Sin and Slaughter of Shekhem/2

Shimon and Levi in Shekhem

Exegetical Approaches

Fundamentally Justified

Complicit in the Original Sin

Since the entire city had participated, to varying degrees, in the taking of Dinah, all deserved a capital punishment.

Sources:Jubilees30About Jubilees, Judith9:1-4About Judith, Testament of Levi5:3-4,6:3-7:3About Testament of Levi, Theodotus(Cited by Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 9:22)About Theodotus (Cited by Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica, 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?

• "Stealing" Dinah is a capital crime  – Rambam,  Abarbanel and Or HaChayyim maintain that the act of taking Dinah against her will falls under the category of "theft" which is a capital crime under the Noachide laws.²
• Rape is punishable by death – 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
• Intermarriage – According to many of the classical commentaries, in contrast, it seems that  Shimon and Levi are less bothered by the actual act of rape and more by the potential for intermarriage. 

In what did the people of 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 Dinah, 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 Dinah – Or HaChayyim asserts that the people of the city participated in the taking of Dinah, thereby transgressing the Noachide law regarding theft.⁶
• Joined in the sexual assault – Tosafot goes even a step further to suggest that Dinah 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 raises two possible understandings of the brothers' plan:

• The brothers never meant the Shekhemites to circumcise themselves. Their speech was rather intended to shame and rile Shekehm and Chamor into fighting against them, enabling them to take revenge.
• Alternatively,  the brothers hoped to convince Shekhem and his city to circumcise themselves so that they could kill them while they were weak.⁸  He suggests, though, that the real trickery lay in the intentional ambiguity of their words.  Though they implied otherwise, they never actually agreed to let Shekhem marry Dinah.⁹ Thus, in the end, they did not go back on their word.

Yaakov's reaction: "עֲכַרְתֶּם אֹתִי" – This approach might claim that Yaakov did not question the morality of his children's actions but only chastised them due to his fear that the deed was to endanger the family when surrounding peoples retaliated.

Yaakov's rebuke in Bereshit 49 – Or HaChayyim suggests that Yaakov's words do not relate to the episode in Shekhem at all, but rather the sale of Yosef.  Thus here, too, there is no condemnation of the brothers' deeds.¹⁰

Hashem's evaluation

• Hashem assented – Abarbanel suggests that Hashem agreed with the brothers' acts, as evidenced by the fact that He put fear into the surrounding cities and protected Yaakov's family. 
• Hashem rewarded – Many of the classical sources suggest that the act was sanctioned explicitly by Hashem, who might have even have put the thought into their heads.¹¹ Jubilees further asserts that the brothers were "written for a blessing" for their act.  Soon after, Levi ¹² was rewarded with the priesthood.¹³

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

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

• Act together – Abarbanel and Or HaChayyim do not differentiate between the brothers and present them as all acting together in both the negotiations and in the killing/looting of the people of the city.
• Shimon and Levi more zealous – Theodotus and the Testament of Levi, though, do not present Shimon and Levi as part of the negotiations, and in fact suggest that in their zealousness they were against them totally.  According to them, it is possible that Yaakov was sincere in his offering of Dinah.  Shimon and Levi, though, thought that circumcision alone should not permit intermarriage, and it is to prevent this (rather than avenge the rape) that they massacred the city.¹⁴

Why wait for the third day? According to Abarbanel the brothers killed the men on the third day after taking Dinah captive, which was immediately (not 3 days) after the circumcision.  At this moment they were both weak and in great pain and, thus, easily overcome.

Polemical motivations – Jubilees

Reneged on the Deal

The Shekhemites did not uphold their part of the bargain with the brothers, but rather changed the terms, and in so doing invited and justified their vengeance.

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

Did Shekhem deserve death?

• No –This position might assert that Shekhem did not deserve death for ravishing Dinah, since rape is not a capital crime according to the Torah.  Rather, the rapist must compensate the father of the victim and then marry the woman.¹⁵  Thus, perhaps, it is not for the rape itself that Shekhem and the city are killed but rather for their later actions.
• Yes – According to Maasei Hashem and HaKetav VeHaKabbalah, though, both Yaakov and sons thought it just to kill Shekhem for the "lawless atrocity" which had been committed.

In what did the people of the city sin? Though all these commentators agree that the Shekhemites reneged on the deal, they differ in the details:

• Regretted leaving idolatry – According to Sefer HaYashar, the Rosh, and Hadar Zekenim, the condition regarding circumcision included a rejection of idolatry.  After circumcising, though, the people regretted changing their faith,¹⁶ and according to Sefer HaYashar even planned to kill Yaakov and sons in a show of loyalty to their original beliefs.
• Planned to enslave and rob – Yosef HaMekannei, Maasei Hashem and HaKetav VeHaKabbalah¹⁷ point to several changes that Shekhem made when relaying the deal to his subjects.¹⁸  His words "מִקְנֵהֶם וְקִנְיָנָם וְכָל בְּהֶמְתָּם הֲלוֹא לָנוּ הֵם"  proved that their intentions were to rob,¹⁹ while the new emphasis on their actively taking (rather than being given) the Israelite women suggested that they planned to subjugate Yaakov's clan.²⁰ Maasei Hashem asserts that as this was their motivation, the brothers had no choice but to attack, since "הבא להרגך השכם להרגו".

