Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
Leah’s daughter, Dinah, goes to visit some neighbor women. As she goes, Shechem son of Hamor, a regional prince, sees Dinah, seizes her, and rapes her. Then he falls in love with Dinah and asks his father to get Dinah to be his wife. Meanwhile, Jacob hears about the rape. He and his sons are furious with Hamor, and when Hamor comes to them seeking Dinah for Shechem, they deceive him. They claim they’ll intermarry with the local families as long as the men agree to get circumcised; Hamor, Shechem, and all the men of the place agree to do this.
Though Jacob’s family is now settled in Canaan, their life isn’t perfectly secure, as Dinah suffers a traumatic assault. In response to this crime, however, Jacob and his sons turn once again to deception.
Themes
Three days after the circumcisions, while the men are still recovering, Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi attack the city and kill all the males, including Hamor and Shechem. They rescue Dinah from Shechem’s house and take her home. Jacob’s other sons plunder the city, taking captive the wives and children. Jacob tells Simeon and Levi that they have made the family infamous by doing this, but the brothers retort that Dinah must not be treated dishonorably.
Circumcision is intended to be a sign of God’s covenant with his people, but Jacob’s sons use the ritual as a pretext for committing retributive violence. Though Dinah’s brothers want justice for her, Jacob sees that their vengeful way of seeking it has endangered his family’s security in their new home.
Themes
