Dinah and Deuteronomy 22:28

[Jayne]

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What makes me sad is that the ancient Bible laws do not respect and empower women. We are treated like chattel. A lot of the detailed laws outside the ten commandments seem petty and unfair. God expected old testament Jews to obey all those detailed prezise nitty-gritty laws? No wonder they failed and disobeyed!

 

I tried to explain that there was no "marry-your-rapist" law and even showed where rapists were to be executed.  I guess my explanation failed. You still believe God to be a misogynist.

I'm sorry you see him and his Word that way.

 

[messedup]

On 7/7/2019 at 9:33 AM, heavensflower said:

A lot of you may be shocked by this mean-sounding Bible verse. I know I was when I first read it. 

Deuteronomy 22:28:  if a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 

he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

 

That's terrible, very cruel towards the poor girl, isn't it? Is the Bible really sexist? Well there is a reason for this abominably horrible law. 

 

it's the story of Dinah in Genesis, she is Jacob and Leah's daughter, Joseph's sister. Her story is in Genesis 34

 

Dinah goes to visit the women of the area, in a place ruled by a man named Hamor and his son Shechem. Shechem falls in love with Dinah, seduces her, and they have intercourse.  Shchem wants to marry Dinah, so he tells his father this. Hamor goes to see Jacob, who knows Dinah has been deflowered. Jacob waits for his sons to come in from the fields. He talks to Shechem, and they agree to make an alliance, Dinah will marry Shechem,  and Jacob's people will marry the daughters of Hamor's land,  Her brothers were very angry. Jacob made a condition that all the men of that town must become circumcised Shechem is so in love with Dinah he agrees, and the men are forced to become circumcised. While the men are still in pain, Dinah's brothers Simeon and Levi attacked the town with their swords and killed all the men, then her other brothers looted the town, taking all the livestock, animals, gold, silver, bronze, iron, everything of value, they even took the women and children as slaves. They killed Shechem and his father Hamor and dragged Dinah out of the town and back to her father's tents. 

Jacob was very upset. He told his sons that they have put the tribe's life in danger, their neighbors, the people around them, would get angry and could attack them, for they were few in number. 

But SImeon and Levi said, "Should we treat our sister like a prostitute?" 

 

I think this story encourages the marry your rapist law. Maybe trying to avoid a bloodbath?  I think Deuteronomy 22:28 is a mistranslation. It is meant to say 'seduced', not 'rape' Maybe some teenagers in love who had made out would be allowed to get married instead of being stoned for fornication.  It is a shot gun wedding. If a girl found a stranger handsome and interesting, well I think only a willing female partner should marry the stranger. I just don't think a good God would force an innocent young virgin girl to marry someone who brutally attacks her and steals her innocence, doesn't God love women just as much as he loves men? Well, I believe he does!

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I can not recall but didn't God tell them not to have anything to do with other nations before this? Im thinking she went to a celebration of some sort.

Im sure God laid out certain rules to live by. And feel he left some for mankind to work out. Exodus 18 for example Jethro advised Moses. I think if God were not happy with Jethro's advice he would have stopped it. imho