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Towards The Promised Land

In any case, after their recent tiring journeys, the beasts needed careful treatment. Thus soon after the two brothers had separated we find Yacob settling, almost as if permanently, a short distance from Peniel. In this grassy country, excellent for the raising of stock, the shepherds built themselves houses, though probably of a quite primitive and temporary kind. For the animals shelters were put up made out of branches, hence the name of the place Succoth (a shelter of branches).

After this pause in their travels which lasted perhaps for several years the caravan passed over the Yardan. At last they were setting foot in the land of Canaan, the Promised Land set apart by YAHWEH as the patrimony of the Chosen People.

Yacob At Shechem, Then At Bethel

For the polytheist Abraham, who in southern Mesopotamia 'had served other gods' belonging to Semitic and Sumerian pantheons, adhesion to the new faith revealed by YAHWEH, the one Sovereign, had been immediate and complete. Yacob's conduct was different. Although he was born among the adherents of YAHWEH, there is little sign in him, at least during the first part of his life, of the same irrepressible urge found in his grandfather, or the same trust and fervour. With Yacob, on several occasions we have been able to see hesitation born of prudence, long periods of spiritual darkness, occasionally enlightened with memories of a remote and somewhat vague YAHWEH, but ONE WHO could not be completely forgotten, for this invisible protector seemed determined to keep HIS promises.

Thus until the incident at the ford over the Jabbok Yacob's spiritual life does not seem to offer many overt signs of progress. It was time for YAHWEH to visit HIS Chosen One again. Already at Mahanaim the encounter at the 'camp of the malakim' might be considered as a serious warning. Shortly afterwards, at the night fording of the Jabbok, and despite the resistance offered to the: interior voice speaking to him, Yacob must have given way. As a result, 'he supplanted' (the one who hitherto had not scrupled to lie, to deceive and even on occasion take for himself another's goods), he changed, almost at once, into 'Yisrael', called to become the man of YAHWEH, who carried out his plans, the worthy successor of Abraham and Yitschaq, a firm and kindly patriarch.

That does not necessarily mean that Yacob from that day was completely transformed in his moral and social life, or that he was at once equal to the tasks awaiting him. Two trials were still necessary to complete his spiritual transformation. The first was a political matter (at Shechem); the second was the lightning-like theophany at Bethel.

The Return To Shechem

Abraham, coming from Haran land for the first time entering the land of Canaan (on YAHWEH's orders), made his first stop in the place that the Scriptures, by anticipation, calls Shechem. It was a well considered choice, for in this cool, grassy valley dominated by two well-known mountain peaks, Gerizim (2,864 feet) to the south and Ebal (3,055 feet) to the north, the shepherds could find excellent pastureland watered by the streams and springs coming from the mountains close by. With its clumps of oaks and olive trees, its rich grassland, it is a region which has delighted those who have had occasion to pass through it. At Shechem, therefore, at the Oak of Moreh, Abraham established his camp, and it was there that YAHWEH appeared to him and told him, 'It is to your descendants that I will give this land'; there too Abraham built an altar to YAHWEH. We can understand how in after years Shechem came to be regarded as a SET APART place, before it became the first capital of the kingdom of Yisrael (1 Melechim 12: 25).

Yacob, too, returning from Haran and making ready also to cross the land of Canaan from north to south, also settled down at Shechem. Like his grandfather he intended, it seems, to stay there for some time; he, too, built there an altar of rough stones before which he sacrificed to 'EI, YAHWEH of Yisrael'. The word used seems perhaps to indicate a stele, but whether stele or altar it will be remembered that both, regarded among the Semites as the visible dwelling of an invisible god, could receive the name of this deity (Shemoth 17: 15; Judges 6: 24).

Since Abraham's time the general appearance of the countryside had perceptibly changed. In the valley Yacob could see a fortified city, recently built; this was Shechem, occupied by a tribe of Horites.19 The prince of the country -or more accurately, perhaps, the chieftain of this foreign tribe -was called Hamor (the donkey) which was probably a totemic designation; to the city which he had just built he gave the name of his son, Shechem.

For one hundred qesitah, 20 Yacob bought the site on which his camp was established, Bereshith informs us; the continuation of the narrative gives grounds for supposing that at the same time he acquired a large area of pastureland. This was uncommon among the Semitic shepherds and still rarer among the Hebrews at the time of the patriarchs. In any case Yacob's title to this property explains the pasture rights which he was subsequently to retain over the grass lands of the Shechem valley; in addition, he probably intended to make quite sure of establishing possession over the famous Hebrew tabernacle which was later to be built in this place on the site where one day Yoseph's tomb was to be.

Yacob may have intended to settle permanently in this verdant valley, certainly far more attractive than the scorched semi-wilderness of the Negeb, but, as we shall see, that was not YAHWEH's plan for him.

At this period of his life Yacob had eleven sons. He had daughters too, but they are scarcely mentioned, though we know the name of one, Dinah, who was the heroine of a dramatic episode (Bereshith 34).

The Defilement Of Dinah

One day young Shechem, Hamor's son, carried off Dinah and raped her. Shechem's act of brutality did not with Shechem rule out all trace of tenderness. For, Bereshith tells us, he was captivated by her, he fell in love with the young girl and comforted her. Shechem, having made up his mind to make amends for his misdeed, asked his father to talk to the patriarch Yacob and arrange the marriage.

