Bible in a Year January 11: Gen 31:43 -- 34:31

 January 11: Gen 31:43 -- 34:31

Oh, the woes of favoritism run strong in the early days of God’s chosen people! Jacob and Esau were estranged because their parents each loved one more than the other. And favoritism is seen again in the way Jacob organized his family as they prepared to meet up with Esau (and his 400 men – that must have been a bit intimidating!).

Jacob put the maid servants, Bilhah and Zilpah, and their children (Dan/Naphtali and Gad/Asher respectively) in the position of most danger, then Leah and her children (Reuben/Simeon/Levi/Judah/Issachar/Zebulun/Dinah) came next. The beloved Rachel and Joseph were safest in the rear. I can only imagine that caused even more resentment of Rachel and Joseph than already existed.

Once the danger from Esau was passed (and Jacob lied about where they were headed) we find the horrible story of the rape of Dinah. To add insult to her violation, her attacker wanted to marry her! We find that her brothers, Levi and Simeon, take revenge on all men of the city. The other boys come along and raid the town, taking all the wealth and all the women and children as plunder.

This reaction to the crime seems overzealous. Why didn’t they just kill Shechem and move on? As a result of the violent response, we’ll see that Simeon’s and Levi’s descendants would be scattered far and wide (Gen 49:5-7). We never hear what happened to Dinah – was she able to marry and have children, or was she forever to be alone because of what had been done to her?

TOMORROW’S TEXT: Gen 35:1-37:24