Jacob’s sons do not respond to his doomsday forecast. Their minds have never left the thought of their sister’s disgrace. They now express their feelings in a rhetorical question.

Should he [Shechem] treat our sister as a harlot?: treat, which renders the common verb “to do” or “to make,” means to “deal with,” “handle,” or “act toward her” as if she were a harlot. In the Hebrew a single verb means “to be a harlot” and “to commit fornication [have illicit sex].” In a context such as this, a word that expresses bad feelings, like the English word “whore,” is more suitable than harlot.

Although prostitution may not be practiced locally, it is nearly everywhere well known. The choice of a word to translate harlot must be carefully weighed so that the reading of it in public does not cause embarrassment. In some languages words for harlot are figurative expressions; for example, “one who plays the bitch [she-dog],” “woman who takes men in,” “girl everybody sleeps with,” “woman who sells herself,” “woman of the road.” See also comments on 38.15.

In translation the rhetorical question may have to take a different form; in some languages, for example, Jacob’s sons say “What? Should we have let them treat our sister like a prostitute?” In some languages the rhetorical question must be answered. If the question form is unsatisfactory, it may be expressed as a negative statement: “He [Shechem] can’t treat our sister like a whore” or “We can’t let them do that to our sister. She isn’t the kind of girl that everybody can sleep with.”

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 .