Genesis 33-35

(February 12, 2014)
I have never really understood what lesson we are to take from the events related to Dinah and Shechem.  The writer appears to believe that Shechem was not a villain in this situation (“he was more honourable than all the house of his father”).  What’s more, he seemed to genuinely adore Dinah – perhaps that is an overreading of the text (the phrase “took her” is problematic, but it seems to me that there was some genuine affection).  And, if nothing else, Shechem was trying to make things right by Dinah and her family.

And yet, using deception, Simeon and Levi slaughtered Shechem and his family.  They took the women and children of the community captive.  Whatever Shechem did that was wrong (and I am unclear whether what he did with Dinah was consensual or not), what Levi and Simeon did was far more wrong.  And yet, there appears to have been no consequences for the two of them – it is just presented in a matter of fact way.

I suppose that is the way that life really is.  Sometimes we engage in revenge that is disproportionate to the sin that offended us.  Sometimes someone hurts us, or embarrasses us, or humiliates us and we think that we are justified seeking our revenge.  And sometimes we get it, and sometimes we even get away with getting it.  Sometimes, like Simeon and Levi, we might even profit from our revenge – increasing our flocks and herds.  We might look at every worldly evidence and think that it demonstrates that we were justified in taking our revenge – after all, think of the awful thing that whomever it was did to us.  But that isn’t the case – vengeance is the Lord’s.  Oftentimes it is the things that we get away with that are the significant and lasting curses – Levi and Simeon never learned from this situation (or learned the wrong lesson), rather than learning what they should and being compelled to repent.