Overcome Evil with Good
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In the last parasha, upon returning to his land, Jacob reached Seir, the country of Edom—the place of his brother Esau. He sent messengers to scout Seir. Jacob’s men told him that Esau had four hundred men, so he was greatly afraid and distressed. When he was about to meet his brother Esau, a Man (Angel of Adonai) wrestled with him until the breaking of day. The Man changed Jacob’s name to Israel, for he had struggled with Adonai and with men, and had prevailed.
After twenty years, Jacob and Esau finally met. Jacob humbled himself by bowing down until he came to his brother. Esau ran, embraced Jacob, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. They separated after their forgiveness. Esau returned to Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Succoth.
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Now in our Torah portion, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan. His family grew, but suddenly it was disturbed by Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob from Leah, who went out to see the women of the land. Maybe she was curious about them, but sadly, Shechem the Hivite prince and son of Hamor saw her, took her, lay with her, and violated her (NKJV). This story has been understood as the rape of Dinah. So, was she really raped? How come Shechem wanted to marry her and spoke kindly to her? According to Dr. Alison L. Joseph from Torah.com, Biblical Hebrew does not have a word for rape, and in fact, many printed English Bibles subtitle the chapter “The Rape of Dinah.”
In verse 2, it says that Shechem saw Dinah (meaning she was already in the place), took her, lay with her, and debased her. The Hebrew word for “took” is laqach, which means “to take, get, fetch, marry, and take a wife.” Maybe from this meaning, we see why Shechem wanted to marry Dinah. Next, the Hebrew word for “lay” is shakab, which means “to lie down, lodge, rest, and relax.” The word “debased” comes from the Hebrew word innah, which means “to lower a person’s status or humiliate.”
The Hebrew word innah was also used in 2 Samuel 13:12–14, where Amnon, the son of David, invites his sister Tamar to lie with him. In Tamar’s case, she was overpowered and forced by Amnon, and Tamar protested—but not in the case of Dinah, who was silent. I believe the debasement that happened to her is the insult of a sex act that lowers her status as a woman. As we look at the story of our Torah portion, it is more about how the family of Jacob was violated by the Shechemites, and how Jacob’s sons took vengeance—not solely for the rape of Dinah.
But my main focus here is Jacob, who had a new name, Israel, which reflects his new character as well. As a father, how did he overcome the bad things that happened to his family?
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He held his peace until his sons came (v. 5b) – Jacob chose to be silent. His spirit was calm, and he acted with honor. Maybe he wanted to hear from Dinah, but nothing in our text says that she spoke to Jacob. This is a reminder to us that in a difficult situation, we need to calm down and act in a manner beneficial to ourselves and the people around us.
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He rebuked his sons upon killing Hamor, Shechem, and their men (vv. 25–30) – Simeon and Levi made an agreement with the Shechemites through circumcision. They wanted all the males of the Shechemites to be circumcised. When the Shechemites agreed and were in pain, Simeon and Levi took advantage and killed them. Jacob did not tolerate his sons because their actions were inexcusable and indefensible. Parents should rebuke and discipline their children if they are wrong.
Proverbs 13:1
“A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
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He told his household and all who were with him to put away their foreign gods (v. 2) – After the sons of Jacob killed the Shechemites, they took all their animals, wealth, and plundered all that was in the houses. They could not avoid picking up the idols of these people. Moving to Bethel, Jacob was preparing to worship Adonai YHVH as his one and only true God, so he commanded his household to give up their false gods. He wanted them to rely on Adonai alone because He hates idolatry.
Exodus 20:2–4
“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”
Our Torah portion reminds us of the following:
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There is danger in attaching ourselves to the world – Due to curiosity, Dinah went out to see the women of Canaan, and she was debased. In Matthew 4:8–9, Satan offered Yeshua the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worshiping him, but Yeshua refused. Satan uses the pattern of this dark world so that we cannot focus on serving Adonai YHVH.
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We need to separate ourselves from the world – Since the creation of the heavens and the earth, there was separation. Adonai separated the light and darkness. He separated the waters under the firmament from the waters above it. As grafted-in believers, we must separate ourselves from the pattern of this world.
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In the Apostolic portion, Yeshua taught His talmidim how to respond to an oppressor (vv. 38–42) and how to love the enemy (vv. 43–48). To respond to the oppressor, Yeshua said to offer the other cheek. Why? Because in doing so, we practice self-control and learn to leave revenge to Adonai.
In loving your enemy, Yeshua taught three things:
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Bless those who curse you.
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Do good to those who hate you.
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Pray for those who persecute you.
These things are difficult, but if we look to Yeshua as our role model, they are possible. To summarize our Apostolic portion, Yeshua not only wants His talmidim, but also us, to be free of taking revenge on those who wrong us. Instead, we must learn to respond with love.
The connection of our parasha is about overcoming evil with good. In the Torah, when Dinah was debased, Jacob held his peace. In the Haftarah, Judah overcame the evil of Nineveh by entrusting vengeance to Adonai. In the Apostolic portion, to overcome evil, Yeshua taught us not to retaliate but to pray for our enemies.
Returning to my introduction… Yeshua is the best example of overcoming evil with good. Even though He suffered, was persecuted, and was crucified, He did not retaliate but prayed to His Father to forgive those people. If we refuse to retaliate and take revenge on those who have wronged us, we overcome evil.
Romans 12:19–21
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says Adonai.
Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
To return hate with love is not weakness—it’s the deepest proof that God lives in you.
Will you choose to love even when it hurts? To forgive instead of retaliate? Pause for a minute, find one person who is difficult to love and who has hurt you. When you're having a hard time to forgive, remember how Yeshua forgave you and how He exemplified the true meaning of forgiveness and justice.
Shabbat Shalom,
Topher
jwa.org
Who is the victim in the Dinah story by Dr.Alison L. Joseph/ the Torah.com
The debasement of Dinah by Prof. Shawna dolansky/ the Torah.com
thelehrhaus.com
Qbible.com
bible.org
raystedman.org
jpost.com
connectusfund.org
inside.org
The Mac Arthur Study Bible
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