HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422

Page 1 of 8 Original Research

Wathint’ Umfazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo, Uzakufa

[You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock, You Will Die]:
Dinah and Tamar as rape protestors

Author: This article reflects on two rape stories, namely, the rape of Dinah and the rape of Tamar. In
Hulisani Ramantswana1 the two rape stories, the male figures are portrayed as heroes – the defenders of the rape
Affiliation: victims. However, this article uses the isiZulu saying ‘Wathint’umfazi, wathint’ imbokodo,
1
Department of Biblical and uzakufa’ to foreground the role of the rape victims as the unsung heroines in the stories. Thus,
Ancient Studies, University the paper presents Dinah and Tamar as heroines, who represent the demand for justice in the
of South Africa, Pretoria, face of the violation of female bodies in society. It is the woman’s voice of protest that should
South Africa
be heard in each of the rape story crying out, ‘My life matters!’
Corresponding author:
Keywords: Rape; Dinah; Tamar; Androcentric; Gynocentric; Protest; Feminist.
Hulisani Ramantswana,
ramanh@unisa.ac.za

Dates:
Received: 06 Feb. 2019
Introduction
Accepted: 31 May 2019 It has been 5 years since she was raped as she walked from Sunday church service in Tembisa
Published: 17 Oct. 2019 township. It all happened unexpectedly, when a man came from behind, pointed a gun at her and
instructed her to keep on walking or else she would die. Terrified for her own life, she kept on
How to cite this article:
Ramantswana, H., 2019, walking as directed to a nearby area away from people’s sight, where he raped her. Her rapist was
‘Wathint’ Umfazi, Wathint’ not caught, and the thought of him still on the loose is spine-chilling. She has overcome much of
Imbokodo, Uzakufa [You the trauma, but the scars remain. Every year in February, she recalls the violation of her body.
Strike a Woman, You Strike
She calls her pastor and says, ‘It was on this day that it happened’. She cannot even name what
a Rock, You Will Die]: Dinah
and Tamar as rape protestors’, happened because the pain that it brought is beyond naming.1
HTS Teologiese Studies/
Theological Studies 75(1), In this article, I reflect on two rape stories, the rape of Dinah (Gn 34) and the rape of Tamar
a5413. https://doi.org/​
(2 Sm 13). In the world as projected by the canonical story, the two rape stories are many
10.4102/hts.v75i1.5413
generations apart. In this study, the two stories would be read in dialogue with each other as
Copyright: stories that mutually enrich each other. A dialogic reading of biblical texts refuses to limit the
© 2019. The Authors. meaning of the text to the original meaning of the author, as that limits the biblical text to its
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
historical epoch. I follow Bakhtin’s view that texts have potential intentionality or meaning
is licensed under the
Creative Commons potential that cannot be limited to the authorial intention/meaning (Bakhtin 1981).
Attribution License.
In the two rape stories, the male figures, specifically the brothers of the victims, are portrayed as
heroes – the defenders of the victims. However, this article claims that it is more rational to
understand the women in the rape stories as the unsung heroines in the stories, not simply as
passive objects. I reflect on these two stories through the lens of the isiZulu saying Wathint’ umfazi,
wathint’ imbokodo, uzakufa [You strike a woman, you strike a rock, you will die] to foreground the role
of the rape victims as the unsung heroines. Thus, the article presents Dinah and Tamar as heroines
who represent the demand for justice in the face of the violation of female bodies in society. It is the
woman’s voice of protest that should be heard in each of the rape stories crying out, ‘My life matters!’

Wathint’ Umfazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo, Uzakufa

The isiZulu saying Wathint’ umafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uzakufa became popular during the apartheid
era, and it came to represent the courage of women to resist the unjust pass laws of the time.2
1.The rape incident outlined in this paragraph was used with permission from the victim of the rape.

2.In the Zulu culture, the term imbokodo is used for a ‘grinding stone’ – a resistant and durable stone mainly used by women in the
household for processing materials through pounding and pestling. As Nzimande (2008:223) in her book chapter entitled ‘Reconfiguring
Read online: Jezebel: A Postcolonial Imbokodo Reading of the Story of Naboth’s Vineyard (1  Ki  21:1–16)’ notes, ‘imbokodo symbolises unity,
Scan this QR solidarity and strength. Imbokodo is dependable: no matter what the task, it remains intact and unscathed’. See also her PhD
code with your dissertation, ‘Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Gebirah in the Hebrew Bible in the Light of Queen
smart phone or Jezebel and the Queen Mother Lemuel’ (PhD dissertation, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, 2005).
mobile device
to read online. Note: The collection entitled ‘Christina Landman Festschrift’, sub-edited by Wessel Bentley (University of South Africa) and Victor S.
Molobi (University of South Africa).

