The Literary Structure Of Dinah's Genesis 34

The story of Genesis 34 is about the rape of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob, and the acts of revenge her brothers commit upon her assailant. While the story starts with the rape of Dinah by Shechem, the son of Hamor, it’s focus is primarily on the men in the passage. Her lack of dialogue and thoughts from the narrator is a clear display of how Dinah, as a woman, is considered to be less important than the men. The literary structure of Genesis 34, verses 23-31, is a display of how Dinah is perceived differently than men in the Hebrew Bible, through the perspectives of the men in the passage spoken by the characters and the narrator, Dinah’s lack of dialogue, and the usage of pathos and language, and furthermore can allude to the assumption

After Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, kill the townspeople, Jacob states, “‘You have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land…’” (Gen 34. 30), indicating that his only concern is for the possible consequences of their actions. This dismissal of Dinah’s rape from Jacob is a demonstration of how the priorities of men were often favored opposed to the priorities and wellbeing of women. This dialogue displays how Jacob was more focused on his diplomatic standing with the Canaanites and the Perizzites, instead of the wellbeing and opinions of his daughter

The lack of dialogue from Dinah displays how the narrator believes that Dinah is less important than the male characters. Her opinions on the assault that transpired at the beginning, her marriage to Shechem, and the actions taken by her brothers, were never expressed by the narrator. However, throughout all of Genesis 34, the reader is aware of the thoughts and opinions of all the male characters. The omniscient narrator seemingly exists for the men, but is an objective narrator when it comes to Dinah. In fact, Dinah’s rape in the beginning is only one verse, while the plunder of the town is four verses, indicating that the narrator believes the actions of the sons of Jacob is more important. The male-centric narration is an apparent exhibit of the perceived insignificance of Dinah’s