When Jacob's daughter Dinah was violated by Shechem, Dinah's brothers went on the war path (Genesis 34). On the one hand, their passion for the protection of their sister is an admirable and almost beautiful chivalry. On the other, the force of their retributive justice is arresting.
After Shechem violated Dinah, Shechem's father Hamor proposed to Jacob that his people and the people of Israel should intermarry and combine cultures. Jacob's sons said in effect, "Okay - in that case all your men are to be circumcised in order to blend into our tradition." On behalf of the men of his tribe, Hamor said "yes," ostensibly so his son could get the woman he wanted. One can imagine him breaking this news to the men. "Okay men, I've agreed that all of you will be circumcised." "We'll be what?" "Circumcised. That's when a man...." The Bible says the men were agreeable to the idea, but I'm guessing Hamor's popularity polls may have taken a dip around then.
When Hamor's men were in their third day of recovery, still sore and unable to be active; Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah's brothers attacked all the men of Shechem to render justice for the defilement of their sister. In fact, they slaughtered all of them and sacked their town. Today, such a form of retribution would be considered excessive. I wonder if that's partly due to the fact that today, we live with almost nothing of the sense of honor. We have very little appreciation for the position of important people, we have nominal regard for the difference in generations. While we may be a less outwardly violent culture than that of Genesis 34, I'm not sure we are less so in the hidden places. I'm not a proponent of violence but I am a proponent of honor and this account seems to reveal something of their connectedness.
Ours is a culture that stresses and strives toward equality. That's admirable on the one hand, and an important matter. However, if all are equal, then none are worthy of honor. The loss of honor is a significant loss. Honor lends a certain beauty and dignity to life, to people, to humanity. I don't mean false honor with superficial or duplicitous pretense, I mean the genuine honor that people deserve for their humanity, for their position, for their reputation. All people deserve honor, while some are of special stature to deserve extra measures. In a culture of honor, all women deserve to be protected. In a culture of equality I wonder if women are more vulnerable. In a culture of honor, the more gentle are protected by the more powerful. In a culture of equality, this may not be the case. In a culture that has forfeited honor, we have lost a great deal of dignity and we tend to have more of "every man/woman for himself." Without honor, there's less sense of caring for others, less sense of community.
I could do without the violence that sometimes accompanies the preservation of honor. But I'd love to find a way to regain a greater sense of honor in our lives. Dinah's brother's were passionate about her honor. There's a beauty to it, even though their vengeance was harsh.
