01-20-2022, 05:49 PM
It was based on the Covenant of Abraham at that point. It's not specifically stated in the text, but we know a good bit about the ancient Semitic customs that were eventually folded into the Law of Moses. We also know a lot about how the Canaanites were morally repulsive to just about every other nation and empire in those days. Hamor crossed the line, and he knew it before he did it.
There was plenty of culpability to go around here. At that point in history, Dinah didn't have much to say either way. She was a fool for spending too much time with the Canaanite girls, and may have even flirted some. But this kind of mixing was abominable to Abraham's folk; God had warned Abraham and Isaac both about avoiding marriage with these people. Twice the clan went back to Harran for wives. Remember the brouhaha about Esau marrying local girls?
What Jacob's sons did was also a sin, not least because it risked a reprisal from other Canaanite tribes. As it was, it forfeited their place in the line of inheritance. Recall how the anointing as heir passed over Reuben for his weird sin, but also Simeon and Levi for what happened here and passed to Judah. What Israel would have done without their criminal act was to demand a heavy dowry since she was defiled, yet Israel would have to keep supporting her because he still could not allow her to stay among those people.
Here's the hard thing for folks with a Western background: Marriage pairing must proceed from what blesses the covenant community. Nobody in those days argued with that custom. Love was assumed to grow afterward. How Hamor felt was of no consequence, as were Dinah's feelings about this. It was flat out evil in the first place, and inexcusable. We simply do not have any cultural background for understanding that.
There was plenty of culpability to go around here. At that point in history, Dinah didn't have much to say either way. She was a fool for spending too much time with the Canaanite girls, and may have even flirted some. But this kind of mixing was abominable to Abraham's folk; God had warned Abraham and Isaac both about avoiding marriage with these people. Twice the clan went back to Harran for wives. Remember the brouhaha about Esau marrying local girls?
What Jacob's sons did was also a sin, not least because it risked a reprisal from other Canaanite tribes. As it was, it forfeited their place in the line of inheritance. Recall how the anointing as heir passed over Reuben for his weird sin, but also Simeon and Levi for what happened here and passed to Judah. What Israel would have done without their criminal act was to demand a heavy dowry since she was defiled, yet Israel would have to keep supporting her because he still could not allow her to stay among those people.
Here's the hard thing for folks with a Western background: Marriage pairing must proceed from what blesses the covenant community. Nobody in those days argued with that custom. Love was assumed to grow afterward. How Hamor felt was of no consequence, as were Dinah's feelings about this. It was flat out evil in the first place, and inexcusable. We simply do not have any cultural background for understanding that.