Sin and Slaughter of Shekhem/2

Shimon and Levi in Shekhem

Exegetical Approaches

Fundamentally Justified

Complicit in the Original Sin

Sources:Jubilees30About Jubilees, Judith9:1-4About Judith, Testament of Levi5:3-4,6:3-7:3About Testament of Levi, Joseph and Aseneth23:13About Joseph and Aseneth, Baalei HaTosafotBereshit 34:31 (MS Hamburg 40)About Ba'alei HaTosafot, RambamHilkhot Melakhim 9:14About R. Moshe Maimonides, R. Yosef ibn KaspiBereshit 34:27About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi, AbarbanelBereshit 34:25-29About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, Or HaChayyim #2Bereshit 34:25About R. Chayyim b. Atar¹

Did Shekhem deserve death? Rambam,  Abarbanel and Or HaChayyim maintain that the act of taking DIna against her will falls under the category of "theft" which is a capital crime under the Noachide laws.² Tosafot, on the other hand, apparently assumes that it is justified to punish rape with death, even though neither Noachide nor Torah law does so.³

In what did the city sin? These commentators differ in their assessment of the specific wrongdoing of the people of the city:

• Condoning the Act – Ibn Kaspi and Abarbanel assert that the people of  Shekhem did not protest the taking of Dina, and as such were guilty of complicity.⁴ Rambam adds that in not prosecuting Shekhem, they violated the Noachide law to institute legal procedures, which is itself punishable by death.⁵
• Actively took Dina – Or HaChayyim asserts that the people of the city participated in the taking of Dina, thereby transgressing the Noachide Law of Theft.⁶
• Joined in the sexual assault – Tosafot goes even a step further to suggest that Dina was raped by the other men of Shekhem as well.⁷

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ" – Tosafot, Ibn Kaspi and Or HaChayyim point to these words as evidence that the entire city was implicated in the crime.

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה" – Abarbanel posits that the brothers hoped to convince Shekhem and his city to circumcise themselves so that they could kill them while they were weak.  He suggests, though that the real trickery lay in the intentional ambiguity of their words. They had never actually agreed to let Shekhem marry Dina, even if he agreed to the circumcision, but rather simply pointed out that the action would be to their benefit, ""

Yaakov's reaction: "עכרתם אותי"

Hashem's evaluation: protection, choosing of Levi

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils – Or HaChayyim justifies the looting as payment for embarrassing Dina and the family ("דמי בושת").

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Polemical motivations

Reneged on the Deal

Sources:Sefer HaYashar34:4-23About Sefer HaYashar, Sefer Yosef HaMekannei18About Sefer Yosef HaMekannei, Peirush HaRoshBereshit 34:25About Peirush HaRosh, Hadar ZekeinimBereshit 34:25About Hadar Zekeinim, Ma'asei HashemMa'asei Avot 34About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi, HaKetav VeHaKabbalahBereshit 34:15Bereshit 34:25About R. Yaakov Mecklenburg

Yaakov's reaction

Hashem's evaluation

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ"

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Polemical motivations

Practically Necessary

To Retrieve Dina

Sources:RalbagBeiur Divrei HaParashah Bereshit 34:30-31About R. Levi b. Gershon, Or HaChayyim #1Bereshit 34:25About R. Chayyim b. Atar

Yaakov's reaction

Hashem's evaluation

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ"

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Polemical motivations

Deterrence for the Future

Sources:Targum Pseudo-JonathanBereshit 34:31About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum YerushalmiBereshit 34:31About Targum Yerushalmi, Or HaChayyimBereshit 34:25Bereshit 34:31About R. Chayyim b. Atar, C. Porat

Yaakov's reaction

Hashem's evaluation

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ"

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Polemical motivations

Sinned

Sources:RambanBereshit 34:13Bereshit 49:5-6About R. Moshe Nachmanides, R. Hirsch, R. D"Z Hoffmann

Yaakov's reaction

Hashem's evaluation

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ"

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Polemical motivations

¹ He combines this approach with the one below, that in order to retrieve Dina, practically it was necessary to also kill the Shekhemites who were defending their king.

² Or HaChayyim points out that raping Dina alone would not have incurred the death penalty since she was not married and the Noachide laws only include adultery.

³ Abarbanel also writes that the Noachides were warned regarding "עריות" implying that this alone justified punishing Shekhem.  He does not differentiate between cases of illicit relations with married versus non married woman.

⁴ Ibn Kaspi points to Hashem's warning to Yechezkel that if he does not chastise wrongdoers, he himself will be held accountable: "בְּאָמְרִי לָרָשָׁע מוֹת תָּמוּת וְלֹא הִזְהַרְתּוֹ... הוּא רָשָׁע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ יָמוּת וְדָמוֹ מִיָּדְךָ אֲבַקֵּשׁ".

⁵ Ramban questions Rambam, asserting that if this were true, then Yaakov should not have rebuked his children, but rather been the first to join them.  He suggasts that the Noachide law does not refer to the establishment of courts but rather to the making of laws.  Though the latter includes setting up a court system, negligence in that area does not incur death.  See also the Or HaChayyim who similarly questions Rambam's understanding.

⁶ See above that this is a capital crime under the Noachide laws while rape is not.  He explains that the verse highlights that "they defiled her" rather than saying "and they took her" to show that the "stolen item" was not returnable.  Had it been, they would have retrieved Dina without killing the whole city.

⁷ He apparently maintains that killing one who rapes is justified.