Dinah didn’t make it home that night.

At first, everyone thought she was just a little late, then a lot late.  Someone – no-one could quite remember who – suggested that maybe she had done a bit more than just visit the house of one of her friends.  Nobody had any knowledge of anything like that, so one of the servants was dispatched to find her.

At first, they weren’t really worried.  Not really.  Nothing could really go wrong with a young girl visiting her girl friends.  Could it?

Still, she was late and something had to be done.

The servant returned with two companions – a young woman called Basemath and a girl, Judith, in her early teens – and a tale that took some time to unravel.  He led them first to Leah, Dinah’s mother.

It turned out that the young woman was actually the girl’s mother, although she couldn’t have been more than 25.  The girl was one of Dinah’s new friends.  They both looked rather pleased, although the girl’s attitude might have been tinged with jealousy.  It was hard to understand.  Both were eager to spill the news.

“Such news we have to tell you!” announced the mother.  “You’ll be so pleased.”

“He’s so handsome,” breathed the daughter.

“She’s made such a conquest!  He’s the son of Hamor, the prince, you know.”

“Who are you talking about?” asked Jacob, who had arrived in time to hear the end of this gleeful statement.

“Why, Shechem, of course,” said Basemath.

Jacob and Leah looked at each other; but both looked blank.  “Can you start the story from the beginning?” asked Leah.

“You’ll be so pleased,” repeated Basemath.

“It was a bit underhanded, I think,” said young Judith with a pout.  “The sneaky little thing.”

“But such a catch!” smiled Basemath.  “And so masterful.”

“You were going to explain,” begged Leah.  “Please start at the start.”

“Oh, but surely you must know something about it?  Dinah wouldn’t have come gone out with the rest of the girls if she hadn’t been looking for love.  That’s why they went out today.  Young girls, looking for young men to marry.  Trying to catch the best one they can.  That’s how it works around here.  That’s how I got my husband, and I was about Dinah’s age.”

Jacob and Leah looked at each other again, and now they each saw concern in the other’s eyes.

“Can you please explain what happened?” repeated Leah, desperately.

“Well, it’s all very simple really,” said Basemath, obviously disappointed and a little miffed that her good news had not been welcomed with the joy it deserved.  “Dinah went out with Judith and her friends this afternoon.  They did the ordinary sorts of things that girls do to attract a husband, and Shechem noticed Dinah joining in with the rest.”

“He talked to her very nicely, all gentle and kind,” said Judith, “but it was obvious from the start that he liked the look of her.  They spent some time talking and then he asked her to come with him for a walk, just by themselves.  Well, she said that she had better not, that you wouldn’t want her to.  I thought she was just being coy, so I took her aside and told her that it would be alright and that Shechem was a good catch.  She said she really shouldn’t, but I think she was weakening.  In the end it was taken out of her hands anyway.  I’m sure she liked the look of him – he’s very handsome.  But while we were talking, some of the other girls had been joking with Shechem, and one of them suggested that he should just pick her up and carry her off.  And that’s sort of what he did.  He came over and told her straight out that he loved her.  He was obviously serious.  Then he leaned over and whispered in her ear.  She looked pleased, but a little shocked, and then suddenly he swept her up in his arms and walked out.”

Basemath was watching Leah’s face and could tell that she was shocked by the news, so she hurriedly interrupted Judith, who looked as if she was about to go into more detail.  “Anyway,” she said, “Shechem is just wildly in love with your daughter, and I’m sure you will hear from his father very soon.”

Judith was obviously a bit disappointed at this sudden truncation of her exciting story, and looked at her mother with irritation.  But she took the chance to make one last contribution: “Apparently he carried her all the way to his room, up all of those stairs, too!”

Basemath hushed her daughter, and they left soon afterwards.

As soon as they had gone, Jacob and Leah discussed the news.  Leah was distraught.  Jacob was deeply upset too, but unsure about what to do.

“We don’t know for sure what has happened,” said Jacob, consolingly.

“Don’t we?” sobbed Leah.  “I don’t think there’s any doubt what has happened to Dinah.”

“I suppose you’re right, but we must go through and check.  It is faintly possible that she hasn’t been harmed.”

