Alexander Rofé, «Defilement of Virgins in Biblical Law and the Case of Dinah (Genesis 34)», Vol. 86 (2005) 369-375
Seduction or rape of a virgin in the Biblical milieu did not signify her being
defiled. The Hebrew verb t-imme) (to defile) applied to married or betrothed
women only. The case of Dinah is an exception. In Genesis 34, it is stated three
times that Jacob’s daughter was defiled by Shechem (vv. 5.13.27). A plausible
explanation of this state of affairs is that Genesis 34 reflects the late, postexilic
notion that the idolatrous gentiles are impure which implies the prohibition of
intermarriage and intercourse with them (Ezra 9, 11-12). The concept of the
impurity of idolaters persisted in post-biblical literature. Thus, the assertion that
Dinah was defiled by Shechem betrays a late date of composition in respect of
this story. This confirms Kuenen’s hypothesis that Genesis 34 in its present form
is a late chapter, containing an anti-Samaritan polemic which originated in the
Restoration Community of the Fifth-Fourth centuries BCE.
The Role of Space in the twl[mh 461
yryv
is created by, experienced by, and seen through the eyes of the “Iâ€,
whether he/she is a commoner or a king, a member of the religious
community or an individual grappling with complex and bewildering
circumstances. The “I†experiences his/her world either off-centre or
at-centre. To be off-centre is to be in negative space, to experience
distress, illness, persecution, moral failure, divine judgement, to live
in the presence of enemies, even in the face of death, far from the
presence of YHWH. To be at-centre is to be in positive space, to
experience harmony, health, peace, reconciliation, to live in the
presence of YHWH and in harmony with the community of the
faithful.
In a very special sense temple in Jerusalem becomes the meeting
point between the human (concrete) world and the divine (mytho-
logical) world. Jerusalem becomes the centre of the universe(20). There
the cosmic planes intersect to create a three-story universe: a vertical
plane intersects earth and extends down into the chaotic waters below,
and the same plane extends upwards into heaven. To “ascend†is to be
close to Yahweh, to experience life. To “descend†is to sink down into
the Deep, the realm of death (21). To be “far†from the temple amounts
to be far from YHWH, to be “near†the temple is to experience
YHWH’s presence (22). The highest ideal of the “I†is to be at-centre
for there he experiences wholeness, peace, and blessedness. Concepts
such as inside/outside, high/low, far/near, clean/unclean, holy/unholy
contribute towards the psychological, ideological and moral
perspective of the text. They define lived space as safe or unsafe;
comfortable or uncomfortable; acceptable or unacceptable.
All of this implies that space is not static but dynamic and
relational (23), there is movement through space, e.g. from “concreteâ€
space toward “abstract†space or from “negative†space towards
(20) MILLARD, Komposition, 188-227 indicates that it is especially during the
post-exilic period that this pre-occupation with Jerusalem as religious centre
manifested in the redaction of books such as Isaiah (cf. Isa 1; 12; 56-66) and the
Psalter (cf. especially so-called “pilgrimage psalms†such as the Egyptian Hallel
and the Songs of Ascents).
(21) THOMPSON, Introducing, 60-64.
(22) B. JANOWSKI, “Die heilige Wohnung des Höchsten. Kosmologische
Implikationen der Jerusalemer Tempeltheologieâ€, Gottesstadt und Gottesgarten.
Zu Geschichte und Theologie des Jerusalemer Tempels (Hrsg. O. KEEL –
E. ZENGER) (Quaestiones disputatae 191; Freiburg – Basel 2002) 27.
(23) BERQUIST, “Theories of spaceâ€, 7.