Faith
Did Dina daughter of Jacob marry Simeon?
Tradition and sources regarding Dina's marriage to Simeon
Question
There is a tradition that Simeon son of Jacob took Dina daughter of Jacob, his sister, as a wife after the incident of Shechem. Are there details known about this story and what are the sources?
Answer
Greetings. Regarding the verse (Genesis 34:10) "And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman," Rashi cites the words of the Sages and early commentators: "The son of the Canaanite woman - is the son of Dina who was violated by a Canaanite. When they killed Shechem, Dina was unwilling to leave until Simeon swore to marry her, as is stated in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, Parashat Pekudei 51). Rav Huna said, [Dina said] 'And where will I take my disgrace?' until Simeon swore to marry her." Regarding the difficulty of how she could have married her brother, several explanations were offered. The most notable is written in the Tur commentary on the Torah (Genesis there), based on the well-known Midrash found in Jonathan's translation (Genesis 30:21), that initially Rachel was pregnant with Dina, not with Yosef; later, by a wondrous exchange, Yosef and Dina switched, and therefore it is possible to say that Dina is not considered Simeon's sister from the mother, since the pregnancy was with Rachel, and before the giving of the Torah the halacha was that only a maternal sister was prohibited from marriage, not a sister from the father alone. This is also written in the Tosafot Shalem on the Torah (same place, as well as in Parashat Mem Vav Yod). However, Ramban (Genesis 34:12) describes Dina's end thus: "He did not mention what happened to her afterward, and according to the straightforward meaning, she remained with her brother as a wife in widowhood, for she was considered impure in their eyes, as it is written 'who defiled Dina their sister.' Our Rabbis dispute regarding this (Bereishit Rabbah chapter 81), and the closer opinion says Simeon took her and buried her in the land of Canaan, and as we said, she was with him at home as a widow and went down with them to Egypt where she died and was buried in the land. Her burial place is known to this day by tradition as being in the city of Arbela with the tomb of Netai HaArbeli. Perhaps Simeon, moved with compassion for her, brought up her bones, or they were brought up by Israel along with the bones of her brothers the tribes, as our Rabbis mentioned. Many blessings – Menasheh Yisrael.
עברית
