Abstract:
Many critical readers of the Jacob story wonder: “What is the relevance of
Genesis 34 to the Jacob narrative?” Besides, my close examination of different biblical
interpretations and translations of the Jacob story of Gen 28:10-35:15 in general and the
Dinah story of chapter 34 in particular demonstrates that the episodes of this narrative
unit (Gen 28:10-35:15) are treated as if they were isolated episodes, which has resulted in
misunderstanding and mistranslating of the story. Consequently, the readers of the Dinah
story have difficulty to see its relevance to the Jacob story.
In this dissertation, I will attempt to address this problem and show how reading
Genesis 28:10-35:15 as a votive narrative in the light of the Hadiyya culture and
Relevance Theory will help us to explain the relevance of the Dinah episode to Jacob
story. I wish to show that Gen 28:10-35:15 is a coherent narrative unit and each episode
of the story, including the Dinah story, is a componential part of the building blocks of
the discourse structure of Jacob’s votive narrative. I will demonstrate how the coherence
of the narrative is developed and explain the communicative intention of the story in
depth. I also wish to suggest, in brief, how to translate it in order to convey the same
message to secondary audiences. Thus, resolving this problem will crucially help the
readers and translators of the story to draw the intended communicative intention and
translate it.
I also intend to show that a correct understanding of the Hebrew concept נדר
‘vow’ in the context of the ancient Israelite’s social institution is fundamental for the
reading and translating of Genesis 28:10-35:15. This same institutional framework of the
vow will assist us to explain the relevance of Genesis 34 to the Jacob story.