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 Page 2 of 8 Original Research

On 09 August 1956 over 20 000 women, the majority of whom their bodies. It is no wonder that there is a song that
were black women, marched to the Union Building in protest particularly praises the women of South Africa:
against the unjust Urban Areas Act. This march was not the Igama lamakosikazi, malibongwe
first of its kind: in 1913, black women in the Orange Free State malibongwe, malibongwe.3
protested against the pass laws of the time, considering the
horrendous treatment they were receiving at the time that In singing this song, the names of the heroines would also be
undermined their human dignity and inferiorised them inserted. For example:
(Cock 1991; Gouws & Kadalie 1994; Kaim 1978; Kros 1978; Igama le ka comrade Winnie, malibongwe,
Meintjes 1996; Obery 1980; Walker 1978, 1991; Wells 1993). malibongwe, malibongwe.4
The Federation of South African Women (FSAW) expressed
its struggle as follows: In this case, then, naming is meant to praise rather than to
As wives and mothers we condemn the pass laws and all shame the struggle stalwarts. In praising the women, it is to
they imply; Women are not afraid of suffering for the sake of recognise the women as heroines in the freedom struggle.
their children and their homes. Women have an answer to
the threats to their families and their future. Women will not The women in the struggle against the apartheid machinery
face a future imprisoned in the pass laws. (as quoted from were the powerless in society, and the apartheid machinery
Cock 1991) could have crushed them, as it did 20 years later on 16 June
1976, when about 20 000 high school students protested
The saying Wathint’ umfazi, wanthint’ imbokodo came to be against the use of Afrikaans in schools. Although the
more than just a saying; it became a freedom song. In singing South African women were not issuing a literal threat to kill
the song, the perpetrators of injustice would be named. For white people when they threatened Strijdom with death,
example, in the 1956 march, the women named the prime they were not issuing an empty threat. It was a real threat and
minister: Strijdom, Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uzakufa a prophetic utterance that anticipated the downfall of the
[Strijdom, you struck women, you have struck a rock, you apartheid-colonial machinery.
will die]. The perpetrators of injustice had to be named and
shamed. Mama Albertina Sisulu recalled the events of that
day (as quoted from Pollard III 1999):
Genesis 34 in dialogue with
I could not believe it when I arrived. There was a sea of women,
2 Samuel 13: Hearing voiceless
a huge mass, oh, it was wonderful. We were so excited. We Dinah in Tamar’s voice
couldn’t believe we were there, and so many of us. Our leaders,
Genesis 34 and 2 Samuel 13 are, to use Phyllis Trible’s
Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophi Williams, and Rahima
classification (1984), ‘texts of terror’, with each telling a story
Moosa attempted to give our protests to the prime minister,
of rape or sexual violence to a young woman not yet pledged
J. G. Strijdom, but when we got there, he’d left, he’d run away.
[…] When the four women returned, we stood in silent protest
for marriage. To use the isiZulu saying, it is the stories of
for thirty minutes and then started singing Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika. uthintwa kwabafazi [the striking of women]. These two texts,
Twenty thousand women singing Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika, you as feminist scholars observe, are patriarchal texts that tend
should have heard the echoes in the Union Building. There was to portray women’s lives and experience as subordinate to
nothing like that sound, it filled the world. Then we sang a song the lives and experiences of men, considering the patriarchal
of the women, Strijdom, wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, culture in which these texts were produced. However,
uzakufa – Strijdom, you have tampered with the women, you inasmuch as the biblical texts are patriarchal, this does not
have struck a rock, you have unleashed a boulder, you will die. exhaust their meaning potential. As Lapsley (2005:7) argues,
(p. 104) ‘neither implicit patriarchy nor even the explicit affirmation
of patriarchal values exhaust the meanings of a narrative’.
The naming and shaming of Strijdom in the song were not Voices of resistance to patriarchy may also be heard within
directed merely to Strijdom as an individual but as a the biblical texts (Brenner & Van Dijk-Hemmes 1993;
representative of an oppressive state. As Gilbert (2005) also Claassens 2013; Exum 1993; Pardes 1992). However, in other
notes, during the apartheid period, the freedom songs instances, it is not the voice heard in the text, but the voice of
tended to name the targets of their resistance – general name, resistance drawn into and from the text, considering the
Boers, and also specific names such as Vorster and Verwoerd gaps and fissures in the text, which open room for other
as representatives of the state. potential meanings.

The involvement of the women in the struggle for Sexual violence against women – in whatever form or shape –
freedom meant that, like their male counterparts, they is not just something of the past or something described
needed to harden themselves like rocks so that the apartheid in the biblical texts; rather, it continues to happen even to
machinery would not break them, but they would break this day. In the South African context, there is currently
it. The females’ bodies, unlike their male counterparts an ongoing rape trial in which several young ladies have
who were taken to Robben Island as political prisoners, 3.Translation: The name of women, let it be praised, Let it be praised; let it be praised.
had to bear the brutal force of the apartheid state,
4.Translation: The name of comrade Winnie be praised, Let it be praised; let it be
which disenfranchised their families, tortured and violated praised.

