How old was Dinah when Shechem forced himself on her?

[TonyChanYT]

Gen 30:

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

Dinah was born before Joseph:

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

Dinah was probably some months older than Joseph.

Jacob took his family, leaving Laban and Paddan-aram in Gen 31. He wrestled with God in Gen 32. He met Esau in and financially arrived at Canaan in the city of Shechem in Gen 33.

Genesis 34:

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.

How old was Dinah?

She was old enough to have some social independence.

2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

She was old enough to get married.

Strong's Hebrew: 5291. נַעֲרָה (naarah) — 63 Occurrences

In terms of age, the word was ambiguous. Brown-Driver-Briggs:

1 girl, damsel; … especially as marriageable; … young widow

Keil and Delitzsch:

Dinah was probably between 13 and 15 at the time. … According to Genesis 37:2, Joseph was sold by his brethren when he was 17 years old, i.e., in the 11th year after Jacob's return from Mesopotamia, as he was born in the 14th year of Jacob's service with Laban.
(Note: This view is generally supported by the earlier writers, such as Demetrius, Petavius (Hengst. Diss.), etc.; only they reckon Dinah's age at 16, placing her birth in the 14th year of Jacob's service.)

How old was Dinah when Shechem forced himself on her?

I'll guess 13.

 

[Jay Ross]

Hello

May I be allowed to suggest that Jacob spent 40 years live with and working for Laban from the time that he arrived until the time that he left. The first son was probably born to Lear in the 8th year of Jacob's stay with Laban. Joseph was born six years before Jacob left to return. home to his father Isaac. This means that there was probably 32 years between Reuben birth and when Jacob left Laban employment.

Now I would humbly suggest that there was a gap of around 12 years, between Dinah's birth and Joseph's birth, which would suggest that Dinah was possibly around the age of 18 years of age when, Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land; and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her.

 

[Debp]

How old was Dinah when Shechem forced himself on her?

I'll guess 13.

Why is this topic important to you?

 

[TonyChanYT]

Why is this topic important to you?

It is not. Someone asked the question. I am interested in answering any questions. Curiosity, I guess.

 

[Jay Ross]

Why is this topic important to you?

Debp, this topic is important because if forces us to consider how long Jacob spent with Laban and also when Jacob went up to Laban's household to find a wife. This is much misunderstanding just on this part of Jacob's life.

It also forces us to consider whether our traditional understanding is right also. It is also my understanding that that there is a large gap in the timeline from when Joseph was sent down to Egypt and when Jacob took the rest of his family down with him to Egypt.

Tradition has it that Jacon was only with Laban for 20 years but if Rueben was born in the 8th years of his sojourning in the Land of Laban and Lear had borne seven children during this time and there was only one year between their births, then Dinah would have been born six years after Rueben six years before Jacob would have left Laban. That would have meant that Dinah was only six years old when the return journey began. If on the other hand there was 2 years between each birth, then Dinah would have been born just before Jacob started his journey to return home. We know that this is not true.

This pondering is not critical for our salvation but like the Genesis creation account we should form some understanding as to how it may have unfolded, know that it is not critical to our salvation.

Now I have formed the opinion that Jacob was around 43 or so years old when he set out on his quest to find a wife in Laben family and that he spent 40 years with Laban before he left to return to his father's household.

We really need to mull over the scriptures to form a better understanding of how and when the recorded events took place.

Shalom