.
       Let us picture her in a graceful tunic-style dress of a soft pastel color, in the tones of the early spring flowers. Perhaps she was also wearing a veil that fell softly across her face, revealing the beauty of innocent eyes which had no fear of the evils of a big city, because they had witnessed none.
       If Dinah had listened to the stories of her own family, she should have known better. When her grandfather Isaac had gone down to Gerar with his wife Rebekah, he had passed her off as his sister, in order to keep her from being seized by strange men in the town, for no unprotected woman was safe in these primitive times. And her great grandfather Abraham had offered the same kind of protection to his wife Sarah as they journeyed into Egypt.
       But the innocent Dinah went out as unprotected as a common harlot; and when Shechem, the son of Hamor, from whom her father had bought land, saw this comely, strange girl, he desired her for his own. "He took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.'' (Gen. 34:2) The Hebrew translation implies that he took her by force.
       When Jacob heard what had been done to his only daughter, he held his peace until his sons came in from the field. Hamor, the young man's father, had gone out to call on Jacob. But when Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, heard that their sister had been treated as a common harlot, they came to her defense.
       The wrong he committed is the outstanding fact in the story of the young Shechem. However, there is a significant phrase, "And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.'' (Gen. 34:3) And there is another about him: "He was more honorable than all the house of his father.'' (Gen. 34:19) These two phrases lead us to believe that he had more than a trivial affection for Dinah and that he would try to make amends for the wrong he had done.
       His father offered any sum that Jacob might ask as a marriage present, in order that Shechem might marry Dinah. Hamor's cordiality to Dinah's brothers, however, draws a striking contrast to what he told his townsmen: "Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours?'' (Gen. 35:23) That was what he told them, indicating that he was a man who saw greater riches for his own people in the marriage of his son and Jacob's only daughter.
       But Dinah's brothers said, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised.'' (Gen. 34:14) Circumcision was the external rite by which persons were admitted members of the ancient church. It is evident that they did not seek to convert Shechem, but only made a show of religion, a cloak to cover their diabolical act. Shechem and his father were then circumcised, as were all men in the city. But Simeon and Levi, who were still angered, went out the third day and slew Shechem and his father and took their sister out of Shechem's house. And then they slew all the other men in the city, plundering it as they went, and taking with them flocks, herds, asses, children, and wives of the men they had slain.
       Angered that his sons had acted in such a treacherous and godless manner, Jacob did not even forgive Simeon and Levi on his death-bed. (Gen. 49:5)
       The most meaningful phrase in the whole account is "which thing ought not to be done'' referring of course to the defilement of Dinah. Those words provide a theme for a whole sermon.
       Though Dinah's experience was repulsive and filled with cruelty and immorality, it does point up the high value these early Hebrews placed on chastity among women.
       In the next Bible chapter following this one on Dinah we find Jacob and his family - and let us believe Dinah was there, too - going up to Beth-el, about thirty miles from Shechem, to worship. The family had been aroused from its spiritual indolence; it was a period when sudden tragedies, such as the defilement of an only and beloved daughter, could come to a family.