DINA (Hebrew Dīnāḥ). — Daughter of the patriarch Jacob, born to him by Leah (Gen 30:21) while they were in Mesopotamia. In Palestine, in the region of Shechem, Dina—who must have been very young—was abducted and violated by Shechem, son of the local king Hamor the Hivite, while she was wandering alone in the foreign city.
When the abductor asked to marry her, she was granted to him by her father Jacob and by her brothers. Two of these brothers, however (Simeon and Levi), carried out a cruel and treacherous revenge against Shechem and all the men of the city in the most brutal manner (Gen 34). This aroused Jacob’s indignation, who, even before his death, recalled the grim episode (Gen 49:5-6). A rabbinic legend identifies her with the wife of Job.