Who is dinah

An alternative reading suggests that Shechem seduces Dinah. The biblical text is disinterested in the circumstances of the sex act beyond the fact that they are not married and he is a foreigner. But the law could also condemn a woman to marry her rapist. Alternatively, this law could be a means for a man and woman whose parents disagreed with a match to marry. Yet, the Bible never depicts these laws as carried out. Did you know…? Dinah is the only mentioned daughter of Jacob, the youngest child of Leah.

Dinah is only the subject of an action once in the entire narrative, and she never speaks. Dinah never appears again after this episode. Many scholars and translations read this story as one of rape.

The narrative reserves judgment on the characters in the story. The Dinah story shares similarities with the story of Tamar and Amnon 2Sam In ancient Israel, and its surrounding areas, an unattached woman who has sex with a man, under any circumstances consensual or otherwise , would protect her social status by marrying the man, as in Deut , Exod ; also, Middle Assyrian Laws 55—56 eleventh century BCE.

Ask a Scholar. Immigrants and Foreigners in the Bible The Hebrew Bible contains a variety of views about foreigners and their relationship to Israel and to God, reflecting the fact that Israel was in nearly constant contact with foreign peoples. Weddings and Marriage Traditions in Ancient Israel Marriage in ancient Israel involved practices and assumptions different from those of most people living in western societies today.

HarperCollins Dictionary circumcision. Related Passages Gen Gen Exod Deut 7. Josh Ezra Gen 21Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. Gen 15 these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three But he is in a difficult position, to say the least -trying to convince the father and brothers of a molested girl that the perpetrator will make a good husband.

After his father has finished speaking, Shechem makes another offer: to give any marriage present they want, if he can marry Dinah. It is technically incorrect, as he well knows, but it is an attempt to show respect for her — perhaps rather clumsy, but well-meant.

But worse than this in their eyes is the fact that he now seems to be offering to give them financial gain through the rape of their sister. They set out to deceive Shechem and his father. Stone knife with bone handle — a common tool in ancient times. They ask that Shechem and all the able-bodied men of in his territory, all the men capable of going out to fight in an emergency, be circumcised. They seems unaware or unconcerned that they are demeaning the Covenant, and the significance of circumcision.

They say that if the men of the city will agree to circumcision they will agree to the marriage, and will go so far as to settle there.

Shechem agrees. He is the eldest son of his family, next in line to rule the city of Shechem, so all the men the city agree to be circumcised. He does not have to explain the reason for this uncomfortable operation: everyone knows what has happened. They know this is the opportune time, since the third day after circumcision is the most painful, and is also the time when a fever is likely.

The men of the city will be unable to retaliate. Simeon and Levi kill every able-bodied man in the city, including Shechem and his father Hamor. They must have been accompanied by many of their tribesmen, because two men alone could not massacre so many, disabled or not. Scholars have suggested that the massacre may have been carried out by all the brothers, but the curse Jacob put on them and their tribes in Genesis is directed at Simeon and Levi alone :.

May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company — for in their anger they killed men,and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob,and scatter them in Israel. Now the other brothers of Dinah join in, plundering the city.

They steal the flocks and herds, donkey, and whatever produce they can carry. Simeon and Levi murder the Sichemites; Jacob forces Dinah to watch. At the beginning of the story, Dinah is seized and dishonored.

Only retribution in kind may be taken if an injury has been suffered. Jacob is angry, as well he might be. He tells Simeon and Levi they have brought trouble on him. The phrase implies an openness to and acceptance of outsiders. They want to resist intermarriage. The story invites two opposing interpretations. The traditional understanding is that Dinah has been raped by Shechem. Her brothers Simeon and Levi retaliate by violently slaying and plundering Shechem, Hamor, and the Shechemite community.

Jacob thus reprimands his sons for their behavior. But concerning the question of whether Dinah has been raped, the final clue comes in the last sentence of the story. Prostitutes engage in sexual intercourse for financial gain, and their sexual actions involve mutual consent.

Rape therefore does not characterize either prostitution or what has happened to Dinah. Furthermore, one of the purposes of sexual intercourse in the ancient world was to create permanent bonding and obligation; but in prostitution, there is no bonding or obligation. They are not suggesting that she was raped.