“Is it?” asked Leah, still crying.  She shook her head and wiped her tears.  “I suppose it isn’t completely impossible, but it’s close.  Oh, Dinah, Dinah, my dear little girl.”

“They mentioned that this Shechem was a son of Hamor the prince, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” said Leah, dully.

“I suppose it must be the same Hamor from whom I bought this very piece of land that we are camping on,” he mused.  “What can we do to minimise the damage?  I don’t think we will be able to make his son suffer as I would dearly love to.  Does this young prince think he can just grab any young girl who takes his fancy and carry her off?  And it seems that the girls think it’s a good idea too.  What a society!”

The discussion went on for a long time as the two parents gradually came to terms with the devastating news.  Retribution was high on their agenda, but they knew that they were outnumbered by the people of the land, who saw nothing wrong with such behaviour.  Besides, servants couldn’t be relied on very much and the sons who might have helped were away in the country, looking after the flocks.

If only Dinah had stayed home and not made friends with girls who had different standards!  But now it was too late.  The damage was irreversible.

Nothing could be done that night.  The city gates would be closed and would not be opened for anyone.  The long slow hours of uncertainty until the morning must be endured.

But still, it was conceivable that the story had not followed the path that seemed inevitable.  It was possible, faintly possible…

Early the next morning, even that faint possibility was taken away.

News, particularly news like that, travels quickly – sometimes almost unbelievably quickly.  The sons of Jacob came in with the flocks shortly after dawn.  They had heard the news and were seething with anger over their sister’s treatment.

Jacob spent some time trying to calm them down a little.  Some of them, Simeon and Levi in particular, were eager to attack the city as soon as the gates opened and kill everybody there.  But Jacob felt that a little more caution was required, although he was pleased to see their fury at such an outrageous piece of presumptuous immorality.

Hamor and Shechem came to visit as soon as the city gates opened, by which time Jacob had calmed his sons down a little.  However, their anger had not gone; instead, it had become a coldly calculating fury that would not rest until the wrongdoing had been punished.  In fact, Simeon and Levi had still seemed so angry that Jacob had sent them away to do a small job together to take their minds off their rage.

Hamor came in and greeted them all happily, eager to have them agree to his plan to give their daughter to his besotted son and become fully integrated into the local community.  Daughters could be swapped as wives and open trade enjoyed by all.  Shechem didn’t contribute much to the conversation, except to say that he was willing to give any bride price to get Dinah as his wife.

Of course, Hamor and Shechem hadn’t brought Dinah with them – she had been left in the city.  Bargaining chips are valuable and possession is power.

Together, Jacob and his sons spoke politely to Hamor, discussing his proposals for friendship and cooperation, without sounding eager, but without showing the fury they felt.

It was then that Simeon and Levi returned to join the conversation.  They had used their time to great purpose, but not at all the purpose Jacob had intended.  They had a plan.

Jacob explained to them the proposals and was surprised when they readily agreed with the suggestions, with just one proviso: all the men of the city must be circumcised.  They spoke convincingly about the advantages to everyone of this course of action, and in the end it was agreed on as the way forward.

Hamor and Shechem left to convince their fellow citizens that having Jacob and his family join the community would be worth the discomfort of circumcision.  Apparently, they were successful: the family heard the news – and the complaints about the pain – before the end of the day.

Then, two days later, Simeon and Levi put the main component of their plan into effect.  Armed with swords and accompanied by some servants, they went into the city and killed Shechem, Hamor and all of the other men in the city.  The pair were pleased with the outcome: Dinah had been rescued and punishment had been meted out.  Shechem had humbled her and nothing could remove that, but Simeon and Levi were content that his immoral behaviour had earned its just reward.

Jacob was not pleased and spoke sternly to Simeon and Levi, but only about the danger in which the whole family had been placed by their actions.  The surrounding villages, towns and cities, he said, could easily join together and attack the family.

His sons were not very concerned.  They viewed their actions as necessary: should a man be allowed to treat their sister as a prostitute?  Jacob understood their attitude, but he was seriously worried.

And what of Jacob’s God?  What was his response to these events?

God instructed Jacob to go to Bethel, and Jacob obeyed quickly.  As they travelled, God sent a fear of the family on all of the surrounding people so that no one would make any attempt to attack them as they passed through.