Chastity and Childbirth: The power of Women in the Old Testament
...e give her to him in marriage.” (Genesis 34:8). Shechem still felt the need to interject with: “Do me this favor, and I will pay whatever you tell me. Ask of me a bride-price ever so high, as well as gifts, and I will pay what you tell me; only give me the maiden for a wife.” (Genesis 34:11) Here we see that Shechem is so in love with Dinah that he would do anything for her. Shechem went from being in total control, laying with Dinah by force, to being almost powerless, as we can infer from his statement of Dinah being priceless to him. Dinah’s power over Shechem will lead him to his downfall, alongside all his people. Although there is no scene where she asks for retribution, her father and brothers are angry enough to act violently. The definition of power includes, “a person with great influence over others.” In this respect Dinah has power over the men surrounding her. From Shechem who wishes to marry her, to her brothers who will ultimately kill in the name of her honor. After hearing the request of Hamor and Shechem, Jacob’s sons respond with the conditions that would lead to Shechem getting Dinah as a wife. Shechem eager to comply leads his people to circumcise the men and believe Jacob’s tribe is a friendly one. The brothers using Shechem’s love for Dinah lull the community into a false sense of security. Although the brothers are the actual sword wielders, they are acting under Dinah’s power. Descendants seem to be priority in Israelite marriages. In the story of Tamar, once her husband Er died, his brother was expected to help Tamar bear descendants. By Modern standards such a thing would be disgraceful, but in context wholly necessary. This display shows us how important children are. Tamar then is empowered by the fact that she can bear children. For a moment she is powerless, “she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife.” (Gen 38:14). Then taking matters into her own hands, she uses Judah to have a child. A deeper probe into the text shows us the scope of Tamar’s power. These men she was lying with were not men she seduced; rather they were brothers following a sense of duty, or direct orders. Her second husband was there to help her produce children, a practical marriage. Tamar needed a son, someone who could care for a widow, as women were considered property. After Onan, the second man, wastes his seed and is consequently struck down for it, the third son is expected to help her conceive. Then when Shelah is not granted a marriage with her, she is alone, a widow who must revert to living with her father. There are no more brothers and she has no children, she would have remained a widow, and without anyone to posses her she would have been on of the lowest tiers in society. In such a desperate position she was forced to resort to trickery. This was deception, but not in the name of treachery. Thus when she lay with Judah it was not a treacherous act. The duty that was Shelah’s, Tamar shifted to Judah. It was Judah that denied Shelah to Tamar, and so Tamar saw that she could justify lying with Judah for the sake of children. Ta...