Anger Results In Sin

Genesis 34:1-31

Though he built lambing sheds and corrals at Succoth, Jacob had no intention of living with the noise and smells of his livestock all the time. Near the Hittite village of Shechem he bought land and built a permanent home for his family.

“And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” (Genesis 34:1)

As the only girl, Dinah was undoubtedly adored and spoiled by her eleven brothers, her father, her mother and each of Jacob’s other wives. With no other girls her age around, she undoubtedly craved someone to talk to. She went into town looking to make friends.

“And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.” (Genesis 34:2-4)

Looking for friends of her own, Dinah met a handsome young man who didn’t treat her as his sister. Her craving for friendship and lack of experience with people who weren’t relatives or employees of her father’s made her especially susceptible to his attraction. It wasn’t long before they were sexually involved, effectively making her marriage to anyone else wrong, Deuteronomy 22:13-21 describes the penalty for a girl who’d had sex marrying another guy. If she’d been sexually involved, she had better let the guy she married know in advance if she didn’t want to be killed.

I Corinthians 6:17 describes the bonding that takes place as a result of sexual involvement, and Shechem, the young man, wanted to marry Dinah. In doing so, he fulfilled God’s command in Exodus 22:16. “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.” He asked his father to make the necessary arrangements.

“And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done.” (Genesis 24:5-7)

Jacob was upset, feeling that Shechem had taken advantage of Dinah. Her brothers were even more upset. Sex was viewed as a very important part of marriage and was not to be treated casually, even though the law would not be given for another five hundred years.

“And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.” (Genesis 34:8-10)

For a hundred fifty years, the Hittites had dealt with Abraham and his family, and they were closely allied. Hamor was asking for a permanent tie and relationship between the two groups.

“And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.” (Genesis 34:11-12)

Shechem was willing to pay whatever amount her family might require because he loved Dinah and wanted to set things right, He recognized her parent’s authority since she was still under their care. Exodus 22:17 acknowledges the parents part. “If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.”

“And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.” (Genesis 34:13-17)

Jacob and his son’s had no intention of joining and becoming part of the Hittite nation. They were depending on the promises by God. There was nothing in their covenant with God to require that the family they married into adopt the Jewish religion. The covenant was strictly for those of Abraham’s family or those who wanted to be part of it. They would have no qualms about one of the boys marrying a Hittite girl, but because she was their only sister they were overly protective.

Jacob’s sons had seen constant efforts to deceive by both their father and their uncle as well as by their mothers. It had become accepted as the proper way to do things. Their response to Shechem and Hamor was a conditioned response. They would have had to work at doing differently.

“And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.” (Genesis 34:18-19)

Shechem and Hamor were entirely honest in their approach. Because they were honest, they assumed Jacob and his family would be equally honest. They didn’t hesitate about committing to the terms they were offered.

“And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.” (Genesis 34:20-24)

Because Hamor and Shechem were highly trusted by their own people, the men of the city took their word for the intentions of Jacob’s family. If circumcision was what a treaty would require, they were willing to submit and did so. No one suspected any duplicity.

“And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.” (Genesis 34:25-26)

Simeon and Levi were Leah’s sons, just younger than Reuben and several years older than Dinah. The constant conflicts within the family appear to have resulted in Reuben lacking confidence and moral strength according to Genesis 49:3-4, probably blaming himself for the conflict. Simeon and Levi became angry, though they probably concealed it. The suggestion to require the Hittites to be circumcised probably came from them, and was adopted by the others with no knowledge of what they planned. Dinah had moved in as Shechem’s wife.

Taking advantage of the men’s pain after being circumcised, Simeon and Levi then murdered all the men in the city. The release of their pent up anger resulted in violating the agreement Jacob had made, a refusal to forgive even when God’s standards had been met, and the deaths of innocent men. As Proverbs 29:22 states, “An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.”

“The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.” (Genesis 34:27-29)

Though they hadn’t approved the murders, Jacob’s other sons were still resentful about what had happened. The resentment was used as an excuse for taking everything the Hittites had for themselves, even though they had done nothing wrong to them.

“And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.” (Genesis 34:30)

Abraham and Isaac had spent nearly a hundred and fifty years establishing a relationship with the local people and in a fit of anger, Simeon and Levi had destroyed all that trust by ignoring the favors the Hittites had done them in leaving them alone and allowing them to live there, and openly violating the treaty they had made. Fifty years later, in Genesis 49:5-7, God directed Jacob to warn the others, “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”

Proverbs 22:4-5 commands, “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” God cursed their anger, and, because anger is so easily learned and feeds on the anger of others, God would separate the two tribes in Israel, even splitting Levi so they never had a possession of their own.

“And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” (Genesis 34:31)

Their response was typical of angry people, focusing on the perceived wrong and dismissing their own sin as justified, even thought it was far worse than what they had suffered. Dinah had been as much a participant as Shechem, and he had not treated her as a prostitute, nor had he raped her. Anger seldom looks at all the facts.

Colossians 3:21 commands, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” Though they demonstrated their frustration differently Jacobs children were all affected by the conflict in the family. Parents seldom realize how much their attitudes affect the children. The cause may not be obvious without looking beyond the immediate situation.

One thing that must be remembered is that while the parents are responsible for what they teach their children, the children are responsible for what they do.