In the patriarchal tent a meeting took place; Yacob and his sons were present, for the latter were entitled to their say in this delicate matter in which the honour of the tribe was at stake. Some of them made no pretence of hiding their indignation. Hamor came in person to plead the cause of his heir; he even offered Yacob's people an alliance in proper form: 'Give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. Stay with us and the land shall be open to you to live in or move through or own.' Shechem asked permission to make honourable amends in the presence of the assembled family; he undertook to pay the mohar (dowry) at an amount to be fixed.

 Then Yacob's sons, unknown to their father, plotted their revenge. Pretending to accept, at least in principle, Hamor's offer, they explained that it would however be to their dishonour to give their sisters and especially Dinah, to uncircumcised men. As a condition for the marriage of Yacob's daughter with Hamor's son, as well as for the general alliance with the Shechemites, they insisted that the men of that tribe should be circumcised.  Hamor, who for political reasons desired the fusion of the two ethnical groups, finally succeeded in obtaining the agreement of all the males of his city to this painful operation.

With adults circumcision may cause a bout of fever which is at its worst on the third day. Bereshith tells us that some of the Hebrews waited until then to exact their penalty. It was not all Yacob's sons but only Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers (they were all three the children' of Leah and so united by close ties of blood) who, taking advantage of the impaired physical condition of the Horites, marched into the fortified city of Shechem. With the help of their armed men they perpetrated a terrible massacre, putting all the men of the city (including of course Hamor and Shechem) to death by the sword After this they ransacked the houses of the city, carried off as slaves the women and children and, in addition seized the cattle and smaller livestock from the neighbouring farms, not forgetting the donkeys which are also mentioned in the list in Bereshith. It was indeed a most successful raid.

After such a victory we might logically expect Yacob's tribe to settle down triumphantly in their newly acquired territory and establish themselves there permanently. Nothing of the sort occurred. Yacob lost no time' reprimanding those responsible for this act of war. He, said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have done me harm putting me in bad odour with the people of this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I have few men, whereas they will unite against me to defeat me and destroy me and my family.'

Yacob decides to leave

Yacob, as we know, was not a warlike man. Nor were his father and grandfather. One day, it is true, Abraham fell on the rear of the plundering kings who had taken Lot prisoner, but that was a case of legitimate defense for the purpose of freeing his nephew. It was an exceptional episode in the history of the Hebrew nomads. c which had grown dangerous.

It is a strange story in many ways, and Scriptural scholars have endeavoured to explain it.

Probably two traditions -Yahwistic and Elohistic are here combined once more and the scribe endeavoured to harmonize them as best he could.

In the first place, we have a strictly family matter. Dinah was ill-treated by Shechem; Simeon and Levi decided to avenge their sister by putting the culprit to death as well as all the members of his family, as the custom of ancient times required.

Secondly, and this is far more likely, it was a matter of rivalry between clans. Hamor, to whom the territory belonged, offered an alliance to the Hebrew clan. The sons, all the sons of Yacob, pretended to agree but they laid down as a preliminary condition the acceptance of circumcision. This enabled them to massacre the whole male population on the third day after the operation without too much risk to themselves. In the Scriptural account of the incident it will be noticed that Dinah appears sometimes as being with her father and sometimes with Shechem. These differences of detail in no way impair the general lines of the story.

Far more interesting is the suggestion of certain Scriptural scholars. In this they see the individuals named as representing clans: on one side there is Shechem, the son of Hamor, whose descendants were the Bene Hamor; on the other, Simeon and Levi, pastoral groups designated by the names of their heads. In short, this story amounts to an unfortunate attempt on the part of two of Yacob's companies to settle in the valley of Shechem by force. In this attempt the clans of Simeon and Levi must have played a military part. But the result was not up to their expectations. Badly knocked about and maltreated there was only one thing left for them and that was to leave the region as soon as possible.

Rather than record this defeat in the annals of the people of Yisrael, it was obviously better to relate it as if there had been a successful outcome. Moreover, in their archives or on their monuments, the great empires of Egypt or Syria had for long past adopted the habit of recording their most decisive defeats as glorious victories. So there was authoritative precedent for the practice. Whatever the real reason, it was urgently necessary to leave the beautiful green valley of Shechem as soon as possible; they certainly did so and not without regret.

What the gathering of the 'brothers' in the story of Dinah must have looked like.

19 The text says Hivites or Hevites. In his translation of Bereshith Fr Roland de Vaux prefers to read Horites, thus following the Greek text. The Horites, settled in this mountainous region, constituted a non-Semitic enclave. They did not therefore practice circumcision. This fact should be remembered for a proper understanding of the rest of the story.

20 In most Scriptures the reader will find 'for one hundred pieces of silver'. The Hebrew text reads qesitah. In any case at this period there could be no question of minted money: the silver was weighed. Coins were not to appear in Palestine until after the return from the Babylonian captivity (538 B.C.). Some versions translate qesitah by 'lamb'. It seems better to say that qesitah was a mode of exchange whose value and nature are unknown to us.

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Yacob Called Yisrael Index  Yacob Sitemap   Scripture History Through the Ages   Yacob Called Yisrael  Yacob and Esau  Theft Of The Paternal Blessing  Flight, The Only Solution For Yacob  Yacob's Dream At Bethel  Yacob Puts Up A Stele Named BethEl  The Location Of Bethel  Importance Of The Well, A Meeting Place  Details Of The Mohar  The Sons Of Yacob  How Yacob Became Rich  Yacob Leaves The Land Of The Fathers  Treaty Between Yacob And Laban  Messages Between Yacob And Esau  Yacob Wrestles With YAHWEH  Two Brothers, Yacob and Esau Meet  Towards The Promised Land  The Departure From Shechem  The Conclusion Of Yacob

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