Genesis 33:18~34:31
Jacob bought the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel. It means God, the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.
Jacob's sons were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful ting in Israel by lying the Jacob's daughter - a thing that should not be done.
Jacob's son replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
Simeon and Levi, took their words and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechems house and left. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
Why?
Dinah is raped by Shechem, leading to the worse crime of murder by Dinah's brothers. The story shows Dinah's silent and powerless, where a modern, Western account might well focus on the victim and her feelings. But the issue that concerns the writer/editor here is one of tribal and national survival.
The terrible vengeance exacted by Dinah's brothers for the insult to their sister shows the need for the law to limit revenge.
Did Hamor's people accept the terms out of greed? Or did they suspect nothing because the rite of circumcision was linked to marriageable status?
Chapter 49:3-7 goes some way to make up for the absence of moral comment here on Simeon and Levi. Their behaviour was wrong, and this was not forgotten.
If Jacob wanted appeasement缓和, why did he do nothing? Once again the writer tells the story 'wart肉贅 and all', with no attempt to whitewash the characters of the nation's forebears祖先. They are sinners all.
How?
Dinah's event concern one of tribal and national survival. They are sinners all.
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