Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, was getting more and more curious about the town of Shechem and its inhabitants. Staying home day after day, day after day, around her mother, helping her do the cleaning, washing, cooking - that was too boring for her. One day she yielded to the temptation to leave home for just a few hours - to mingle with the people in the neighboring town - a pagan town. I take it for granted that she must have said to herself: “I do not need counsel, or warnings, or permission from Mom and Dad. I’m old enough to know what I’m doing.”

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

The readers of the Bible may think: “It’s hard to believe that she wanted to see only the girls. What would have prevented her from casting an eye also on the boys?” Regardless of whether or not she thought of that, why was she even so curious about the ways of the heathen? Hadn’t her parents guided her values and priorities in this regard? Weren’t her family members interested enough in her to notice that she was wandering off? Normally, such a wayward habit does not suddenly appear overnight. Usually there is a pattern that precedes it - symptomatic of a rather casual, relaxed attitude of negligence on the part of the parents. Dinah’s behavior shows that it is quite possible that she had lacked supervision for a long time. Her parents had evidently become a bit presumptuous in assuming that everything would be fine with her as she began mingling with the worldly-minded girls. Did they ever consider what might creep into the conversations among them? Do we ever stop to consider such things? We should. These are things of which parents should be aware. Yes, be harmless as doves, but be wise as serpents as well.

Meanwhile, in the case of Dinah, the males in that pagan town must have certainly looked at her with covetous eyes. Having a godly background, the mystique surrounding Dinah must have carried a certain attraction. And sure enough, before long, the girl fell prey to one of the young men.

“When . . . the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her” (verse 2).

Are we, as parents, naive to the dangers that face our youth in today’s profligate society? The Spirit of Prophecy warns: “The young are bewitched with the mania for courtship and marriage. Lovesick sentimentalism prevails. Great vigilance and tact are needed to guard the youth from these wrong influences. Many parents are blind to the tendencies of their children. Some parents have stated to me, with great satisfaction, that their sons or daughters had no desire for the attentions of the opposite sex, when in fact these children were at the same time secretly giving or receiving such attentions, and the parents were so much absorbed in worldliness and gossip that they knew nothing about the matter.”1

“A terrible picture of the condition of the world has been presented before me. Immorality abounds everywhere. Licentiousness is the special sin of this age. Never did vice lift its deformed head with such boldness as now. The people seem to be benumbed, and the lovers of virtue and true goodness are nearly discouraged by its boldness, strength, and prevalence. The iniquity which abounds is not merely confined to the unbeliever and the scoffer. Would that this were the case, but it is not. Many men and women who profess the religion of Christ are guilty. Even some who profess to be looking for His appearing are no more prepared for that event than Satan himself. They are not cleansing themselves from all pollution. They have so long served their lust that it is natural for their thoughts to be impure and their imaginations corrupt. It is as impossible to cause their minds to dwell upon pure and holy things as it would be to turn the course of Niagara and send its waters pouring up the falls.”2

Let us not suppose that without great care our young people will be immune to the perils to a society which Christ compared to the days of Noah, when the thoughts of people’s imagination was “only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

Meanwhile, back to the story: Word soon reached Jacob that his daughter had been put to shame. The young man who had raped her assumed the responsibility for his action. Now he wanted to marry her. (This step was actually the most decent thing to do under the circumstances, according to Deuteronomy 22:28, 29). So he urged his father to go and talk to Jacob.

Prince Hamor arrived at the place where Jacob’s tent stood and met Dinah’s brothers, who were just coming in from the fields. When they heard what had happened, they were shocked and angry, because the shameful act was regarded as a great insult against the whole group under the leadership of Jacob. Such a thing, today, is often overlooked, but in those days it was looked upon as an inexcusable “folly in Israel” (Genesis 34:7). Now they were all thinking of a solution - how to find a way out of the problem.

Hamor made a proposal: “Ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein” (verse 10).

“And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you” (verse 9).

Apparently, from a human standpoint, Hamor’s suggestion was the best arrangement to satisfy both parties. But could Jacob, in good conscience, accept that plan, since he was well aware of the reason why his grandfather Abraham had had to leave his country (Genesis 12:1)? Abraham had obeyed God and cut off all idolatrous associations, and so did Isaac. And Jacob did the same.

Since the days of Abraham, God’s representatives in this world had been a separate people. And, today, separation from Babylon is one of the main conditions of our acceptance before God (2 Corinthians 6:16-18; Revelation 18:4). However, without consulting their father, Jacob’s sons took the matter into their own hands, as if they were able to bring the right solution. With deceitful intentions already formed in their minds, they said to Hamor and his son:

“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” (Genesis 34:14-16).

The counterproposal of the sons of Jacob was accepted in good faith. Hamor and his son Shechem (who had the same name as the town) appeared before the “city council,” talked to the men about the plan that had been discussed in Jacob’s tent, and they at once agreed to it.

“And every male was circumcised” (verse 24).

However, on the third day, when their wounds were sore and sensitive, and when they were running a fever, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, carried out their carefully concealed plan, which filled the heart of Jacob their father with horror and fear.

“[Simeon and Levi] 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” (verses 25, 26).

“The beginning that led to results so terrible was the act of Jacob’s daughter, who ‘went out to see the daughters of the land,’ thus venturing into association with the ungodly. He who seeks pleasure among those that fear not God is placing himself on Satan’s ground and inviting his temptations.”3

May all young people and their parents take the warning!

When Jacob saw what two of his sons had done, he feared that he and all his people would be killed by other groups of Canaanites as soon as the news about the massacre sould leak out to them. Filled with dark apprehension, he said to his sons: “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” (verse 30).

The old patriarch realized that he and his family had to move away from that place immediately. But where should they go under the dangerous circumstances that the reckless act of his sons had created? He did what even some atheists do at the end of their wits. He poured out his heart before God and entreated His help. And God instructed him to move on to Bethel, south of Shechem, and settle there. And not only that: God detained the would-be avengers after a reformation had been made in the household of Jacob (Genesis 35:2).

“The terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob” (verse 5).

Once again Jacob saw, in his experience, what we have also seen, or will see, in our experience. If we put our confidence entirely in the Lord and get down on our knees before Him, imploring His help, we can boldly say: “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:6).

Jacob and his family must have spent many sleepless nights thinking about the tragic incident. Now that they saw that the hand of God was with them in spite of what they had done, they must have asked themselves: “As soon as Dinah got into a mess, why didn’t we appeal to the hand of God instead of appealing to the sword?” They must have thought of better options. And they must have learned to be wiser in future emergencies.

In any emergency situation, the best thing we can do is to ask the Lord for wisdom that we may be able to choose wisely - out of two or three options, the most convenient one; and out of two or three evils, the lesser one.