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 Page 3 of 8 Original Research

accused Pastor Timothy Omotoso of rape.5 The first witness

was Cheryl Zondi, now 22 years old, who testified about
the rape that happened to her when she was 14 years old.
It is only now, eight years later, that she is able to give
testimony of what happened to her when she was still a overpower raped takes see

minor. In the cross-examination, Cheryl had to answer to

questions from the defence lawyer in a way that forced her FIGURE 1: Genesis 34:2.
to relive the rape experience, even to the point of being
questioned about how many centimetres the accused Thus, the verse may be rendered as:
penetrated her vagina and about the opening and closing of Now, Shechem the son of Hamor, the Hivite, a prince of the land
her vagina during the rape. having seen her, he then took her and raped her, so he did by
overpowering her.
Inasmuch as Cheryl was offering her own testimony of the
violation of her body by a man that she trusted, it was and The climactic moment in this verse happens when Shechem
is a testimony with which other rape victims could identify. ‘raped’ (‫)ׁשכב‬6 her (Dinah) and ‘overpowering her’ (‫)ענה‬. The
In Cheryl’s experience, other victims could also see their own verb ‫ ׁשכב‬is used in several instances for a sexual encounter
stories and could draw courage from her testimony. In raping between male and female (Gn 30:16, 35:22; 2 Sm 11:4; 13:14).
Cheryl and other girls, Omotoso, in a sense, had struck the Worthy for us to note is that the combination of these two
women and at the same time, he had struck a rock that will verbs is also used to describe the sexual encounter between
cause him to stumble. In taking a stand against Timothy Amnon and Tamar, albeit in reverse, in 2 Samuel 13:14
Omotoso and testifying against this man, Cheryl not only (see Figure 2).
spoke on her own behalf but also spoke on behalf of other
women who have been sexually violated. In Cheryl’s voice,
they find their own voice.

Shechem struck a woman: Hearing

the voice of the voiceless Dinah in raped overpower
Tamar’s story
The rape of Dinah story has been the subject of discussion FIGURE 2: 2 Samuel 13:14.
by scholars, and there are various opinions as to whether
this is a rape story or not. Recently, Daniel Hankore in his This verse may be rendered:
book The Abduction of Dinah: Reading Genesis 28:10–35:15 But he [Amnon] refused to listen to her, and being stronger than
as a Votive Narrative (2013), considering the Hadiyya she, he then overpowered her and raped her.
people of Ethiopia’s concept of vow and its affinities
with the ancient Near Eastern cultures, has argued that Considering Amnon’s use of power in order to get Tamar to
the story of Dinah should be viewed as an adverse submit, it necessitates that ‫ ַוי ְ ַעּנֶ ָה‬be considered as indicating
consequence of Jacob’s failure to fulfil his vow to build the the imbalance of power between the two, as shown by the
Lord a house in Bethel. In the Hadiyya culture, the Dinah incorporation of the subject (he [Amnon]) and the object
story is regarded not as a rape story but as a story of ooki (her [Tamar]) in the one verb. Thus, the rape of Tamar was
gosimma [marriage through abduction]: Shechem keeps a process that involved force in order to overpower. This
Dinah and there is a negotiation for marriage (Hankore understanding of 2 Samuel 13:14, thus, should serve to
2013:185–186). Hankore (2013:192–193) argues that in the enhance our understanding of Genesis 34:2. Although there
case of rape, the driving force is the perpetrator’s intention is no reference in Genesis 34:2 to Shechem being stronger
to satisfy his sexual desires and then abandon the victim, than Dinah, our understanding of ‫ ַוי ְ ַעּנֶ ָה‬in 2 Samuel 13:14
whereas, in the case of abduction marriage, deliberate necessitates that Shechem’s action be viewed as a sexual
steps are taken by the perpetrator to be known in order to
6.The basic meaning of the verb ‫ ׁשכב‬is to ‘lie down’ or ‘sleep’, literally in terms of
secure consent. sleeping and metaphorically in terms of being laid down to rest in death; however,
this verb also has sexual connotations, in terms of male and female engaging in
sexual activity. In most of the cases, where this verb is used to denote sexual activity,
In this study, however, I consider Genesis 34 and 2 Samuel it carries a negative connotation, or it is for prohibited sexual encounters: a father
with his daughter (Gn 19:32, 33, 34, 35), a man with another man’s wife (Gn 26:10; 1
13 to be stories of the striking of a woman through rape. In Sm 2:22; 2 Sm 11:4; 12:11), a man with a prostitute (Gn 30:15–16; Jer 3:2; Ezk 23:8),
a son with his father’s wife or concubine (Gn 35:22; Lv 20:11; Dt 27:20), a woman
the Genesis 34 story, Dinah is the female figure at the centre wanting sex with a man other than her husband (Gn 39:7, 10, 12; Nm 5:13, 19), a
man by force with a woman married to another man (i.e., rape; Gen 39:14; Deut
of the story; it is she who experiences sexual violence, and it 28:30), a human with an animal (Ex 22:19; Dt 27:21), a man with a woman who is
is this experience in her life around which everything else not pledged for marriage (Ex 22:16, Dt 22:28–29; Gn 34:2, 7; 2 Sm 13:14), a man
with a menstruating woman (Lv 15:24; 20:18), homosexual encounter (Lv 18:22;
revolves. Genesis 34:2 highlights the progression through 20:13), a man with a slave-woman who is pledged to another man (Lv 19:20), a man
with his daughter-in-law (Lv 20:12), a man with his aunt (Lv 20:20), a man with a
the combination of verbs used (see Figure 1). woman pledged to another man for marriage (Dt 22:22–25), a man having a sexual
encounter with his sister from the same father and mother (Dt 27:22), a man having
5.The rape trial of Timothy Omotoso was open for the public and broadcast. The a sexual encounter with his mother-in-law (Dt 27:23), a man with a wife taken from
recordings of the trial are available online on YouTube. another man (2 Sm 12:24) and a man with a woman during war (Is 13:16; Zch 14:2).

