Genesis 34-36
Today we again see family traits pass from generation to generation, both good and bad. Abraham passes along faith in the LORD to Isaac, and Isaac somehow passes it along to Jacob. But another family characteristic is similarly passed along: deceit. Abraham deceives both Pharaoh and Abimelech with regard to Sarah’s status as his wife (Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18), and apparently he does this all the time (Gen. 20:13) — but at least calling Sarah his sister is half true. Isaac goes on to repeat that same deception, calling Rebekah his sister, which is not at all true. (Gen. 26:6-11) Jacob, of course, deceives his own father, Isaac, in stealing Esau’s blessing. And now Jacob’s sons deceive the men of Shechem in the matter of Dinah. It’s not a pretty business.
Is this a function of nature or nurture? Yes. We are all born sinners and are naturally inclined to evil. But we also learn from the examples laid out for us by our parents, and when those examples are negative, it is easy to follow along. So when Jacob grumbles to his sons about their rash behavior (Gen. 34:30), he does not have too far to look for blame. He and Uncle Laban (the sons’ grandfather) set the pattern.
But then God instructs Jacob to revisit Bethel, the site of the “Ladder” dream, where God first spoke to Jacob and promised him protection. Jacob immediately tells his family, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves…” (Gen. 35:2) Presumably, that includes Laban’s household gods that Rachel stole. Jacob here sets a better example, turning his family away from false idols to the Lord.
So how about us? What kind of examples are we setting? What family traits are we passing down, for good or ill?
And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. (Gen. 34:24-25) “On the third day…” OUCH!! I winced (and I daresay, other males with me) way back in chapter 17 when God first made circumcision the standard for Abraham and his household and all his male descendants – with Abraham himself circumcised at an advanced age (Gen. 17:10-14, 23-27). So now Hamor, Shechem, and their friends are also circumcised as adults. Simeon and Levi wait until the third day, but I can imagine that Days 1 and 2 were equally painful. So my question, why wait until the third day? Why not Day 1, Day 2? A real theological issue…!! 😊!
In addition, the men in the city must’ve really been hurting to have two guys, Simeon and Levi, slay the whole town and round up all the animals and possessions.
First, until John put it in black and white, I hadn’t focused on “deceit” being a family trait for Abraham and his descendants. I feel like in the past I must have skimmed over Isaac’s story about Rebecca and Abimelech, which I guess is why it’s good to keep rereading parts of the Bible that I feel I know really well! Here I was struck with the name Abimelech recurring until I looked it up and found out that it was a title, not a name.
Second, many years ago I read a novelization of Genesis 34 called The Red Tent and after that read the Bible passage for probably the first time. Dinah’s story is such a sad story. Questions I always have include how old was Dinah? Was she violently raped or was this more like a seduction? Did she love Shechem, and did Shechem love her? Did she want to marry him? I notice that it was two of her brothers in particular who attacked all the men in the town apparently without Jacob’s knowledge and consent! And then they plunder the whole town! And what happened to Dinah afterwards? This story seems like such an outlier, unless it’s understood in the context that John suggested of deceit being a family trait that was passed down.
Yes, Dinah’s story definitely raises lots of questions! And it does not paint a particularly favorable picture of anyone. As I said the other day, if I were making things up about my ancestors, I wouldn’t tell the story this way. For me, that just lends credence to the Bible, that these stories are indeed real history. Made up stories would portray these people more favorably.
Just an aside from this reading. Another Deborah is named, besides the judge later. She is the nurse to Rebekah, Isaac’s wife (Genesis 35:8). She is buried in Bethel under an oak tree, a place called Allon Bachuth, Oak of Weeping. That’s all we know about her. Apparently she made a great impression in some way, for her death to be reported in scripture. What a reminder that there are so many of the faithful who have great impact, but are a footnote or less in the bigger picture. This Deborah, a nurse (nursemaid?) is one I want to be more like.