And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob: soul (nefesh) is used here as the center of the emotions and affections. The literal expression is a Hebrew idiom: “His soul fastened on Dinah.” The verb is used in 2.24 of a man uniting with his wife, in Ruth 1.14 of Ruth holding on to Naomi, and in Job 19.20 of the skin clinging to the bones. In English we may say, for example, “he was greatly attracted to her” or “he fell deeply in love with her.” New English Bible “he remained true to” has been revised by Revised English Bible to say more fittingly “Shechem was deeply attached to….”

He loved the maiden: the love of a man for a woman is expressed in some languages by figurative expressions; for example, “his heart followed her,” “his liver went out to her.” Maiden has been revised to “girl” in New Revised Standard Version. The term used in translation should refer to a young woman of marriageable age.

And spoke tenderly to her is literally “he spoke upon her heart,” an idiom that is used in Judges 19.3 of the Levite who tried to get back the concubine who had run away from him. Shechem tries to convince Dinah of his love for her. Note Good News Translation “tried to win her affection,” and Bible en français courant “He tried to win her heart.” Again Revised English Bible has rejected New English Bible “comforted her” and translated “sought to win her affection.” We may also say, for example, “He tried to get her to love him too.” Some languages have idioms for the kind of talk that tries to win over someone; in this context, for example, one translation is “he made sweet talk so that Dinah would love him.”

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 .