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encounter through the overpowering of the weaker party, the story of the rape of Tamar in 2 Samuel 13 presents a
which necessitates that in both cases the verb ‫ ׁשכב‬be viewed  not glimpse into the gynocentric perspective towards rape. It is
as an innocent sexual encounter but as rape (Bar-Efrat 1989; particularly the words of Tamar that are of interest to us.
Conroy 1978; Fokkelman 1981; Trible 1984:46). It may also be Dinah is not given a chance to offer her perspective in Genesis
that, as others suggest, the Hebrew phrase ‫ׁשּכַב א ֹתָ ּה ַוי ְ ַעּנֶ ָה‬ ְ ִ ‫ – ַוּי‬or 34, but this does not imply that she did not have a view on
alternatively ‫ׁשּכַב א ֹתָ ּה‬
ְ ִ ‫ – ַוי ְ ַעּנֶ ָה ַוּי‬should be translated ‘he raped what was happening. Dinah’s experience comes alive in the
her’, thereby combining the two concepts – overpowering rape story of Tamar, who tried to reason with her rapist,
and the sexual encounter – into one: rape (Noble 1996:178). pleading with him not to rape her:
‫ַאל־ָאחִי ַאל־תְ ַענֵנִי כִי ֹלא־י ֵ ָעשֶה כֵן ְביִש ְָראֵל ַאל־תַ ֲעשֵה אֶת־ ַהנְ ָבלָה הַזא ֹת׃ ַו ֲאנִי ָאנָה אֹולִיְך‬
Hearing Dinah: No, Do Not My Prince, ‫[ אֶת־ח ְֶרפָתִ י וְַאתָ ה תִ ְהי ֶה כְַאחַד ַהנְ ָבלִים ְביִש ְָראֵל‬No, my brother! Do not force
Do Not Violate Me. … Do Do Not yourself on me, for such a thing should not be done in Israel. Do
Do Such a Disgraceful Thing not do this disgraceful thing. What about me? How could I get
rid of the shame brought on me?]. (2 Sm13:12–13, [author’s own
In the story, all the other characters are given a voice except
translation])
for Dinah. She is raped; however, she is not given a chance to
speak. Instead, only the male characters speak in the story:
In Tamar’s words, I hear the words of Dinah. I paraphrase:
Shechem (v. 4), Hamor (vv. 8–9), Shechem (vv. 11–12), the
sons of Jacob (vv. 14–17), Shechem and Hamor (vv. 21–23), No, my prince! Do not force yourself on me, for such a thing is
Jacob (v. 30), and Simeon and Levi (v. 31). These characters not done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing. What about
me? How could I get rid of the shame brought on me?
all speak in reference to Dinah. Dinah’s life and experience
are subordinated to the interest of the male characters.
It is not unreasonable to speculate that in the interaction
All the female characters in the story are given no voice –
between Shechem and Dinah, the young woman would have
they do not speak – Dinah herself, Leah (the mother of
made efforts to reason with Shechem to convince him to
Dinah), and the unnamed women of the land. The silenced
treat her with the dignity she deserved as a young woman.
voice of Dinah is what is of interest to me, as I choose to
However, in the androcentric perspective of the Genesis 34
listen to her silenced voice.
story, it is the brothers who are concerned about the ‘shame’
(‫ )ח ְֶרּפָה‬that the rape has brought on them and not about the
Although for others the silence or voicelessness of Dinah
‘shame’ on their sister:
should not be the focus in interpreting this story, in my
