Genesis 34
Dear RTB’ers,
Dinah…, what STS refers to as “a sordid story”.
First, a bit of trivia. Although not explicitly stated, it looks like a number of years must have passed between yesterday’s reading and today’s. A few chapters back we learned from Jacob that he had been with Laban for twenty years (Genesis 31:38, 41). The first seven of those constituted his service to Laban for the right to marry Rachel. So when he finally “went into” Leah and Rachel and Leah got pregnant with Reuben, then Reuben would have been only twelve years old when Jacob fled from Laban, and all the rest of his children even younger. So when Simeon and Levi (Leah’s second- and third-born) bring devastation on Shechem and Hamor and their friends and relatives (Gen 34:25-26), they were surely not in their pre-teen years. Today’s passage even refers to Jacob’s sons as “men” (Gen 34:7, 21), so a number of years must have passed.
Now, as to this story. I have a friend who used to ask, “Where is the redemption?” It’s hard to find “redemption” in this story! Revenge, yes, but not redemption. So from Jacob’s sons’ perspective, we see an incident, motivation, and revenge. And from the other side we see lust (Gen 34:2-3, 8, 12, 19) and greed – especially in the one verse that stood out most for me, “Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours?” (Gen 34:23a) I don’t recall that God has yet warned His people against intermarriage with the locals. That’ll come later. But we have seen how Isaac and Rebekah were deeply saddened by Esau’s taking Hittite wives (Genesis 26:34-35; 28:9) and by their sending Jacob off to marry “within the family” (Genesis 27:46). The “locals” and their pagan gods will continue to be a problem for Israel for years to come!
Blessings!
See also: January 12 (2023) / Genesis 34-36