Commentary
Skeptic's Annotated Bible
34:1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
So if a woman has sex outside of marriage, she's "defiled." Defile (v): sully, mar, spoil. Is Shechem also defiled (sullied, marred, spoiled)? Just wondering.
34:3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
I guess she was a good lay.
34:4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
Daddy, can you help me get this damsel to be my wife?
34:5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
34:6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
34:7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter: which thing ought not to be done.
Are they upset because Dinah was "defiled," or are they upset because Shechem was a Hivite?
34:8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
34:9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
34:10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
34:11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
34:12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
34:13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
34:14 And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
Yeah, it's not that he raped her, it's that he's "not circumcised"; that is, he's not one of them (how did I know?). More prejudice. This truly is a religion of discrimination and hatred.
34:15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
34:16 Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
34:17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
Because God will not accept you if you don't cut off the foreskin of your penis. Don't ask us why, but God hates foreskins (even though he made us with foreskins).
34:18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.
Really? It pleased Hamor that he and all of the males (I guess of his family) would have to have the foreskin of their penis cut off so that his son could marry the girl he raped? If it were *me*, I'd be pissed!
34:19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honorable than all the house of his father.
Which young man, Shechem? Shechem, the rapist, is more honorable that anyone else in his father's house?
34:20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,
34:21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
34:22 Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.
So it's not just Hamor's household, but all the men of their city, who have to be circumcised due to Shechem's rape of and subsequent love for Dinah. He's lucky he doesn't get attacked by a town mob!
34:23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
Good move, Hamor. Make it more about what people stand to gain from cutting off the foreskin of their penises (you'll be rich with all their cattle!), than about Shechem's disgraceful behavior.
34:24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
Sounds like a good reason to stay home.
34:25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
Okay, what now? The males of the city were compliant, were getting circumcised, and two of Jacob's sons attack and kill all of the males of the city?
Now I know I pick on the Bible a lot for stuff that could easily be written off as me applying my modern morality to a different time. When I do this, I'm trying to make the point that an omniscient being, when writing a book of morality for all time, would be able to construct a message that would resonate with people of all time. Instead, it's a book that (I suppose) resonated with the people of the time in which it was written, and in so many ways does not seem to apply in our modern times (polygamy, inter-family marriages, digging of wells and holding of balls for oaths, animal sacrifice, and on and on). This makes it clear that it was written by men of that time, not inspired by God (duh).
But in this case, you will never convince me that the actions of Simeon and Levi are appropriate, measured or moral. Shechem rapes Dinah, so these guys kill every male in Shechem's city? These vigilantes should be arrested! This is a massacre! Murder is wrong in nearly any circumstance (though I'm susceptible to arguments from self-defense and the like), but instead of taking their anger out on Shechem, they attack countless, innocent men. You will never convince me that this is right, moral or just. I haven't read ahead yet, so I don't know how this is construed in the verses to come. But if this book has any hope of maintaining any shred of decency (which, in actuality, it long ago surrendered), it better make clear that the actions of Simeon and Levi are to be condemned, not condoned.
34:26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
Ugh.
34:27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
34:28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
Not only did they kill all the men, but they also pillaged the town.
34:29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
Murder and pillage! Take the women and children as slaves!
34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
34:31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
Disgusting.
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