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7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done. 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.” 11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.” ~ Genesis 34:7-12
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 34 where the daughter of Jacob and Leah, Dinah has been raped by the boy whose dad was the ruler of the land. This young man named Shechem was used to getting his way and he wanted Dinah to be his wife desperately. What he thought was love was nothing more than lust.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done."
After someone notified Dinah's brothers about being raped by Shechem, they came in from the field grieved and very angry. There is a time for anger, but we must be careful to not be led into sin by the way we deal with it. The Scriptures remind us to be angry but not to sin. Our anger becomes sin when it defines us in way that are contrary to what God says we should be. For example, when we take things into our hands and we become destructive with our words or actions in a way that promotes an unhealthy environment, it is then that our anger has morphed into some form of sin.
This is the fourth time the name Israel is mentioned in the Bible, but it is the very first time it is used in the collective sense of the family of Jacob who is Israel and thus the people of Israel. The sons of Jacob saw the rape not only as against Dinah but also as against their family. They took it personal and when we do this, our anger most often turns to sin as it did here.
In v.8-10 of today's passage we read, "8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, 'The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.'"
Hamor thought that since Shechem "longed" to be with Dinah, then she should be given to him to be his wife. He implied that even though his son did something wrong, he wanted to make it right and he promised to do it in love. She would not just be vindicated, as her name implied, but she would be cared for in the process. In order to get the sons of Jacob to become more amenable to the proposal, Hamor stated that marriages would be welcomed between the families. Hamor was trying to make good out of a bad situation. He offered everything to Jacob and his family, even his daughters and his land.
In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, 'Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.'"
It was at this point that we see the desperation of Shechem. When his father had finished his petition, Shechem directed his appeal to Jacob and his sons. The first request out of Shechem's mouth was a request for grace. Where there could have been wrath, Shechem desired reconciliation. He also added that he would meet whatever their demand was for a dowry. Shechem thought that forcible rape could be solved by a wedding. This kind of sexual immorality and evil characterized the pagan Canaanites and is not prescribed by God. Just because someone wants something doesn’t mean that he must have it. Desires are not rights. Manipulation is not a firm foundation for a lasting relationship.
Hamor and Shechem offered a lot but their offer lacked one very important thing. There was no mention of Shechem’s humiliation of Dinah. There was no apology. Their offer didn’t contain one hint that what Shechem did to Dinah was evil and reprehensible. They weren’t interested in making things right. They were only interested in getting what they wanted.
Shechem had violated the sister of Jacob's sons and Shechem was hopeful that his payment would appease them. But, the sons of Jacob didn't see it that way as we will see in tomorrow's study. Grace was the last thing Shechem would get from Dinah's brothers. However, the lack of grace by the brothers would soon cost them, as well.
At this point in the narrative, Jacob's sons needed to hear the words of the Apostle Paul many years later. We find these words in Ephesians 4:26 which reads, "Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath." Our capacity for anger is part of the image of God in us. God-like anger is that which is concerned with others' wrongs. When people are unjustly treated and it bothers us, even to the point of standing up to it, this is righteous anger.
We should not let the sun go down on our anger because anger has a tendency to simmer and fester. When this happens, the evil one is given an opportunity to make the situation worse. When I was a kid, I deliberately annoyed my sisters, especially when they were watching something on TV which prevented me from watching what I wanted to watch. Well, when they had had enough of my annoyances, they would come after me. There were three doors with locks on them in our house, the front door, the back door and the bathroom. Guess where I would run to flee my angry sisters? Yep, the bathroom. If I could get the door locked, I was safe. If any one of them could get their foot wedged between the door and the doorframe, I was toast. This is the idea, when we hold on to anger and do not solve the issue, the devil gets a foothold. This describes the outcome of today's passage as we will see in our next study.
