Genesis 34


A Tale of Two Tribes

In every dynasty there is usually a skeleton or two in the cupboard and this is no exception. In order to handle our own morality, traditions and emotions it may be wise to ignore the heading (which is not part of the original text) and try to appreciate other facets of the story. Their world was not ours and the world of the Hivites was not the world of the Israelites. We have little or no knowledge of Hivite sexual customs but what happened was clearly an outrage to Dinah’s brothers, and though clearly a tale of force we should not overlook the fact that there is at least a hint of a developed (or developing) loving relationship.

As with all rape the issue is not so much one of sex as one of power, and what takes place between a powerful man and a powerless girl is not the only rape in the story. What happens between them may also be seen as a personification of the tension between two tribes, inviting us to consider not only how power deals with powerlessness in human and personal relations but also the terms on which tribes, nations and races also choose to relate to each other. 

So if a girl-overpowered shows the need for the development of a close and loving relationship might not the same be said of social groupings? Yet the brothers who are clear on the one speak with another voice on the other and when we look to them for equality, sensitivity or a simple human relationship it is singularly absent. Even when an agreement is hammered out, with marriage and even inter-marriage recognised as a possibility and even perhaps desirable, it is only on the basis of circumcision. But is the real issue circumcision? Or is it power? ‘You must become like us, because the likelihood that we might become like you is not an option’, and the Hivites, the weaker party, are obliged to accept. Two thousand years later Paul was fighting the same battle. And today? 

Nevertheless, so far, so good, except not every member of the tribe can be relied upon to accept what the tribe accepts and the story ends in tragedy.

© Alec Gilmore 2014