Thursday, May 5, 2011

Dinah - Revenge

Genesis 34
24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

In Genesis 34 we have the defilement of Jacob's daughter Dinah by Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, who longed for her. In order to make amends with Jacob for the ravishing of Dinah, the Hivites agree to be circumcised. Then, in the passage above we have Jacob's final revenge, not only against Shechem, but against all the Hivites.

I tried to find a passage a passage complementary or analogous to this one, so full of exquisite revenge and bloodshed, in the New Testament. Following is the closest I could find, and it only uses the armaments of warfare as a metaphor.

Ephesians 6
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Maybe the New Testament call for humility, meekness and peace is a mandate too tough to meet.

Luke 9
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of...

Maybe meekness should be called the Impossible Commandment.

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