Hundreds of years ago, Juan and his wife Liora moved their entire family to the city of Nazbosheth. They set up camp just outside of the city. Juan’s family consisted of twelve sons, eight daughters, their wives and husbands, and a hundred and twenty grandchildren, including servants, slaves, and all the livestock that his family owned.
The descendants of Heronodab, the father of Sach, owned the land where Juan and his family camped. Juan met with Heronodab and paid him one thousand pieces of silver for the property. He then set up his tents and built an altar there to honor the God of their clan.
Juan and Liora had a very beautiful daughter named Diana who went out into the city to buy fabric to make clothes and to meet some of the women who lived there. Heronadab’s son Sach, a very powerful political leader of the people, spotted her as she strolled through the market.
Sach was very attracted to Diana and inconspicuously followed her around the market, watching her every move. She moved gracefully when she walked and he loved to hear the sound of her voice when she spoke. She was very slender with long dark hair and dark brown eyes. Sach could almost imagine himself laying her gently on the bed and running his fingers through her silky hair as he made passionate love to her. He could feel himself growing warmer at the thought. His breathing was shorter and quicker and beads of sweat appeared on his brow. He wanted Diana so badly that the aching in his loins intensified as he watched her.
He had to make his move and he had to do it fast, but he wondered how he was going to get her alone. The opportunity suddenly presented itself when he saw Diana stop in front of his own home. One of the servants led her inside and Sach rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He could not believe that he was so lucky to have this beautiful woman under his own roof.
A few moments later he entered the house and with an innocent look on his face, he introduced himself to Diana. “I am Sach, son of Heronadab, a well-respected political leader in this part of the country.”
Diana was very impressed. “I am very honored to meet you,” she replied with a slight bow of her head. “I am Diana, daughter of Juan and Liora.”
“I wonder if I could have a private word with you, my lady. It is very important that I speak with you.” He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and added very quickly, “It concerns the welfare of our two clans.”
The young lady nodded her head in response. “Of course, my lord.”
Sach led her to a different room. He dismissed all of the servants and closed the door. When they were finally alone he did not waste his time with small talk. “I have been watching you, Diana, as you walked through the market. I think you are a very beautiful woman.” He took a step towards her, lifted his hand, and let it trail lazily down her throat towards her cleavage.
Diana took a step backward and bowed her head in embarrassment. “My lord, please don’t do this. It is a disgrace for a man to take a woman before marriage.”
“Is it a disgrace for me to display my love for you, Diana?” he demanded. He grabbed her and held her in a steel grip. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Diana,” he whispered softly in her ear as he felt her trembling. “Just give me your full cooperation and I will not hurt you.”
The young woman shook her head vigorously and looked pleadingly at him with tears in her eyes. “My lord, please don’t! I have never been intimate with a man before and I want to wait until I am given in marriage. Please do not treat me like a whore!”
Sach ignored her protests and forced her to lie down on the floor and he violated her.
When he had finished he sat up beside her and sighed deeply. Diana got up and wrapped herself as best as she could in her torn clothes. She was crying softly and Sach’s heart melted. He gently touched her arm and she flinched, backing away from him. “Diana, I know that you feel scared and ashamed, but I promise you that you will not be living in disgrace for too long. I want you to be my wife. I have every intention of marrying you.
“Just think of it, Diana. Our two clans can become one great and powerful nation! With your family’s wealth and our lands, we can become one of the most powerful nations in the country!”
The young woman silently stared at him in disbelief. “Just wait and see, Diana,” he assured her. “It will all come to pass, starting with our marriage.”
Later in the day, with Diana locked securely in his bed-chamber, Sach went to seek out his father. He told Heronadab how much he was in love with Diana and talked him into getting her father to agree to make her his wife. Heronadab heartily agreed and he and Sach went together to talk to Diana’s father.
Meanwhile, Juan heard from one of his servants what had happened to Diana. But his sons were out milking the cows, so he decided to wait until they returned before doing anything.
When Juan’s sons returned from work and learned that their sister had been raped, they became extremely angry. “How could he do this to our sister?” Lovan, Diana’s older brother demanded.
“Rape is the most disgraceful act in our clan and it should not be tolerated,” Simon, Lovan’s younger brother stated hotly.