view, it is this gap that wreaks havoc with the story. As ‫ׁשר־לֹו ע ְָרלָה‬
ֶ ‫וַּי ֹא ְמרּו ֲאלֵיהֶם ֹלא נּוכַל ַלעֲׂשֹות הַּדָ בָר ַהּזֶה לָתֵ ת ֶאת־ ֲאח ֹתֵ נּו ְל ִאיׁש ֲא‬
Blyth (2010:4) argues, ‘the silence cloaking Dinah’s persona ‫[ ּכִי־ח ְֶרּפָה הִוא לָנּו‬They said to them: We cannot do this thing, to give
thus becomes nothing less than a form of oppression, the our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for that will bring
shame on us].
mark of her narrative exclusion from honest representation
within the text’.
Considering the logic of the Genesis 34 story, there was a
peaceful relationship between the Hivites and the Jacobites.
The text projects three androcentric perspectives from two
Jacob had bought a piece of land from Shechem, a piece of
different cultures without necessarily endorsing any:
land that had become their settlement. Furthermore, the
• Firstly, the perpetrators, the Hivites: The sexual violation ability of Dinah to go out to visit the women of the land
of Dinah was motivated by love, and there was an also implied a two-way fluid relationship between the two
intention to treat her well even after the violation by groups. The story does not have to be understood as
entering into negotiations for marriage. projecting events that all happened within a day; it describes
• Secondly, one affected party, the Jacobites, the brothers events that happened over time. The likelihood is that
of Dinah: Shechem’s sexual violation of Dinah was ‫נְ ָבלָה‬ Shechem observed Dinah over time and came to develop
[grave sin, sacrilege] that rendered Dinah ‫[ ָטמֵא‬to be feelings towards her: ‘His soul was drawn to Dinah the
unclean] and treated her as a ‫[ זֹנָה‬prostitute]. daughter of Jacob’ (Gn 34:3). In my view, the logic of the story
• Thirdly, another affected party, Jacob, the father of Dinah: presumes that Shechem took deliberate steps to draw Dinah
The gross violation of Dinah is something that can be close to him before the rape incident: ‘He loved her and spoke
overlooked for the sake of his own safety. tenderly with her’ (Gn 34:3). This does not imply that there
may not be cases where rape can follow non-love. However,
Even though the story of Dinah is projected to operate as argued, it does not seem to be the case in the rape of Dinah.
within patriarchal norms, gynocentric perspectives present
in other biblical texts make it possible to reimagine this For some, the Hebrew idiom ‫[( דַ ּבֵר עַל־לֵב‬to speak to the heart],
text from the gynocentric perspective. As Bauckham (1996:23) Gn 34:3; 50:21; Jdg 19:3; Rt 2:13; 2 Sm 19:8; 2 Chr 30:22; 32:6;
argues, ‘Even though the majority of biblical narratives Is 40:2; Hs 2:16) was a way of Shechem to reassure Dinah
are androcentric narratives, there are enough authentically and to win her loyalty after the rape, trying to get her to
gynocentric narratives to counteract this dominant consent to the marriage (Fewell & Gunn 1992: 196; Fretheim
androcentricity, provided we allow them to do so’.7 Therefore, 1994:577; Frymer-Kensky 1998:90; Jeansonne 1990:138 n. 17;
7.See also Bauckham (1996:29–45). Kass 1992:32; Kass 2003:482; Scholz 2000:141). If this view is

