Knowing The Word in Genesis 34:1-12, The Rape of Dinah

1 Now Dinah the daughter of [Jacob’s unloved wife] Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land [away from the safety of her own family]. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. [He raped her.] 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah [implying what should happen in a marriage—“the two shall become one flesh”] the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.” [Hamor is truly an evil narcist. He rapes Dinah and then demands that his father, without using the word please, arrange for “this girl,” a disparaging description, to be married to him.]

5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. [What? Jacob’s response is rather detached. He does not seem to care about his daughter’s honor or her emotional health.] 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done. [The law forbids not only rape but intermarriage as well.]

8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. [Hamor proposes full intermarriage of their two people groups.] Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” [Hamor suggests there are financial benefits for the Israelites.] 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.” [“Forget my narcissism, there is money to be made here! Name your price.” What we do not know yet, is that they are holding Dinah captive, so they negotiate from a position of strength unfairly obtained.]