Story 20: Dinah Gets into Trouble

DO YOU see who Di´nah is going to visit? She is going to see some of the girls who live in the land of Ca´naan. Would her father Jacob be happy about this? To help answer this question, try to remember what Abraham and Isaac thought about the women in Ca´naan.

Did Abraham want his son Isaac to marry a girl from Ca´naan? No, he did not. Did Isaac and Re·bek´ah want their son Jacob to marry a Ca´naan·ite girl? No, they did not. Do you know why?

It was because these people in Ca´naan worshiped false gods. They were not good people to have as husbands and wives, and they weren’t good people to have as close friends. So we can be sure that Jacob would not be pleased that his daughter was making friends with these Ca´naan·ite girls.

Sure enough, Di´nah got into trouble. Can you see that Ca´naan·ite man in the picture who is looking at Di´nah? His name is She´chem. One day when Di´nah came on a visit, She´chem took Di´nah and forced her to lie down with him. This was wrong, because only married men and women are supposed to lie down together. This bad thing that She´chem did to Di´nah led to a lot more trouble.

When Di´nah’s brothers heard about what had happened, they were very angry. Two of them, Sim´e·on and Le´vi, were so angry that they took swords and went into the city and caught the men by surprise. They and their brothers killed She´chem and all the other men. Jacob was angry because his sons did this bad thing.

How did all this trouble get started? It was because Di´nah made friends with people who did not obey God’s laws. We will not want to make such friends, will we?

Genesis 34:1-31.