Raid on SHECHEM

Scripture: Genesis 33-34

Place in Timeline: 
Esau and Jacob – Shechem – Joseph.

Geography: 
Shechem; hilly region in Canaan, northwest of the Dead Sea. 
On the road linking Jebus (Jerusalem) to the North.

Belligerents: 
Hebrew family of Jacob against the Hivite family of Hamor.

Forces an leaders:

Israel: Simeon and Levi.

Hivites: Shechem.

Biblical personalities: Hamor; Shechem; Jacob; Simeon; Levi; Dinah.

Although Abraham and his wife Sarah were very old, God had promised them children. Abraham, however did not trust that his wife could bear children and so he slept with his servant Hagar and Ishmael was born. Abraham’s instance of disobedience would have long-lasting future implications:

Around 1689 BC Jacob met his brother Esau at Succoth and, after a long period of resentment from Esau, they reconciled and decided to share the land among their families.

When the families joined Esau was moved by the blessing which God had bestowed on his brother Jacob, including the size of his family. Jacob offered some of his wealth to Esau.

Jacob then moved from Paddan Aram to the city of Shechem among the Hivites, in Canaan, and camped within sight of the city. He purchased a plot of land from the local Hivite chieftain Shechem and his brothers, sons of Hamor. Hamor was the land’s patriarch (Judges 9:28). Jacob set up an altar calling it El Elohe Israel (mighty is the God of Israel).

Soon after, Jacob’s Daugter Dinah was raped by Shechem, which later fell in love with her. Jacob and his own sons, Levi and Simeon, found out about this tragedy. Hamor, requested marriage between Shechem and Dinah. No doubt in way of some compensation, the chieftain offered the highest price for Dinah and opened up his Hivite family to Jacob’s.

Although this idea of intermarriage was intolerable to the Hebrews, let alone the rape, Levi and Simeon contained their rage and slowly plotted their revenge. They would accept the marriage offer on the condition that Shechem and the entire town would be circumcised to allegedly keep God’s traditions.

This small battle gives the term “military operation” a whole new tone. Simeon and Levi insisted on the circumcision of the Hamors. This operation left them physically weakened to defend themselves. One can say that flint knives and swords were the weapons used.

The negotiating that the Israelite brothers carried out was simply a deception. Three days after this, both brothers, despite their very small numerical disadvantage, were able to overpower the city and slaughter its inhabitants. They killed every male and took their sister Dinah.

Levi and Simeon misused God’s holy circumcision for an evil end. Their revenge was an action of such violence and cunning that it resulted in the future tribes descending from Simeon and Levi to be set aside and scattered within the nation of Israel. Simeon would eventually lose its identity altogether and be part of Judah.

Shechem abused his position of power to do as he pleased, thinking Jacob’s family would just tolerate his whims. Slow to anger (James 1:19) has its advantages. It does not have to be synonymous with passive inaction. Instead of Dinah’s brothers rushing to avenge her with violence at the first opportunity they were slow to anger, waited, and planned a much better counter strike.

On the other hand while God helped His children obtain justice He does not want them to take it into their own hands this opening a bad precedent.

The worst part of this conflict was that Levi and Simeon misused circumcision. This was an instruction God had given Abraham to set His people apart, holy. The brothers defiled it by using it for their small temporal victory.



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