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 Page 5 of 8 Original Research

followed, this implies that in the case of Shechem the rape leaving the confines of her father and her own community
precedes the love, whereas in the case of Amnon the love (Frymer-Kensky 2002:180; Graetz 1993:312; Kass 2003:479;
precedes the rape; however, in the case of Amnon, after Leupold 1942:898; Parry 2004:231–232; Sarna 1989:233; Von
the rape, the love vanished. In my view, the story of Dinah Rad 1972:331). It is this kind of character assassination of
seems to presume the ‘beautiful wife/sister in the land of victims that occurred when Cheryl Zondi’s character was
the other motif’ (see Gn 12:13–20; 20:1–18; 26:1–8).8 In this being assassinated by the defence team, which tried to
motif, kings of foreign lands deemed themselves as having portray her as a foolish young lady who willingly and
the powers to take beautiful foreign women who entered voluntarily placed her life in a dangerous venture not just
into their territory. once but twice.

In the case of Tamar’s rape, Amnon is drawn to his beautiful The fact that Dinah is rendered voiceless in the Genesis 34
sister Tamar. However, Amnon did not have the royal powers story but the male characters are given time to voice their
just to take, and so he had to use deception in order to draw opinions does not imply that she was raped in silence.
Tamar close before overpowering her and raping her. Considering the 2 Samuel 13 narrative, Dinah would have
Although the Genesis 34 story does not detail, as the 2 Samuel embodied a spirit similar to that of Tamar, the bold spirit of
13 story, the tactics used to draw Dinah close, given the looking straight into the eyes of the perpetrator and telling it
oppressive nature of states and the powers that kings had as it is:
over those who came to their territories, it is not unreasonable No, do not, because my life matters, and it matters in my
to assume that the prince Shechem could have marshalled community as well.
the state servants to apprehend Dinah. In the case of Sarah
and Rebekah, three incidences are reported of kings taking Neither does the voicelessness of Dinah imply that she had
the beautiful women who come to their territory: firstly when no high moral values, nor that she was less concerned about
Abram and Sarai went to Egypt, when state officials praised her dignity as a woman. Shechem, by striking Dinah, had
Sarai for her beauty to the Pharaoh, she was taken to the king; struck a rock that would cause him to stumble: not just him,
and secondly, the case of Abimelech, king of Gerar, who sent but his people as well.
for Sarah and took her, and thirdly, the case of Rebekah who
although not taken, Abimelech, king of Gerar, expressed the Hearing the voice of Dinah: Shechem,
idea that she could have been taken. you were warned
Although Dinah could have attempted to speak words of In reading the Genesis 34 story, some scholars tend to read
wisdom to Shechem, we know from Tamar’s rape story that Shechem’s character positively by regarding Shechem as
rapists are more interested in satisfying their own sexual acting out of love (Fretheim 1994:574–581; Sheresh 1990:85;
desires than caring about the well-being of another person. Scholz 1998:171; Frymer-Kensky 2002:189). In this view,
Yamada rightly argues that ‘the reader must ponder the Shechem’s marriage proposal after the rape is regarded
appropriateness of Shechem’s affection’; however, pace as an exoneration considering the law code in Exodus
Yamada, not so much because the relationship began with 22:15–16 and Deuteronomy 22:28–29 (Fischer 1994). Bechtel
sexual violence; rather, as Blyth (2010) argues: argues that Shechem and his father Hamor are honourable
men and that the sexual encounter between Shechem
Shechem’s apparent feelings of desire and attachment for
and Dinah was not shameful but was intended to
Dinah are by no means laudable, nor should they elicit our
sympathy for him. If anything, they should heighten our sense
strengthen the social bond between the two communities
of disdain and loathing for this man, who, despite subjecting a (Betchel 1994).
woman to the most terrible of ordeals, appears to have little or
no insight of the wrongfulness of his actions. (p. 219) Shechem’s move to negotiate a marriage to Dinah following
the rape should not be viewed as an innocent move of
In my South African context, the rape of Dinah evokes the obedience to the common law of rapist–victim marriage, but
Omotoso rape trial, in which the accused targeted young as a move that stems from the warning Dinah gave him in
girls who joined the church by presenting them with an attempt to correct his foolishness. This is analogous to
opportunities within the ministry to sing, to travel and to Tamar’s warning to Amnon:
stay in luxurious houses and then raping them when they ‫[ ְואַּתָ ה ּתִ ְהי ֶה ּכְַאחַד ַהּנְ ָבלִים ְּביִׂש ְָראֵל ְועַּתָ ה ּדַ ּבֶר־נָא אֶל־ ַה ֶּמלְֶך ּכִי ֹלא י ִ ְמנָ ֵענִי ִמ ֶּמ ָּך‬And
were trapped in the system. However, there remains a as for you, you will be like one of the disgraceful in Israel. Now,
lingering tendency to be suspicious of the victims of rape therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me
and sexual violence. Such a tendency is also reflected in from you].
the way that some have interpreted Dinah’s actions as
those of a young woman who placed herself in danger by In the words of Tamar, we should hear Dinah’s voice as well.
8.The difference between the Dinah story and the other stories is that Dinah is I paraphrase:
unmarried and there is no mention of her beauty; furthermore, considering the
development in the book of Genesis – the family of the patriarch Jacob is longer just And as for you [Shechem], you will be like one of the disgraceful
a nuclear family of husband and wife/wives, somewhat the family had grown into a in Israel. Now, therefore, please speak to my father, for he will
clan. However, as in the other story, it is the royal figure who is interested in the
woman in their territory and takes. not withhold me from you.

