God's People: Dinah

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl, and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl to be my wife.”
Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him, just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done. ~ Genesis 34:1-7


The rest of this chapter - how Dinah's brothers get revenge for her rape - is pretty horrifying, if you want to finish reading the chapter.

They will get revenge in an elaborate plot weakening all of Hamor's men by circumcision and then slaughtering them.

Circumcision, if you remember, is God's signal of the covenant with the Hebrew people. It is a symbol of inclusion and identity.

It is a symbol of the nations of the world being blessed by Abraham's tribe.

Jacob's sons will tarnish that.

This is the only chapter in which we get to meet Dinah in scripture, and rather than being centerpiece of this story of violence and tragedy, she becomes a voiceless instrument used first by Shechem and then by her brothers.

Shechem (he claims to love her!!!) rapes her, and then her brothers slaughter men in her name.

And Dinah disappears from the story.  We don't know what she thought or felt during any of this. We don't see her having any of the agency that Tamar did. We don't know what happened to her.

It won't be the last time women are pawns in scripture. But there is a hint again that it is not God's will that they should be.

The gift of circumcision was meant as one of blessing by God, and in Dinah's story, her brothers abuse that blessing.

The story of God's people continues to be one where blessing is misused and misunderstood: where God's people shy away from the generosity God had in mind with that blessing.

Women like Dinah still live in our world. As we get closer to the Super Bowl, we might remember that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the more active days of the year for sex trafficking, as women, and mostly underaged girls, are exploited. Each year, roughly 1.5 million people are victims of sex trafficking in the US alone.

And like Dinah, we rarely hear anything about what happens to them.

Yet it isn't God's way. God's way of blessing is meant to be one of gracious identity and inclusion into an abundant and loving kingdom.

The world may have forgotten Dinah and her descendants, but God has not. 

Prayer: God of the lost and forgotten, help us to see the plight of those who are still abused by the violence and selfishness of others. Let us not forget them and help us to work toward a world of hope and love where abuse of any kind is no longer tolerated. Amen.


Popular posts from this blog

But we had hoped

Now on that same day two (disciples) were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles  from Jerusalem,  and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,  but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.   Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”  He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,  who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.  Mo
Read more

Resurrection Run

For the week after Easter, some deeper dives into the Resurrection . When (the women) looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. ~ Mark 16:4-8 No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach; the same restlessness; the yawning. ~ CS Lewis The cave you fear to enter holds the  treasure
Read more

God's People: Abram

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ~ Genesis 12:1-3 Abram was Shem's great times seven grandson. And sometime in between Shem and Abram was the Tower of  Babel. God's creation had begun in a garden, and with sin, creation spread east of Eden. As the selfishness of sin continued, God pulled the reins in and brought creation back to a smaller size, managed by one family. But before too many generations, that family grew and spread and once again became embroiled in trying to compete with God. And so God, with Babel, sent creation scattered off near and far. So when we meet Abram - already an old man - he is part of one of the many tribes
Read more