Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. – Genesis 34:1-2

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 25, 2018): Genesis 34

As a society, we have developed an unhealthy accusation we call “blaming the victim.” Blaming the victim usually involves somehow blaming the one who is hurt by a criminal act for the crime. It is unhealthy because we all have some responsibility for our own safety. Whenever a crime is committed, while we understand that we are not at fault for the crime, the question that remains is this; is there something that I could have done to have prevented what happened?

It is a struggle to talk about the story of the sexual violation of Dinah without, in some way, blaming the victim. So let’s start by saying that a crime was committed against Dinah by Shechem. There is no excuse for the action of Shechem; he is clearly at fault. There is no way that the rape of Dinah should in any way be rationalized away, even though that is exactly what happens in the story.

But there are some other elements to the story to which we need to pay attention. First, the story takes place in an urban area. And in this area, unsupervised women were often preyed upon by the men of the city. Jacob and Leah failed by allowing Dinah to go out unaccompanied to explore the city and visit with the women who lived there. Promiscuity in the area was not just common, but it was part of the pagan religion to which the city clung. There was an understanding among the people that a rape could be committed and then settled with a financial arrangement with the family after the fact. All of this should have served as a warning against the family of Jacob allowing Dinah to go out alone. We understand Dinah’s desire, but it was an unwise action to take.

But maybe even more to the point, Jacob was not supposed to be in the city. God had told him to go to Bethel, but Jacob had wanted to be close to the city. It was because of Jacob’s desire to build his new life close to the urban area that the family purchased land in sight of the city. If Jacob had followed God’s instructions, then the violation of Dinah probably would not have happened.

I understand that all of this falls under the category of blaming the victim, but somewhere inside of us, there has to be a realization that our choices often come with foreseeable consequences. Given the circumstances, the violation of Dinah was something might have been predicted and, therefore, prevented. But none of this excuses Shechem. Shechem is clearly in the wrong. In a world dominated by good, Dinah should have been safe exploring the city on her own. But that is, unfortunately, not the world in which we live. And this is the reason why parents have to set limits on their children. The children often believe that they are bulletproof and that no harm will come to them. But to allow them to explore this world without our guidance means too often that they will find their way into disaster. The consequences that they may suffer might not be because of their sin, but it also might be something that could have been prevented if we had prepared for that eventuality.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 35