“A Good Man Gone Bad”

Monday, June 20, 2016

My question is on Genesis 34:19.  Shechem has agreed to be circumcised to be able to keep Dinah.  It says, "…he [Shechem] is more respected than all the household of his father".  Then the account goes on to show that he, his father, and all the men were slain by the sons of Jacob in revenge for violating Dinah.  That is after they do what was asked of them and were circumcised.  What does ‘respected’ mean in this case?  Why is that verse there for us to read?  What truth is God revealing?  This verse has me stumped, and it is good to have AskYourPreacher around for an answer :).

Sincerely,
Respectfully Stumped

Dear Respectfully Stumped,

Shechem loved Dinah, but he did a sinful and dishonorable thing by laying with her before marriage (Gen 34:2).  Shechem truly loved her and realized that he had done something wrong and asked for his father to do whatever it took to obtain Dinah for him as a wife (Gen 34:3-4).  Jacob tells Shechem’s father, Hamor, that the only way that they can intermarry with them is if their people, the Hivites, all became circumcised.  The verse in question, Gen 34:19, explains that Shechem was more than willing to be circumcised because he was “more respected” (other translations say “more honorable”) than anyone else in his father’s house.  Shechem wasn’t a perfect man, but he did have a moral code and was willing to be circumcised, a very painful operation, in order to repent of that sin.  Shechem had a sense of honor.

Eventually, Jacob’s sons, Levi and Simeon, kill all the men in the city out of revenge, but that wasn’t something that was pleasing to God.  Jacob rebuked them for being so bloodthirsty and vengeful (Gen 34:30).  Shechem was a good man who made a bad choice, and Levi and Simeon killed him and all of his household deceitfully.

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