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Although Genesis text projects Shechem’s action of seeking divorced (Ex 22:15–16; Dt 22:28–29). The rape of Tamar story
to negotiate marriage as motivated by love towards the is a clear indication that that law was immoral, pointing to the
victim, beyond that Shechem’s negotiation of marriage has injustice of letting a rapist get away with a crime of violating
to be viewed as a response to Dinah’s words. What Shechem young women who are not yet pledged to be married as
had done was a disgraceful thing in Dinah’s community. if their lives did not matter as much as the lives of young
The account in Genesis 34 is more emphatic in describing women who are pledged for marriage. The law, inasmuch
the act of rape than is that in 2 Samuel 13, stating as it does as it was intended to regulate human behaviour, was not
that Dinah ‘was defiled’ or ‘made to be unclean’ (‫) ָטמֵא‬, that entirely successful, and its application could be undermined
Shechem had committed a ‘disgrace’ (‫)נְ ָבלָה‬, and that Shechem in more ways than one.
had treated Dinah as ‘a prostitute’ (‫)זֹנָה‬.
The rape of Dinah narrative, inasmuch as it is presented as
Amnon’s rape of Tamar is considered ‘a disgraceful thing in preceding the law code, serves intertextually to undermine
Israel’ (‫) ַהּנְ ָבלִים ְּביִׂש ְָראֵל‬, and similarly, in the case of the rape of the rapist-victim marriage law. By having the brothers
Dinah, the brothers of Dinah consider what Shechem did to claiming that such a disgraceful thing cannot be done in
be a disgraceful thing in Israel: Israel, the Dinah story thus presents an alternative to the
rapist-victim marriage. Thus, in the case of Genesis 34, it is
‫ׁש ְמעָם ַוּי ִתְ ַעּצְבּו ָה ֲאנָׁשִים ַוּיִחַר ָלהֶם מְא ֹד ּכִי־נְ ָבלָה ָעׂשָה‬
ָ ‫ּו ְבנֵי יַעֲק ֹב ּבָאּו מִן־ ַהּשָׂדֶ ה ְּכ‬
the community that undermines the law code, whereas in
‫ׁשּכַב אֶת־ּבַת־יַעֲק ֹב ְוכֵן ֹלא י ֵ ָעׂשֶה‬
ְ ‫[ ְביִׂש ְָראֵל ִל‬Now the sons of Jacob came
the 2 Samuel 13 narrative, it is the rapist who undermines the
from the field when they heard, and the men were grieved, and
they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in
law code. The two stories of rape of young women not
Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to pledged for marriage, therefore, points to the failure of the
be done]. (Gn 34:7) simplistic law code, which does not take into consideration
all the complex dimensions involved in such rape cases.
In the Genesis 34 story, what Shechem had done to Dinah
is considered a disgraceful thing, and so in a sense, using Uzakufa [You will die]
Tamar’s words, Shechem had become ‘like one of the In the two rape stories, the two women, Dinah and Tamar, are
disgraceful in Israel’ (‫)ּכְַאחַד ַהּנְ ָבלִים ְּביִׂש ְָראֵל‬. Thus, the two rape not granted room to express what they felt should be done
stories enrich each other, therefore offering us a broader with the rapist; however, in both stories, the rapist dies a
perspective on the rape of young women not pledged for violent death. In their stories, Dinah and Tamar – unlike the
marriage. women of South Africa who shouted, Uzakufa! [You will die]
at the apartheid machinery that oppressed them – do not
Rape of young women not pledged for marriage should offer any prophetic utterance.
thus be viewed as unacceptable, whether done by an insider
within the house of Israel like Amnon or by an outsider like In the Genesis 34 passage, the brothers are presented as if
Shechem; furthermore, it is unacceptable whether the love they were in agreement with the gravity of what Shechem
precedes the rape as in the case of Amnon or the love follows had done to their sister, Dinah, and the consequence thereof;
the rape as in the case of Shechem. Shechem’s attempt to however, it was only two brothers (Simeon and Levi) who
negotiate marriage following the rape could not, in light of were willing to follow through and engage in a mission to
2 Samuel 13, reverse the damage already done not just to rescue their sister Dinah, which they couched in deception
Dinah, but to his character as well. with the aim of killing Shechem and all the men in his city,
and plundering the city by taking the property and women
How could someone who had become a disgrace in Israel and children.
hope that he would successfully negotiate marriage? Shechem
should be viewed as someone who condemned himself not by The actions of the two brothers, Simeon and Levi, has resulted
his attempt to do the right thing by marrying Dinah, but in scholars regarding the main point of the Genesis 34 story
rather by not heeding her voice of wisdom; he condemned not as the rape of Dinah but as the rape of Shechem,
himself by raping the young lady and then by entering considering the gravity of the crime committed by the two
into the negotiation of marriage after the fact. Thus, reading brothers as compared to the crime done to only one person,
against the grain, we can hear a voice that undermines the Dinah.9 The crime of Shechem and the crime of the two
vocal androcentric perspectives on Genesis 34 by affirming brothers, Simeon and Levi, both deserve to be condemned.
the dignity of women. However, in the rape of Dinah story, the patriarch, Jacob,
in his speech condemns the actions of the two brothers and
In 2 Samuel 13:16, following her rape, Tamar suggests is concerned with his own safety. The words of the patriarch
to Amnon that he not send her away, as that would be an Jacob, inasmuch as they are presented as authoritative,
even ‘greater evil’ (‫ )ה ָָרעָה ַהּגְדֹולָה‬than what had already been condemn the brothers; however, the reader cannot overlook
done to her. However, the rapist, Amnon, was not willing 9.Van Wolde (2002:237) states, ‘As bad as rape is the prohibition of free movement, of
having one’s own perspective, and the denial of speech, because it makes people
to listen to such a call. Tamar’s words evoked the law code, invisible and disappears from our memories. Worse than rape, however, is genocide
which provided that a rape victim who is not yet pledged on a people, the slaughter of all men and the capturing of all the women and
children. And Dinah is held responsible for it. The first and last words of the text
for marriage should be married by her rapist never to be show that the blame falls on Dinah’.

