Verses 1-2 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 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.
Here is the first example of rape written about in Scripture. Dinah went to town to meet other women and to make friends in her new neighborhood and ended up being assaulted by a rich and powerful young man.
Application: Shechem gave in to a spirit of lust. James 1:14-15 states, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Demon spirits look for the weak areas in believers’ lives and then set them up for temptation and a fall. Christians need to be aware of this tactic and avoid getting involved in any sin resulting from lust. A true story about a young man in my church years ago who partied with his male friends for his birthday and who wanted to be accepted and part of the group is as follows. His friends gifted him with a night at a hotel with a prostitute and he did not say “no” to them, even though he was a believer and knew that sex outside of marriage was sin. He thought he would go to the hotel and, when his friends had left, he would send the prostitute away and not engage in sexual acts and all would be well. Things did not go as planned and, as a virgin, he was not prepared for the sexual temptation put right in front of him, and he gave in to physical lust. When he woke up in the morning, the prostitute was gone and on the bathroom mirror in red lipstick she had written, “Welcome to the world of AIDS.” Think about it.
Verses 3-4 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. 4 And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
A clear case of the cart going before the horse was this story of Shechem and Dinah. Instead of following proper protocol and asking Jacob for Dinah’s hand in marriage, Shechem created a situation that led to his death and the death of others.
Verses 5-7 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. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. 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.
The Hebrew word translated as “folly” is “nabalah” and it means senselessness or disgrace. Although it was Dinah that had been hurt and disgraced, Jacob’s sons chose to take offense and seek revenge although the situation could have been resolved without difficulty or bloodshed.
Verses 8-10 And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. 9 And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. 10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
Hamor was a diplomat and a leader and he wanted to resolve the situation created by his son in a manner that was peaceful and fair to all parties. He offered to take Dinah as his daughter-in-law and to allow Jacob’s sons to marry into their tribe and to share the land and engage in commerce. Hamor was more than generous in attempting to resolve the situation.
Verses 11-12 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. 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.
Shechem could have walked away from any responsibility towards Dinah and her family as there were more of his countrymen that would support him in a fight than there were members of Jacob’s family. But he had genuinely fallen in love with her and wanted to make her his legal and proper wife.
Verses 13-17 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: 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: 15 But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; 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. 17 But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
The above verses show that all the sons of Jacob lied and deceived Hamor and Shechem. They clearly followed in their father’s footsteps who was a deceiver most of his life. They made promises they did not intend to keep and set the people of the city up for disaster with their lies and deceit. They promised to assimilate into the culture and land of the people of Shalem when they intended to conquer and dominate. They pretended to be peaceable, but intended all along to do harm.
Application: The Bible’s historical and prophetical books present mankind with all their weaknesses and mistakes. Why did God not just fill His Word with stories of the good and righteous people who did things right all the time? Because believers down through the ages have a written record that serves as an example of what not to do and of how not to behave. The Bible is a truthful representation of the character and lives of fallen man. Learn from it.
Verses 18-19 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son. 19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.
Scripture reports Shechem to be the most honourable person in his family. He wanted to make things right in a peaceful manner. This is in contrast to the behavior of Jacob’s sons.
Verses 20-24 And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 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. 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. 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. 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.
Hamor and Shechem were trusted members of the community and, when they presented their plan to the men of the city, they accepted it and followed through with the requirement to be circumcised. The problem was that circumcision was commanded by God for a mark upon his people, not for all the pagan nations living around His people.
Verses 25-26 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. 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.
Here is another reference to “the third day.” On this day, people were slain, blood was shed needlessly, and lives were lost. On the third day in the time of the Romans, Jesus rose from the dead after shedding his blood on purpose to save lives. Quite a contrast.
Scripture is not clear as to why only two of Jacob’s sons did the killing when it was clear that they were all in one accord in their lies and deception of Hamor and Shechem.
Verses 27-29 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 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, 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.
Here is recorded the first conquest of the children of Israel in which they destroyed a city, plundered it and took captives. Later in their history as a nation, this was to be their normal mode of operation. Up to this time, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had lived peacefully with their neighbors.
Verses 30-31 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. 31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
Jacob was not happy with the turn of events and he let his sons know how he felt. However, the damage was done. Once again Jacob had to live in fear of others as he had done with his brother Esau.