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

• Only Shimon and Levi deceitful – This position might say that only Shimon and Levi spoke insincerely, and that the other brothers did not object to give Dinah in marriage. Their participation in the later killing was only in response to Shekhem's veering from his part of the bargain.
• A means to kill Shechem – According to Maasei Hashem and HaKetav VeHaKabbalah the brothers spoke without their father's knowledge and the deceit was aimed at Shekhem alone.²¹ They intended that he circumcise himself so that they could then attack him easily, but they had not initially meant for the rest of the city to also be circumcised or killed.²²

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ" – This position does not read any significance into the plural form of the verb.

Yaakov's reaction – Maasei Hashem claims that Yaakov was not bothered by the morality of his sons' violent actions but by the potential repercussions of their methods.  After promising Shekhem that they would become "one nation" and then breaking the covenant, it made it very unlikely that any other nation in the vicinity would trust Yaakov's word or make an alliance.²³

Hashem's evaluation – This position might suggest, like Abarbanel above, that Hashem's granting of  protection proved that He condoned the killings. 

Taking of the Spoils – Since the Shekehmites' actions justified an attack, taking the spoils of war afterwards was legitimate, especially given that the Shekhem had planned to rob them to begin with.

Why wait for the third day? This position might assert that it took several days until the men of Shekhem regretted their actions.  Hadar Zekenim instead posits that three days passed before all the men were circumcised.

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers – According to one variation of this approach, it is possible that only Shimon and Levi negotiated deceptively with Shekhem, while the other brothers might have been sincere.

Polemical motivations

Practically Necessary

To Retrieve Dinah

The only way to retrieve Dinah from her captors and avenge the rape was to kill those who were protecting Shekhem.

Sources:RalbagBeiur Divrei HaParashah Bereshit 34:30-31About R. Levi b. Gershon,²⁴ Or HaChayyim #1Bereshit 34:25About R. Chayyim b. Atar

Did Shekhem deserve death? According to Or HaChayyim, Shekhem deserved death for "stealing" Dinah, but not for raping her, since only the former is a capital crime.²⁵  Ralbag agrees that legally the rape was not punishable by death since Dinah was not married, but asserts that the brothers felt that leaving the act unavenged made it appear as if Dinah was simply a harlot,²⁶ and that for her honor and theirs, Shekhem needed to be killed.²⁷

In what did the people of the city sin? According to this approach the inhabitants of the city were not culpable for condoning or participating in the original act. The brothers, thus, would not have killed them except that they stood to defend their king making it impossible to avenge Dinah without killing them too.²⁸

" וַיָּבֹאוּ עַל הָעִיר בֶּטַח וַיַּהַרְגוּ כָּל זָכָר" – One might question the assumption that the city's inhabitants were defending their king from this verse which suggests that the brothers proactively killed the men, who were sitting secure, unprepared for the massacre.²⁹

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה" – Ralbag asserts that the brothers were hoping that Shekehm would not agree to the deal, enabling them to take Dinah and leave.³⁰ If Shekhem nonetheless consented, they thought that they would avenge her honor while the men were weak and unable to defend themselves.³¹  If this was unsuccessful, at least Dinah would be married to a circumcised man.

Yaakov's reaction – Or HaChayyim suggests that Yaakov was unaware of the plan to kill the entire city and had assumed that the brothers would take advantage of the sick men to simply retrieve Dinah, or at most, to kill Shekhem.  Or HaChayyim, though, does not explain if Yaakov's anger resulted from fear of the action's consequences or from a belief that the brothers were acting immorally in the mass killing.

Yaakov's rebuke in Bereshit 49 – Ralbag asserts that Yaakov was upset at the brothers' unbridled anger and use of trickery.   Or HaChayyim, in contrast, asserts that Yaakov's words are not a condemnation of the Shekhem incident at all, but rather the sale of Yosef.

Hashem's evaluation – This approach might suggest that the Torah gives Shimon and Levi the last word to suggest that despite Yaakov's reservations, the brothers were right.

Taking of the Spoils – Ralbag views this as part of the brothers' rightful avenging of Dinah's rape, while Or HaChayyim views it as compensating Dinah and the family for their shame ("דמי בושת").

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

Why wait for the third day? These commentators do not address the issue.

Polemical motivations

Deterrence for the Future

The brothers were purposefully extreme in their actions so as to instill fear into their enemies and deter them from any future attempts to harm the family.

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

Did Shekhem deserve death?

"וַיַּעֲנוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב... בְּמִרְמָה"

Yaakov's reaction

Yaakov's blessing in Bereshit 49

Hashem's evaluation

"אֲשֶׁר טִמְּאוּ"

Why did they kill them on the third day?

Taking of the Spoils

Shimon and Levi versus the other brothers

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 Dinah, practically it was necessary to also kill the Shekhemites who were defending their king.

² Or HaChayyim points out that raping Dinah 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 Dinah without killing the whole city.

