DINAH & THE BLOODBATH (GEN 34)
One day Dinah (the daughter of Jacob and Leah) was bored and wanted some excitement and adventure, so she left the protection of her home and went into the city, attending a local pagan feast with some of the young women who lived in the area. Sheckem (son of King Hamor) saw Dinah and attacked her, seizing and raping her. But afterwards he fell in love with her, and tried to win her over with all kinds of affectionate words but she wouldn’t have it. He even went to his father, King Hamor and demanded, “Father, get this woman for me. I want to marry her.”
And Jacob heard that Sheckem had attacked and raped his daughter Dinah and was holding her inside the city walls (almost like a prisoner). But since his sons were out in the fields herding the flocks, he said nothing until they came home. Meanwhile King Hamor, Sheckem’s father, had come to discuss a bride-price with Jacob, who was more interested in keeping the peace and preserving his own reputation in the eyes of the surrounding cities. Dinah’s brothers however were running in from the field (shocked and furious after hearing that their sister had been raped). Sheckem had done an evil, disgraceful act against Jacob’s family, something that should never be done.
THE KING ACTUALLY OWED JACOB MONEY NOW SINCE HIS SON HAD DEFILED AND `RUINED’ DINAH, MAKING IT NEAR IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER TO FIND A HUSBAND, NOW THAT SHE WASN’T A VIRGIN.
And King Hamor spoke with Jacob and his sons without any apology or acknowledgment of the incident, “My son Sheckem truly loves your daughter, please let him marry her. In fact, let’s arrange lots of other marriages as well. We’ll give you more of our daughters for your sons to marry if you will give us more of your daughters for our sons to marry. And you can live in our land, settle here and trade among us. You can also buy property within the city if you’d like.”
Then Sheckem himself pleaded with Jacob and his sons, “I’ll do whatever you want, and give you whatever you ask, but please let me marry Dinah. Whatever gift you demand, I will gladly pay it, just give me the girl as my wife.”
But since Sheckem had attacked and raped their sister, and their father didn't appear to be doing anything about it, Jacob’s sons lied to Sheckem and his father (while keeping their seething hatred inside), saying, “We can’t intermix with you or even live among you because you’re not circumcised and it would be against our Alahim and a hideous disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! However if every man among you got circumcised in their flesh like we are, then we will allow our daughters to marry your sons, and we will take your daughters for ourselves. Then we could live among you and become one people. But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, then forget about it!”
Sheckem (and his father) agreed and wasted no time in getting things in motion as he desperately wanted Jacob’s daughter for himself, and being a respected member of his family, he went with his father, and presented this new proposal to the leaders of the town, saying, “Look, the land is large enough for all of us and they are our friends. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. But the only way they will even consider staying here and becoming one people with us is if all our men are circumcised, just as they are, according to their Alahim. Now let’s all agree to their terms and get on with this.”
But after much apprehension from the leaders, King Hamor said “Not only their women, but all their cattle, their possessions and all their animals will be ours too.......come on lads....AGREE!”
So all the men agreed with Sheckem, and every male in the town was circumcised that very day! However three days later, when the cut-wounds from their circumcision were still sore, two of Jacob sons, Simeon and Levi, (who were Dinah’s full-brothers and very protective of her) gathered their clans, took their swords, entered the town and murdered every single male there, (including King Hamor and his son Sheckem).
They slaughtered them all with their swords, took their sister Dinah from Sheckem’s house and returned to their camp. Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons rocked up into town and found the bloody crime-scene and, without any remorse, they plundered the town because their sister had been attacked and raped there, stealing all the flocks, herds and donkeys, (infact anything they could get their grubby little hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields). They robbed and looted all the wealth and plundered every house. They even took all the wives and little children as prisoners.
When Jacob found out about this he ‘nearly had a heartache’ and ‘ripped his clothes’ in distress. And calling Simeon and Levi to him he severely told them off...
“YOU STUPID BLUNDERING BEEF-CAKES, ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY ME? YOUR SAVAGE BEHAVIOUR HAS MADE ME A DISGUSTING STINK AMOUNG ALL THE PEOPLE OF THIS LAND. LOOK HOW MANY OF THEM THERE ARE AND HOW SMALL OUR FAMILY IS. THEY WILL JOIN FORCES AND CRUSH US AND I’LL BE RUINED, AND MY ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD WILL BE WIPED OUT! DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOUR PSYCHOTIC BLOODBATH?”
But they had little love or respect for their father and came straight back with, “WHAT? HE MOLESTED OUR SISTER LIKE A COMMON WHORE AND NONE OF THEM EVEN CARED! WERE WE SUPPOSED TO LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THAT??”
