Dinah – her words are missing but she is still there.

Gloss over this story, or even worse, jump the chapter, and you miss what God wants to show us. It is one of the most disturbing of passages that the Bible records. Her name is removed, her voice silenced, and men negotiate what happens to her. But the reader doesn’t forget. Dinah is there throughout, in every verse, silent, unseen, but there. The mighty and powerful may think they are the centre of the story, but they are not. This is Dinah’s story, and we do well to read it as such.

“Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. ³ His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.” ⁵ When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home. ⁶ Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. ⁷ Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done. ⁸ But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. ⁹ Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, tradein it, and acquire property in it.” ¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. ¹² Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.” ¹³ Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. ¹⁶ Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. ¹⁷ But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.” (Genesis 34: 1-17)

The first verse and yesterday’s blog were nice, and what follows isn’t. We have a name: Dinah. We know she is a daughter, her mother being Leah, Jacob’s first wife. We know what she does and where she goes. Then, after that short opening, everything changes, and she is in the hands of men, and we can only try to imagine her feelings.

She becomes a woman without a voice.

She is raped, and then, incredulously, Shechem, the one who violated her, declares his love for her. His father starts negotiating with her father, Jacob, and she is there, seemingly as some product to be purchased. Dowries, circumcision, land rights and intermarriage, but not one word from Dinah. This evil is played out around the world today. The voice of the people has been taken from them. They are collateral. Their voices are silent, though they weep. There is no room for them. They cry, but no one is paying attention.

But this is her story, and that is the point.

Even though her brothers are furious and need to protect and avenge what has happened to her, it is for the cause of ‘Israel’ which is of most importance. She is the wound, not the wounded; the focus is on Israel, the one who has been hurt.

Don’t be fooled by Shechem’s words. The shocking and chilling words of an abuser are still with us in this world. Those who abuse wickedly confuse their evil actions as love. This is not love. Even if his culture at the time suggested so.

This is a story of the powerless, the hidden and the voiceless. We must read it with the full knowledge that Dinah is there. Her words are missing, but she isn’t.

The role of the Church and for you and me today is to speak for those who have been silenced. To make sure the world knows they are still there, grieving, wounded and voiceless.