Heronadab had just arrived at the camp and as he approached their tent, he overheard the conversation between Diana’s brothers. He stopped at the entrance and bowed humbly in greeting and said to Juan and his sons, “I am very sorry to admit it is true that my son has had his way with Diana. But he is really in love with her and he wants to marry her. Please let Sach marry Diana. In fact, why don’t you start allowing your families to marry into our families and ours to marry into yours? We have plenty of lands, enough for all of us to live together. You can choose the property you want anywhere on our lands, then buy it and settle down here.”
Sach added, “Just ask me for anything and I will give it to you. It does not matter how expensive it is, I will do anything to marry Diana.”
Lovan spoke up, “Brothers, I think we need to discuss this among ourselves before we make a final decision.” To Heronadab and his son Sach, he said, “Please excuse us while we discuss the matter. We will not be long. You will have your answer before you leave.” The two men were asked to wait outside of the tent. Juan went out and offered to give Heronadab and Sach a guided tour of the camp.
As soon as they were out of earshot each one of them began to talk at once. “We cannot let Sach marry Diana! It is against the rules of our clan.”
“Sach and his entire family must be punished for what they did to Diana!”
“We must get even with Sach and his father!”
“Their whole family must pay for this evil thing that Sach has done!”
Lovan held up his hands and everyone fell silent. “Brothers, listen to me! I have an idea. I know how we can get Diana back and get even with Sach and his father. We can trick them into thinking that we want Sach to marry our sister…” The brothers huddled together as the eldest brother told them of his idea.
When their father returned with Heronadab and Sach, the brothers were ready with an answer.
Lovan said, “According to the rules of our clan, it would be a disgrace for us to allow you to marry Diana when you are not circumcised. The only way we could let you marry our sister is if you and the other men in your clan get circumcised. Then your families can marry into ours, and our families can marry into yours, and we can live together like one nation. But if you don’t agree to get circumcised, we will take Diana and leave this place.”
Heronadab and Sach gladly agreed to what was said. Sach was so excited about his marriage to Diana that he hurried off to prepare the men of his clan to be circumcised and to make preparations for the wedding. Sach was well respected and very popular with the people of his clan and he was very confident that he could persuade the men to get circumcised.
The two men met with the other men in their city and told them, “We have great news! We have spoken to the leaders of the other clan and they are very friendly. They have agreed to let our families intermarry. The only thing we have to do is be circumcised like the men in their clan. Once we are circumcised, they will agree to stay here and become one nation with us. We can let them move freely until they find the property they want. There’s enough land here for them and for us. Then our families can marry into theirs, and their families can marry into ours.”
Sach added, “Think about it! By allowing our families to intermarry we’ll share their wealth, and we’ll get their property, as well as their flocks and herds. All we have to do is to agree to be circumcised, and they will live here with us. We’ll become one of the most powerful and wealthiest nations in the country. We will finally have the strength to crush our enemies!”
Every grown man agreed to follow this advice and got circumcised.
Sach was so happy that everything was going according to his plan. As soon as he gets circumcised he will be allowed to marry Diana and the two clans will become one great nation. He was so excited that he could hardly wait!
Three days later, the men who had been circumcised, including Sach and his father Heronadab, were still weak from pain. Lovan and Simon proceeded with the second part of their plan. They entered the city, drew their swords, and attacked and killed every man, including Heronadab and Sach.
Then they rescued their sister and took her home. The other brothers came and took possession of everything that was of value. All this was done because their sister was raped and disgraced. They robbed the whole city of sheep, goats, donkeys, cattle, gold, silver, and everything else that was valuable. They also dragged away the wives and children of their victims and forced them to be their slaves.
Juan found out what his sons did and was filled with grief. He said to Lovan and Simon, “Look what you’ve done! Now I’m in real trouble with the other clans who live around here. There aren’t many of us, and if they attack, they’ll kill everyone in my household. Why did you do this terrible thing?”
Simon replied, “Was it right to let Sach treat our own sister like a whore?”
Lovan added, “Father, we had to do it to avenge our sister. We took our revenge on those men because of Diana and what they did to her.”
(Based on the story in Genesis 34:1-31, NIV Bible)
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