דינה ותמר

(1) And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. (2) And Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; and he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her. (3) And his soul did cleave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spoke comfortingly unto the damsel. (4) And Shechem spoke unto his father Hamor, saying: ‘Get me this damsel to wife.’ (5) Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; and his sons were with his cattle in the field; and Jacob held his peace until they came. (6) And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to speak with him. (7) And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought a vile deed in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done. (8) And Hamor spoke with them, saying ‘The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you give her unto him to wife. (9) And make ye marriages with us; give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

...

(25) And it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city unawares, and slew all the males. (26) And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went forth.

...

(30) And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: ‘Ye have troubled me, to make me odious unto the inhabitants of the land, even unto the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and, I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.’ (31) And they said: ‘Should one deal with our sister as with a harlot?’

(1) And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. (2) And Amnon was so distressed that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do any thing unto her. (3) But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man. (4) And he said unto him: ‘Why, O son of the king, art thou thus becoming leaner from day to day? wilt thou not tell me?’ And Amnon said unto him: ‘I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.’ (5) And Jonadab said unto him: ‘Lay thee down on thy bed, and feign thyself sick; and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him: Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.’ (6) So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick; and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king: ‘Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.’ (7) Then David sent home to Tamar, saying: ‘Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him food.’ (8) So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was lying down. And she took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes. (9) And she took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said: ‘Have out all men from me.’ And they went out every man from him. (10) And Amnon said unto Tamar: ‘Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat of thy hand.’ And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. (11) And when she had brought them near unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her: ‘Come lie with me, my sister.’ (12) And she answered him: ‘Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel; do not thou this wanton deed. (13) And I, whither shall I carry my shame? and as for thee, thou wilt be as one of the base men in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.’ (14) Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her. (15) Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her: ‘Arise, be gone.’ (16) And she said unto him: ‘Not so, because this great wrong in putting me forth is worse than the other that thou didst unto me.’ But he would not hearken unto her. (17) Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said: ‘Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.’— (18) Now she had a garment of many colours upon her; for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled.—And his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her. (19) And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of many colours that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went. (20) And Absalom her brother said unto her: ‘Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? but now hold thy peace, my sister: he is thy brother; take not this thing to heart.’ So Tamar remained desolate in her brother, Absalom’s house. (21) But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. (22) And Absalom spoke unto Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.

(1) ותצא דינה בת לאה, she went forth from her mother’s tent, her father also not being at home, and she came into the town to get acquainted with other girls in the town. The reason why the Torah underscored that she was the daughter of Leah, a fact we are all familiar with, was to remind us “like mother like daughter.” Her mother had been described in 30,16 by the words ותצא לאה לקראתו, “Leah went forth to meet her husband,” suggesting that she took an initiative which was not common for her. The reason the Torah added another fact that we knew already, i.e. אשר ילדה ליעקב, “whom she had born for Yaakov,” is to alert us to the fact that what happened to her was a punishment for her father (as we explained in 32,23).

בת לאה. And not the daughter of Yaakov; because she went out she is called after Leah, since she also went out, as it says: And Leah went out to greet him (and from her we learn, a daughter is like her mother)

וישכב אותה ויענה. "And he lay with her" - in a natural way, "And he made her suffer" - in an unnatural way, this is Rashi's explanation. But R. Avraham says "And he made her suffer" because she was a virgin, but this is unnecessary as all rape is called suffering... And the verse explains that she was raped and did not want [to lie with] the prince of the land in order to praise her.

Dina's guilt, Yaakov's guilt...

ויקחו את דינה. R' Yudin says: They dragged her out. R' Huna says: A woman who has intercourse with a gentile, it's hard to separate her [from him]. R' Huna says: She said: Where will I go with my shame? Until Shimon swore to her that he would take her, as it says: "Shaul the son of the Canaanite," the son of Dina who had sex with a Canaanite. R' Yehuda and R' Nehemiah and the Rabbis: R' Yehuda says: Because he did a deed like the Canaanites. R' Nehemiah says: Because she had sex with a Hivite, which is included among the Canaanites. And the Rabbis say: Shimon took her and buried her in the land of Canaan.

Questions: Why does it say "And it was after this," and with regard to Tamar was she Amnon's sister or not?

ויהי אחרי כן. This tells how the punishments that Natan promised David were brought about one by one. After the death of the child was the story of Tamar which is followed by the death of Avshalom and after that the story of Avshalom...

כי בתולה היא. She was modest in the home and didn't go outside, therefore "It seemed hard in Amnon's eyes etc.," it was hidden from him what he could do to lay with her...

כי בתולה היא. And the virgins were modest in the hall and it was impossible that she would happen before him, therefore ויפלא...

כי לא יעשה כן בישראל. She didn't say this because it was not fitting to sleep with his sister because of sexual immorality, for if it was this how would the king have allowed him? Rather she said it is not done in Israel to come on a woman by way of זנות, instead of by way of marriage and from this it becomes clear that Tamar was not really his sister which is why the Rabbis say Tamar was the daughter of a woman captured in a battle who had relations when she was a gentile and became impregnated from David. Afterwards she converted and David married her and because her [Tamar's] mother was not a convert at the time of pregnancy she is not considered the daughter of David because the son of an Israelite and a maidservant is not called the son of that Israelite...

He told her to be quiet for 3 reasons: If [she was upset] for her own honor, she wouldn't be reviled for having been alone with a man because he wasn't a stranger but rather "Your brother was with you," and if for his honor "be quiet, he is your brother," and if for the bad deed itself, "Don't take this thing to heart," it's good for you to forget this because what was, was. "And she dwelt"- Tamar whose way it was to always walk about and to be happy and rejoice like the unmarried daughters of the king, now "she dwelt" and did not go outside.