Only on this condition will we consent to you: Only is used restrictively to mean that the agreement to give Dinah to Shechem is possible, provided the males accept circumcision. On this condition is literally “on this.” It points forward to the next part of the verse, namely, that the males of Shechem agree to become circumcised. Consent to you means “agree to give you our sister.”
The translation of Only on this condition will we … may require restructuring in some languages. Two different examples of such restructuring are: (1) “You must do one thing first. You must cut … After that we can agree to your request.” (2) “There is only one way. If you become like us…, that is when we will agree to….”
That you [plural] will become as we are: the meaning of as we are may need to be made clear by saying, for example, “become circumcised like us.”
That … every male of you be circumcised: every male included all males from infants to old men. Be circumcised translates the Hebrew passive. Languages that cannot use a passive here may be able to say, for example, “and someone will circumcise every one of your males,” or “they will circumcise every male,” or “you [plural] must circumcise….”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .