Genesis 34: self-centredness in triplicate

Genesis 34

In Genesis 34 we read a harrowing story of rape and massacre.  The story starts when Jacob and Leah's daughter Dinah is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, the ruler of the Hivites - another people who lived in the area of Canaan.  Having carried out this act, Shechem starts to feel romantically attached to Dinah and wishes to take her as his wife.  Jacob appears pretty passive about the whole thing, but Dinah's brothers are understandably furious.  The brothers hatch a plan where they lure Shechem's household into circumcising all their males, pretending that this is due to the covenant with Abraham which is preventing the intermarriage from being permitted.    In actual fact, the brothers have no intention of seeking unity through covenant, but instead use this as an opportunity to swoop in and kill all the men while they are still healing and in a state of weakness.  Jacob is then unhappy with his sons - apparently not on any moral basis, but because he is annoyed that they have upset diplomatic relationships with their neighbours, and, in essence, made his life more difficult!

And so, revolving round Dinah, we have these three people or groups - Shechem, the Brothers, and Jacob.  As we look at how they each play their part in this mess in which Dinah finds herself, we see what at first look like very different approaches to life.  But as we look closer, we see they are bound by a common thread - and that is that they all put themselves in the centre.

Shechem is perhaps the most obvious: he sees and he takes.  Was he an entitled rich boy (by virtue of being son of the ruler) who had never had anyone say 'no' to him?  We don't know.  The excuse that in his culture women were often viewed as commodities to be bought and sold does not go far enough to make his behaviour 'normal' for his time - we know this because of the language used by Dinah's brothers to describe his conduct.  Like all who treat women as objects and commodities, he saw only what he wanted - it's a far cry from God's design for marriage, the protective and self-giving relationship which which sex should be contained.

No one can read this an not feel outraged on Dinah's part, and so it is right and proper that we should empathise with the Brothers' visceral anger at the situation.  So, one would hope, should any brother, or father, or mother or sister, feel when their sister or daughter has been defiled in this way.  However, it is the next response that reveals their hearts.  Commentators will often point out that their reaction is 'disproportionate' and of course the killing of other men who, presumably, had no part in the original act, is a disproportionate response (it is not 'an eye for an eye' that Moses would later teach).  However, the problem is much deeper than this.  The heart of the problem, as far as I can see, is that they believe themselves to be judges - i.e. to take the role of God.  They believe it is up to them to restore justice against the wrongs done to their family.  The problem is, when people put themselves in the place of God, what would otherwise be the right and noble upholding of justice becomes riddled with sin.  The quest for justice is not a reflection of and service to the ultimate judge, but a serving of the self and one's rights. One starts to believe one has the 'right' to do anything.  And so, rather than seeking justice through a mediator in the presence of witnesses, Dinah's brothers end up defiling the covenant of circumcision, acting deceitfully, and carrying out a massacre.  

Finally, we come to Jacob.  I think it's very understandable to feel pretty annoyed at Jacob.  Waiting for his sons to come home to consult with them could have been a wise move, but when we get to the end of the chapter we see the underlying reason for Jacob's relative passivity - he's worried about upsetting the neighbours!  It's made even more frustrating knowing the amazing experience he has had in the previous chapter, and a stark reminder that we all sin and need to continually come for forgiveness.  Jacob's self-centredness looks very different to Shechem's or the Brothers - he doesn't seek what he longs for but wants to cling on obstinately to what he has - a comfortable life at peace with his neighbours.  How many of us can say we've also done the same - not speaking up against injustice or ungodliness for fear of losing what we have?  We need to be reminded constantly that it is God who gives and takes away, and he will guard us if will follow him.

And what happened to Dinah?  We never know if she did indeed marry and have a family, or what long-term scars, physically, mentally and spiritually, she bore as a result of the experience.  The fact that we never hear her speak, her opinion, and what happened to her, is perhaps a poignant reminder that while others who seek their own ends force themselves into the limelight, those who suffer as a result of their sin are often forgotten.

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