Genesis 34 — Sketch

A Violent Rescue

Big Idea:

• Shechem, a local prince, sees Jacob’s daughter, Dinah. He wants her, takes her, and rapes her.⁠

• Shechem then asks his father, Hamor, to give him Dinah.

• Hamor and Shechem go to Jacob to talk about it.

• Jacob’s sons are enraged by what Shechem has done to their sister. So when Shechem asks to marry Dinah, they decide to trick him.

• They tell Shechem he can have their sister if he and all his men will be circumcised.

• Hamor and Shechem agree. They return home and tell everyone that Jacob’s family is easily manipulated.

• Shechem, Hamor, and all their men are circumcised.

• While Hamor and his men are still recovering from their circumcisions, Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi enter their unsuspecting city, kill all the men, and rescue their sister.

• The rest of Jacob’s sons then plunder the city.

• Jacob scolds his sons for making their family a target of the people in their area, but they insist they acted justly.

Jesus in This Chapter:

In our sin, we are all like Dinah, trapped and dying. But just like her brothers conquered Shechem and rescued her, Jesus overcomes our sin and rescues us — through His work on the cross.

(Originally drawn August 12, 2010)