A Narrative About Dinah, The Daughter Of Jacob And Leah

Genesis 34 tells a narrative about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Dinah went to visit the women of the area. As she was out visiting, the prince of the region, Shechem, saw her from afar. Shechem went to Dinah and raped her because of his infatuation with her. Shechem loved Dinah and spoke sweetly to her so that she would be charmed by him. Shechem went to his father, Hamor King of the Hivites. Shechem expressed to his father that he needed Dinah to become his wife. By this time, Jacob had heard that Shechem had caused his daughter to become impure. Jacob waited until his sons were home from working in the fields to tell them of the news about Dinah and Shechem. Just as Jacob’s sons arrived Hamor was asking Jacob for marriage arrangements for Shechem. When Jacob’s sons heard was Shechem had done to Dinah they were enraged. According to the law in Israel, what Shechem had done was intolerable. Despite this, Hamor pleaded for his son to have Dinah as his wife. Hamor said that if Jacob gives him his daughters, then Hamor would give Jacob’s sons his daughters. Hamor went on to say that the land will become partially theirs. Hamor promised to give Jacob and his sons whatever they could possibly ask for if Shechem could marry Dinah. The sons of Jacob said they could not possibly allow Dinah to be wedded to Shechem because he was not circumcised. The matrimony would cause much disgrace to Jacob and his family as a result of Shechem ’s uncirumcision. In order to permit theShow MoreRelatedBiblical Genealogy Is Important For Establishing Identity1360 Words   |  6 Pagespassage, Jacob moved his family to this region in Canaan and bought land from Hamor, instead of remaining with Esau and kinfolk (Gen 33:18). Now in a land known to worship false gods, Jacob and his family are vulnerable and separated from a community of likeminded practitioners. When Genesis 34 begins, we learn the lineage of Dinah as Leah’s daughter with Jacob (Gen 34:1). Biblical genealogy is important to establishing identity as it â€Å"expresses idealized understandings of families.† Leah is theRead MoreThe Red Tent (All You Need to5163 Words   |  21 Pagesliving in Newtonville, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, Emilia. She has written five books about contemporary Jewish life, The Red Tent being her first novel. Diamant may have been influenced by the recent resurgence of creating Midrashim, or stories that attempt to explain the Torah by examining its subtexts. Modern women have taken a keen interest in this practice, hoping to expand on the minute biblical mentions of women like Dinah. Form, structure and plot The Red Tent is organizedRead MoreEssay The Red Tent by Diamant1739 Words   |  7 PagesThe Red Tent by Diamant In Diamant’s powerful novel The Red Tent the ever-silent Dinah from the 34th chapter of Gensis is finally given her own voice, and the story she tells is a much different one than expected. With the guiding hands of her four â€Å"mothers†, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, all the wives of Jacob, we grow with Dinah from her childhood in Mesoptamia through puberty, where she is then entered into the â€Å"red tent†, and well off into her adulthood from Cannan to Egypt. Throughout