DESPITE THE INCIDENT, YAHUAH WAS NOT GOING TO ALLOW HIS ROYAL BLOODLINE TO BE MIXED WITH THE PAGAN CANAANITES - HE HAD SEPARATED HIS `CIRCUMCISED HEBREW’ PEOPLE FROM THE NATIONS BUT THEY KEPT TRYING TO GO BACK AND INTER-BREED!
Then YAHUAH said to Jacob, “Get your family ready and go back to Bethal. Settle there and build a stone-monument to Me there in the place where I first appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
EVER SINCE MANKIND LEFT THE GARDEN, THEY HAD WORSHIPPED MANY DIFFERENT DEITIES, BELIEVING THAT EACH ONE’S POWER WAS TERRITORIAL. EVEN THOUGH JACOB HAD MET YAHUAH IT’S STILL VERY POSSIBLE THAT HE THINKS THERE ARE OTHER DEITIES TOO, WHICH IS WHY YAHUAH IS ALWAYS REMINDING HIM WHICH ALAHIM HE IS. IT’S A VERY SUPERSTITIOUS CULTURE, AND YAHUAH NEVER ASKED JACOB TO BUILD AN ALTAR WHILE LIVING UP WITH HIS UNCLE (IN A DIFFERENT TERRITORY). BUT NOW THAT HE’S BACK IN CANAAN `YAHUAH’S PROMISED LAND’, JACOB PROBABLY BELIEVES THAT YAHUAH’S POWER IS RESTRICTED TO THIS PLACE. OF COURSE THIS THEORY WILL SOON BE BLOWN APART IN EGYPT.
So Jacob spoke to everyone in his household, “It’s time to get rid of all your pagan-idols, wash yourselves, and put on clean clothes. We’re going to Bethal, and I’m going to build another stone-table there in honor of Yahuah, Who comforted me when I was terrified after leaving my family years ago. He has been with me wherever I’ve gone, always blessing and protecting me.”
So the whole family cleansed themselves and gave Jacob all their pagan-idols and earrings, and he buried them under the terebinth tree near Sheckem (where his grandfather Abraham had previously pitched his tent). And they all departed and a great terror from Yahuah spread over all the people in the land, and no one dared to attack any of Jacob’s family or seek revenge for the recent massacre. And eventually Jacob and his household arrived at Beitel, in Canaan (about 40kms) and Jacob built another stone-table there, re-naming the place “Al Bethal” because YAHUAH had first appeared to him there (the ladder dream) when he was fleeing from his brother Esau.
IT’S PRETTY CLEAR IN THIS ERA THAT GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS WERE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH DIVINE VISITS FROM YAHUAH AND SO FREQUENT ATTEMPTS WERE MADE BY MEN TO ‘RECONNECT’ BY GOING BACK TO THE SAME MEMORABLE LOCATIONS. IN THIS CASE, BETHAL.
Soon after this, Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah (who first travelled with her from Haran) died and was also buried under the terebinth tree in the valley below Bethal. And the place was called Allon-bakuth (“weeping”).
DEBORAH’S DEATH OFFICIALLY SEVERED TIES WITH ANY OF THEIR OLD RELATIVES AND PAGAN HOMELAND OF HARAN. YISHARAL WAS NOW SEPARATED UNTO YAHUAH.
And now that he had returned from his ‘slavery’ in Paddan Aram with his Uncle, it was time for YAHUAH to once again appeared to Jacob and remind him who he was (the name-change) and to raise up His Blood-Covenant of Deliverance with him.
“Remember Jacob (“DECEIVER”) I have changed your name and from now on you will be called Yisharal (“TO RULE WITH ALAHIM”) Remember that I am Al Shaddai (STRONG SUFFICIENT ALAHIM OF THE MOUNTAIN). Be fruitful and increase across the earth for you will become a GREAT COMPANY OF NATIONS* and Kings will be among the descendants of your body! And the land which I once gave to your fathers Abraham and Isaac, this promised land that you ran away from and have now returned, I will give to you and your descendants after you.”
Then YAHUAH ‘went up’ (disappeared) from the place where he had spoken to Jacob, who set up another stone pillar to mark the place where YAHUAH had again spoken to him (for a record). Then he poured wine over it as an offering to Yahuah and anointed the pillar with oil. And this is the place that Yisharal (Jacob) had named Bethal (“HOUSE OF ALAHIM”), because YAHUAH had now spoken to him twice there.
*
"A GREAT COMPANY OF NATIONS"
