Dinah Dina

(judgment) (Gen. 30:21; 34:1) — daughter of Jacob by Leah, and sister of Simeon and Levi. When, at fifteen or sixteen years of age, she went out alone, out of curiosity, to see the young women of Shechem at a great public festival in the city of Shechem, the son of Hamor, prince of Shechem, captivated by her beauty, dishonored her, and then persuaded his father to consent to his marriage with Dinah. They opened negotiations with Jacob on the matter, offering, according to the custom of the time, a large dowry and gifts.

But Dinah’s brothers resolved to avenge the outrage done to their sister. They said they agreed to the marriage, but on condition that all the male population of Shechem be circumcised. The Shechemites agreed to this condition, and on the third day after the circumcision, while all the males were still in a state of pain, Simeon and Levi attacked the city and put to death all its male inhabitants, not excluding Hamor and his sons. This greatly troubled Jacob, and he did not forget the cruelty of his sons even on his deathbed: “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations… for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel” (Gen. 49). Dinah is mentioned among the other persons who moved with Jacob to Egypt (Gen. 46:15).