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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Dinah raped?
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:17:41 +0300

Dear Isaac,

The text, which is our only source of information here, does not say how old
she was. She was obviously of an age at which sexual activity would have been
possible and marriage would have been thinkable. In antiquity that could have
been around 10, although I would picture a teenager. As far as a chaperon,
that's not in the text either, and in this case, if there had been one and he
or she had done anything about the girl's predicament, it should have been
mentioned. So no chaperon, and her age does not matter.

Yigal Levin
----- Original Message -----
From: Isaac Fried
To: Yigal Levin
Cc: b-hebrew
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 2:10 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Dinah raped?


Yigal,


Are you taking into consideration the possibility that at that time Dinah
was 8-12 years old, and that she did not go out into foreign territories and
alien households all by herself but had certainly at least one chaperon to
accompany her?


Isaac Fried, Boston University


On Jul 21, 2007, at 5:06 PM, Yigal Levin wrote:


Very good points, James. But all this seems like very typical male
behavior,
in traditional patriarchal societies - "boys will be boys, as long as
they
don't do it with our sister". It was convenient for them to believe that
Dinah was raped, because then they did not have to deal with the possibly
that SHE had acted immorally. The text, as it would seem, is ambiguous,
maybe because the author, the descendants of Dinah's brothers, prefer not
to
accuse their own ancestors of wanton genocide of a whole city. Their act,
however, is criticized by Jacob, both in v. 30 and later in his blessing
in
49:5-7.






We find the same kind of behavior in chapter 38 - Judah has no problem
with
going to a prostitute, but when he "finds out" that his daughter-in-law
Tamar had been a prostitute, he commands her burned. The text is critical
of
his hypocrisy, but not of either one of his acts in themselves.






We must be very careful of assuming that the authors of the Bible shared
the
same views on "morality" that modern-day Jews and Christians do. This is
especially true for matters of sexual behavior.






Yigal Levin




----- Original Message -----
From: "JAMES CHRISTIAN READ" <JCR128 AT student.anglia.ac.uk>


NWT Genesis 34:7
'And the sons of Jacob came in from the field as soon as they heard of
it;
and the men became hurt in their feelings and they grew very angry,
because he had committed a disgraceful folly against Israel in lying
down
with Jacob’s daughter, whereas nothing like that ought to be done.'


Note that no mention of force is included when
why her brothers were angry. It is the mere thought of
their unmarried sister having extra marital sex.


Further consider their response in verse 31 when being
reprised by Isreal for their actions:


“Ought anyone to treat our sister like a prostitute?”


What are prostitutes better known for in Tanakh?
For being forced to have sex?
Or for having immoral extra-marital sex?


However, one contextual point seems to stand in favour
of an element of force. And that is why does there
seem to be a complete lack of any indication of
responsibility on Dinah's shoulders? Why aren't her
brothers angry with her for acting 'like a prostitue'?
feelings and they grew very angry, because he had committed a
disgraceful
folly against Israel in lying down with Jacob’s daughter, whereas
nothing
like that ought to be done.'


Note that no mention of force is included when
why her brothers were angry. It is the mere thought of
their unmarried sister having extra marital sex.


Further consider their response in verse 31 when being
reprised by Isreal for their actions:


“Ought anyone to treat our sister like a prostitute?”


What are prostitutes better k


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