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

⁸ This is how the Or HaChayyim reads the deceit as well.  He elaborates as to the "wisdom" of their trickery, pointing out how they managed to convince Shekhem and Chamor that they were sincere in their words.

⁹ They told Shekehm that if he were to circumcise himself:  "בְּזֹאת נֵאוֹת לָכֶם"  This was understood to mean that they would agree to the request to take Dinah, but in reality all the brothers had said was that the act would be of benefit to them.

¹⁰ Abarbanel disagrees and suggests that Yaakov was unaware of the brothers' plan to kill the enitre city and did not condone it. Had they only killed Shekehm, that might have been justified, but the rest of the city was undeserving of death, especially after agreeing to enter into a covenant with Hashem.  As such, it was clear that the brothers were not motivated by righteous anger, but acted violently just to gain booty.
As Abarbanel earlier justified the brothers' actions by suggesting that the inhabitants of the city legally deserved death for complicity, it is not clear why Yaakov should condemn them.

¹¹ See Theodotus and the Testament of Levi. The Book of Judith similarly suggests that Hashem put a sword into Shimon's hands.

¹² Jubilees might suggest that  only Levi (rather than Shimon) was rewarded with priesthood because he married within the family of Terach while Shimon married a Cananite. For Jubilees, it was not the rape itself which was so problematic, but the potential marriage to a non-Jew.  Thus, in Shimon's intermarriage, he undid any merit he might have gained by trying to prevent Dinah's marriage to Shekhem.

¹³ Even those who assert that Levi only attained special status after the tribe's role in killing the worshipers of the Golden Calf might assert that in both cases it was the same attribute of zeal, and the willingness to act against offenders that made him meritorious.

¹⁴ See J. Kugel, "The Story of Dinah in the Testament of Levi", The Harvard Theological Review85 (1992):1-34, who discusses the issue at length.  He points out that there is a crucial variant reading in the extant manuscripts of the text of the Testament of Levi with regards to this topic.  Some present Levi as advising his father to ask Chamor to circumcise and some have him counseling against it.  Kugel comes out in favor of the latter reading.

¹⁵ See the next point that it is possible that Yaakov and some of the brothers were thus sincere when they set terms for the marriage, agreeing to it as long as Shekhem accepted upon himself circumcision. It would be difficult, though, to assert that everyone spoke in earnest since the verse explicitly states that there was an element of "trickery" in the request.

¹⁶ These commentators suggest that the word "כֹּאֲבִים" be understood metaphorically to refer not to physical discomfort but to emotional pain over their decision to circumcise.

¹⁷ See, also, more recently N. Leibowitz' discussion in Iyyunim BeSefer Bereshit (Jerusalem, 1992): 265-267.

¹⁸ Maasei hashem, in fact, asserts that the only reason that this part of the story is included in Tanakh is because it shows why the brothers were justified in killing the entire city.  Otherwise it would be of no relevance and not written at all.

¹⁹ Maasei Hashem and HaKetav VeHaKabbalah emphasize this and point out that it further proves that he conversion was insincere, as it was motivated only by a desire for money.

²⁰ Yosef HaMekannei points this out.  He contrasts the brother's original words, "וְנָתַנּוּ אֶת בְּנֹתֵינוּ לָכֶם וְאֶת בְּנֹתֵיכֶם נִקַּח לָנוּ " with Shechem's reversal thereof, "נֹתָם נִקַּח לָנוּ לְנָשִׁים וְאֶת בְּנֹתֵינוּ נִתֵּן לָהֶם".

²¹ They explain that the usage of the plural by the brothers was not meant to include the rest of the city but was simply the way one speaks to a prince (similar to the usage of the "royal we").

²² According to these exegetes, Shekhem and Chamor thought it beneath their dignity to be the only ones circumcised and so they convinced the rest of the city to do likewise.

²³ Maasei Hashem asserts that Yaakov had been unaware of the trickery and would have preferred that his sons go to battle without any of the accompanying deceit, since even the surrounding nations would think such an act justified in light of Shekhem's actions.

²⁴ Ralbag combines this approach with the one above which asserts that the men of the city were also culpable for not protesting the original deed.

²⁵ See discussion above.

²⁶ Since taking a prostitute was not punishable according to the Noachide laws, if Dinah's rape was to go unpunished, it would appear to all that she must have been a harlot.

²⁷ Ralbag brings this explanation in the name of his father to explain the brother's final words, "הַכְזוֹנָה יַעֲשֶׂה אֶת אֲחוֹתֵנוּ".

²⁸ Rav Zeev Weitman

²⁹ See R. Zeev Whitman who questions this approach, not from this specific verse, but from the tone of the passage as a whole.  It is perhaps this issue that prompts Ralbag to propose that the brothers pre-empted an inevitable revenge attack by the city, rather than say that they defended themselves against those who were protecting Shekhem.

³⁰ Since Shekhem was such an important figure in the city, they could not refuse Dinah to him unless they had a good excuse.

³¹ He suggests that in practice Shimon and Levi visited the sick Shekhemites under the pretense that they were to help cure them, but instead killed each by sword.