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or brush aside the patriarch’s own concern for his interests to marry his daughter. However, in Dinah’s story, the father
and safety. The patriarch is presented as a figure who regarded (Jacob) was not interested in protecting the right of his
the virginity of his daughter as an ‘exchangeable commodity’ daughter; rather, he was concerned about his own self-
that could be compensated for through financial means or interest. However, the thought of young rape victims living
otherwise10 and condemned his daughter into a rapist-victim with their rapists probably eroded in ancient Israel society
marriage. The patriarch wanted to benefit from the long- over time. An alternative view had to be presented – the
term relationship between Shechem and Dinah in which the rapist had to die. The law had to be broken.
two parties stood to benefit. Thus, Jacob acted like the other
patriarchs, Abraham, Lot, and Isaac, who were willing to use Inasmuch as the deaths of the Hivites and Amnon may be
the women in their lives as bargaining tools in order to save viewed as unfortunate, the two rape stories in some sense
their own necks. In Jacob’s speech, it is not the anguish and reflect the self-destructive tendencies that come as a result of
plight of his daughter that is of concern but his own safety in the neglect of justice towards women at the margins and
the land for which he would rather collude with the rapist centre of society. Dinah represents women at the margins of
(Blyth 2010:118; Sheresh 1990:73). society, whereas Tamar represents women at the centre of
society. The unjust treatment of women in society, whether at
Dube (2017), reading the Dinah story from a postcolonial the margins at the centre, destroys society.
framework, regards the brothers’ insistence that their sisters
should not be treated as a whore as an indication of the
brothers’ colonial mentality, which rejected equality between
Conclusion
the two parties by projecting the Shechemites/Hivites as The rape stories of young virgins who are not pledged for
immoral. The treatment of Shechem fits with the colonial marriage, Dinah and Tamar, in Genesis 34 and 1 Samuel 13,
conquest ideology, which is reflected in the patriarchal should not be viewed simply as stories of victims of rape.
narratives in which the patriarchs are travelling heroes who The stories of these two women set them as heroines in
plunder the resources of the targeted foreign lands. Although the canonical story – the women whose stories challenged
Dube’s concerns are legitimate, it not necessary that the the legislation of the land. Dinah’s rape story is shouted
plight of the one should be overlooked, as it is the neglect of out loud in the story of the rape of Tamar. In her silence,
the plight of the one which often leads to even graver Dinah is the stone rejected by builders that has become a
injustices in society. Injustice remains injustice, even if it is cornerstone. Dinah’s suffering can be heard from other
inflicted on one person; it cannot be that justice should only women who open up about their ordeal. Thus, the two
be sought where the many are involved. I am reminded here stories should be viewed as protest stories of the rapist-
of the New Testament words of the apostle Paul that point to victim marriage law, which undermined the dignity of
the connection between the one and the many: ‘But the free women in ancient Israel.
gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one
man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the The young woman who calls me each year and says, ‘It was
free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded on this day that it happened’ has not had her day in court to
for many’ (Rm 5:15 RSV). testify about the terrible ordeal that she went through on
that fateful day, as her rapist is still on the loose – or perhaps
The story of the rape of Dinah prefigures the story of the he is dead already. However, the ordeal that she suffered not
rape of Tamar. In the rape of Tamar story, just as in the Dinah only came from the hands of her rapist, but also from those
story, Tamar offers no judgment on the rapist, Amnon;
who chose not to believe her or blamed her for the rape.
however, the rapist dies a violent death, killed by her
However, this young woman has dared to tell her story and
brother Absalom. In addition, the father, who is made aware
overcome the desolation of Tamar. Her voice shouts, Wanthint’
of the rape, is furious but does nothing; instead, he mourns
umfazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uzakufa! In her voice, the voice of
when the rapist is killed. However, in the Tamar story, unlike
the voiceless Dinah comes to life, and the voice of Tamar
in the Dinah story, the reader is given a glimpse into her
shouts even louder: ‘My life matters! Her life matters! Our
post-traumatic experience – she lived as a desolate woman
lives matter!’
in her brother’s house (2 Sm 13:20). Her voice is never heard
again; however, her name has lived on, as Absalom named
In conclusion, I sing:
his daughter Tamar; this is unlike Dinah, who is never heard
from again. Igama lamakosikazi, malibongwe,
Malibongwe, malibongwe.

Although Dinah and Tamar do not utter the word uzakufa, Igama le ka Dinah,
their stories scream. The Deuteronomic legislation concerning Malibongwe, malibongwe.
the rape of women not pledged for marriage uttered to the Igama le ka Tamar,
rapist is Uzaphila [You will live]. The law code in Exodus Malibongwe, malibongwe.
22:16–17 gave the father the right to refuse the rapist the right Igama le ka Cheryl Zondi,
10.See Washington (2004:211). Malibongwe, malibongwe.

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 Page 8 of 8 Original Research

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