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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday February 10, 2019
REVENGE
AGAINST SHECHEM
Genesis 34
As you have all probably noticed by now, these “patriarchal
narratives” are an extremely tangled mixing of the holy with the profane. They
are an unbelievably unholy blend of good and evil that kept most of the people
who are written about here, in an almost constant struggle with man and GOD.
From Abraham to Jacob (and especially Jacob) we see a struggle between their
desire to keep the faith, and their fear of man. We also see their passion and
longing to use their own human ingenuity to get out in front of GOD, once
they’ve become impatient with HIS plan and promises to them.
Genesis 33 ended with Jacob arriving in
Canaan and quickly making a “business connection” with the local Canaanites
bigwigs. He camped just outside of the town of Shechem and was able to strike a
deal to buy the land on which he camped, from the owner, Hamor, the father of
the man, Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. There Jacob built an altar to the
LORD and called it “El-Elohe Israel”.
Now, in the opening lines of Genesis 34,
the only daughter of Jacob, Dinah, attempts to make her own connection, a
“social connection”, by visiting with the Canaanite women who lived nearby.
However, while she was in route, Shechem (the man), Hamor’s son, intercepted
her and raped her in an unbelievably indifferent and casual way. It was as if
he thought absolutely nothing about the violence that he perpetrated on this
young virgin. Not only did he think she or anyone else should even be angry at
him, he also had the nerve to ask for her hand in marriage afterwards.
This subsequent offer of marriage was not
at all motivated by “morality”, as we can see, but rather, it was motivated by
“passion”. This whole thing stinks in the nostrils of both, “moral man” and
GOD, and to top it off with marriage, would have been a corrupt travesty that
would, quite literally, destroy the sanctity of the Covenant Promise, which the
Canaanites knew nothing about.
Word of Dinah’s rape soon reached Jacob,
and his reaction to the news, seems quite unusual, as he decides to wait until
his boys, namely Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, came home from work in the
fields, before he took action. It is not known whether or not his physical
condition, or even his age or attitude toward his least favorite children,
played a role in keeping him from acting immediately.
In those days, the rape of a woman left her
with almost no expectancy of ever getting married. It was a sexual evil that
was so debasing and incriminating that affected not just the victim, but the
entire community of Israel (v.7). And even though Jacob may have seemed
incredibly passive, his sons were furious and they immediately began to put in
place a plan for the revenge of the theft of their sister’s honor.
When Shechem demanded that his father,
Hamor, go to Jacob and negotiate a dowry for the marriage of Dinah, he
complied, and he arrived at Jacob’s camp just as the Jacob’s sons were coming
in from the fields. Hamor told them that his son Shechem, Dinah’s rapist, was
in love with her and wanted her to be his wife. He even offered to let Jacob’s
sons intermarry with his daughters, and live among them if they wished
(Vs.8-10).
Then, his spoiled, morally twisted son,
prince Shechem, not even about to grasp or understand the full ramifications of
what he’d done to Dinah and her family, requests that Jacob and his sons “Please be kind to me” by letting me marry Dinah (v.11). He then
offered to give them anything they wanted as payment of dowry for Dinah’s hand
in marriage, but he apparently felt that he didn’t owe her or them “so much as
an apology” for his savagely raping her.
Then Jacob’ sons began to spin their web of
deceit (Vs.13-14), and set into motion, their plan of revenge against the
Canaanites, Shechem and Hamor for what was done to their sister. Ironically, here
in verse 8 they tell the men the real honest to GOD truth by stating, “We couldn’t possibly allow your marriage to
our sister because you are not circumcised. It would be “a disgrace for her to
marry a man like you!”
The brothers then offered the Canaanite men
“a bogus solution” to the problem that they had presented to them. In verse 15
they tell them that, “If every man among
you will be circumcised like we are, we will intermarry with you and live here
and unite with you to become one people. Otherwise we will take her (Dinah) and
be on our way”.
Hamor and Shechem then, unwittingly and
selfishly, signs the “death warrant” of every male in their town by agreeing to
the request of Jacob’s sons. They literally ran home to convince all the men in
their camp to comply with this steep and “painful” proposal. Shechem saw in the
proposal, a chance to marry Dinah, and his father Hamor saw in the proposal, a
chance to get his grubby hands on some of Jacob’s possessions (v.23).
Ultimately all of the men unanimously
agreed to the proposal of the sons of “Israel”, and three days after their
circumcisions, while they were still quite incapacitated and in much pain,
Simeon and Levi entered into their town and slew every man with their swords.
Then the rest of Jacob’s sons came and took all of their wealth and
possessions, and all of their women and children.
Afterwards, Jacob was not pleased with the
way his sons handled their business, but most of all, he was concerned about
the fallout which could come from their actions , and how it could affect
previously established business connections and future dealings with the
remaining Canaanite communities (v.30).
However, his sons were more concerned with how they could live with
themselves first, and only to a much lesser degree, how they could exist with
the ungodly Canaanites.
Jacob was also understandably disturbed by
his son’s violent actions because he knew that they were few in number (70)
compared to the thousands of Canaanites who lived in the area surrounding them.
He felt that they were very vulnerable now to attacks from all sides. However,
his fear would later prove to be unnecessary as the Canaanites would now begin
to fear and respect them more than ever before, because of his sons swift and
decisive response to their sister’s violent rape. Stay tuned.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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