01.14.2016 Old Testament: Gen 34.5

To read the Bible in a year, read Genesis 33–35 on January 14, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

A man raped the daughter of Jacob, but he knew that when his sons found out about it, the incident would enrage them and that they would do something horrible. Therefore, Jacob remained passive,

And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came (Genesis 34.5). 

They needed to do something, but killing all the males in the rapist’s village was not the answer, and Jacob must have known that something like this could have happened. We must do what is righteous, which means carrying out justice, but we cannot overdo it, for then we will be as guilty as the criminal.