Women of Valor
Parashat Vayishlach, Genesis 32:4–36:43
by Ben Weisman, K20 intern, Sha’arei Shalom, Cary, NC
In Parashat Vayishlach, we continue to follow the stories of the mothers and the fathers of Israel. Unfortunately, the women in this story are often abused by powerful men. The men sometimes seem to get away with their behavior in the short term, but the consequences of their actions are seen for generations.
Our passage opens on a hopeful note as Jacob sends messengers to initiate a reconciliation with Esau. But when Jacob hears that Esau is traveling toward him with four hundred men, he is consumed with fear, which drives him back to his old, manipulative ways. He hedges his bet by dividing his camp in two, praying for divine intervention, and sending droves of gifts in Esau’s direction. What follows is perhaps the most upsetting show of favoritism in Biblical literature: Jacob sends his wives and children to face danger before him. Bilhah and Zilpah, Jacob’s concubines, and their children are placed first, followed by Leah and her children, with Jacob’s favorites—Rachel and her son Joseph—bringing up the rear.
It’s bad enough that Jacob sends his wives and children to face danger first, but to so obviously arrange his family in order of who he would want to die first, if it came to that, is far worse. Imagine being Bilhah or Zilpah who, beyond being household slaves, were told that their most important function was to bear someone else’s child. Having already been so used, their lack of value to Jacob is made clear by their placement closest to danger. Imagine being Leah, knowing that everyone considers your sister more beautiful than you—especially your own husband, who had to be tricked into marrying you. Even though you are the oldest, the only time you are placed first is when it means being closest to danger. Of course, as we examine the situation of these women, we cannot impose our own modern values on their culture, but being devalued must have been painful in any time period.
When the text mentions that Jacob sent his whole family across the Jabbok river, leaving him alone for his mysterious wrestling match, it lists, “his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons” (Gen 32:23). But where is Jacob’s daughter, Dinah?
Dinah becomes tragically visible later. Jacob and his family survive their encounter with Esau and find their way to Shechem, which is both the name of the city and a personal name for “the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land” (Gen 34:2 ). Here, Jacob purchases land to set up his large camp, and Dinah goes “out to look at the daughters of the land” (Gen 34:1). While Dinah hopes to “look” at the daughters of the land, Shechem in fact “looks” at her, and what follows is a terse, violent series of verbs. He “saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her” (Gen 34:2). Directly juxtaposed with these violent verbs is the next verse, which is full of flowery, poetic language: “But his soul clung to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and he loved the young woman and spoke reassuringly to the young woman” (Gen 34:3). Again, we must be careful not to import our modern cultural values into the text, but it is striking how little has changed in the way men in positions of power exploit and manipulate women in vulnerable positions. Shechem kidnaps and rapes Dinah, only for his violence to suddenly give way to tender, affectionate behavior. This is the classic pattern of an abuser.
Shechem demands that his father “Get [him] this girl for a wife” (Gen 34:4), and his father proposes the marriage to Jacob, who fails to take any action in response to the rape of his daughter. Dinah’s brothers hatch a devious plan, reminiscent of Jacob’s manipulative behavior throughout his life. They explain that they are happy to intermarry with Shechem, so long as all the men are circumcised. While the men are incapacitated following their circumcisions, Jacob’s sons slaughter them all and plunder the city.
The men surrounding Dinah all act in pursuit of their own interests. Shechem pursues his own pleasure by sexually and violently dominating Dinah. His father, Hamor, motivated by greed, sees an opportunity to create a political alliance with the wealthy house of Jacob. Jacob, fearful of the surrounding people, does nothing and scolds his sons when they take action of their own. Jacob’s sons act violently on behalf of the family’s honor. It is notable that Simeon and Levi, who are Dinah’s full siblings, rescue Dinah and kill the men out of vengeance, acting at least partly in her interest, while the other brothers seem mainly focused on taking the plunder. The other brothers may not be directly responsible for the killings, but also seem to do nothing to help their sister and are perfectly satisfied to take all the wealth of Shechem.
One reason that Simeon and Levi are singled out by name in this story is that their actions here are given as the reason that they are passed over for the blessing of the firstborn in Genesis 49. Reuben, the oldest, is also passed over, because he “went and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah” (Gen 35:22). It seems unlikely that this encounter was consensual, though Bilhah, as a slave, was not afforded much agency to give or withhold consent. Reuben violated Bilhah, dishonored Jacob, and thereby forfeited his position as the patriarch of Israel. With the first three sons of Jacob disqualified, Judah is later granted the right to rule over the tribes of Israel.
What message of hope can we find in a story so full of violence, abuse, and tragedy? Perhaps the first hopeful note is that the Bible gives each of these women a name. In its ancient context that fact is important in itself. Though Dinah was used and abused in this narrative, she is given a name and her story is preserved. Given our culture’s reluctance to acknowledge the evil of sexual violence and to listen to women’s stories even in 2019, this is very significant. Though Leah went through life feeling unloved, she is given a place of honor as one of the ancestors of our people. Bilhah too is afforded this honor even though as a slave she was not given much respect during her lifetime.
In Matthew’s genealogy of Messiah, which continues to trace the line of Judah, the women who are mentioned stand out dramatically in the list of mostly male names (Matt 1:1–17). The first of these women is Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law whom he tried to mistreat by denying her a levirate marriage, but who forced him into fulfilling his obligations. The second woman is Ruth, who also acted boldly to secure her own and her family’s future though levirate marriage. The third woman is Bathsheba, who holds David to his oath to make her son the king. Though all three are victims of abuse and scandal, they are not just victims but courageous women who acted to set things right when the men around them refused to act. Beyond acting for self-preservation, these women acted to preserve the royal line and ultimately became ancestors of the Messiah.
During Yeshua’s life on earth he was supported financially by a group of women. Women were the last to leave him when he died and the first to witness and proclaim his resurrection. Despite the attitudes of the time, women were accorded great honor by Messiah.
None of these observations negates the horrors through which the women in our parasha and throughout the rest of the Bible lived. Their pain was real and it is important that their stories are preserved. Whether they changed the course of the Persian Empire like Esther or simply endured and survived like Bilhah, courageous women are just as vital to our history as our male ancestors. Whether we find them in the parasha, in the biography of Messiah, or in our everyday lives, we should honor these strong women and listen to their stories.
All Scripture references are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV).