ותדבק נפשו, this was the opposite of Amnon having raped Tamar whose infatuation with her turned to disgust the moment he had satisfied his biological urge. (Samuel II 13,14-16)

בדינה בת יעקב, because she was the daughter of the widely respected Yaakov, someone of an international reputation. The Torah confirms this once more later in verse 19 when it describes Shechem as desiring the “daughter of Yaakov.”

והחריש יעקב עד בואם, he refrained from starting a quarrel until his sons would have been informed of what happened so that they could be on their guard against their adversaries.

ויצא חמור, when he noticed that Yaakov’s reaction had been silence he began to worry about reprisals.

ויתיצבו האנשים ויחר, the sadness and sorrow described by the Torah as the brothers’ reaction pertained to the despicable deed that had been perpetrated against a member of Yisrael’s family. This was in spite of the fact that whereas Jews do not rape unmarried virgins, gentiles are known to be guilty of this. Seeing that even in gentile circles it was taboo to rape the daughters of prominent citizens, the Torah adds the words וכן לא יעשה, that such a thing was totally unacceptable. Their anger, ויחר, therefore was turned against the perpetrators and against those who had condoned the act.

וסחרוה,. Event though normally, newcomers were not allowed to engage in the kind of commerce or artisanship which would compete with that practiced by the local inhabitants. We have this principle in Baba Batra 21, where it is spelled out as the right of the local inhabitant who feels economically threatened by competition from a new immigrant. He is accorded the right to lodge a complaint against the newcomer practicing his trade in his town. [an ancient form of the policy of “closed shop.” Ed.]

הרבה עלי מאד, as a penance he would be prepared to pay over and above the customary amount of a dowry.

במרמה, they demanded that the people circumcise themselves expecting them to refuse. Alternatively, they thought that Shechem and Chamor, although prepared themselves to circumcise themselves, would not be able to convince the townsfolk to follow their example.

וידברו, אשר טמא; they said that the kind of ipso facto voluntary circumcision which Shechem and his father were willing to perform on themselves was not relevant after Shechem had already defiled their sister. They considered this as in the category of אתנן זונה, offering the price paid to a whore as a sacrifice on G’d’s altar.

כי חרפה היא לנו, it would appear that none of the circumcised men among us were fit to marry our sister.

ולקחנו את בתנו, even though she is at this point in time locked up in your house we will liberate her from you.

והלכנו, with all our wealth which you would otherwise benefit from.

והוא נכבד, in spite of his high reputation he did not hesitate to agree to circumcise himself, because he had taken such a liking to the daughter of Yaakov.

שלמים הם אתנו, they are of a totally peaceful disposition towards us. They do not intend to revenge themselves for the indignity their family has suffered.

ויהרגו כל זכר, these men had not circumcised themselves in order to become Jews and embrace monotheism but only in order to lay their hands on the vast possessions of the family of Yaakov, as their leaders Chamor and Shechem had promised them.

ואת חמור ואת שכם בנו הרגו, they went looking for them and found them.

העיר אשר טמאו, unless according to the mores of Shechem (city) such behaviour was no longer considered despicable, Schechem would not have done what he did. He felt sure he could get away with it, as his townspeople would not object. However raping virgins was commonplace in Shechem already. They behaved in the manner described in Genesis 6,2 “they took women for themselves from wherever they chose.” [the punishment for this type of violence had been the deluge. Ed.]

להבאישני, the local population would accuse us of having gone back on our agreement after the people of Shechem had circumcised themselves.

?הכזונה, only a harlot does not have anyone standing up in her defense, avenging violence done to her. יעשה, “shall the people who you are afraid of rising up against us be allowed to get away with such conduct? את אחותנו, who was not a harlot. It is incumbent upon us to avenge her disgrace. Once the inhabitants of the region will understand this they will have no reason to attack us.”