Since Dinah does not play an active role in the story, we cannot tell if Dinah loves Shechem or not. The matter that requires negotiation, however, is the agreement of Dinah’s family to a marriage. The marriage arrangement must be made between the fathers (sometimes a mother, as in the case of Hagar and Ishmael) of the young couple. See the case of Abraham and Isaac in chapter 24, and that of Samson in Judges 14.2.

So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor: Revised Standard Version treats the Hebrew connective as a consequence. Other translations have no logical link at the beginning of this verse. Some prefer a word like “then.”

Get me this maiden for my wife: the language is surprisingly direct and may reflect the narrator’s feeling against Canaanites. Note that Good News Translation has made Shechem’s demand more polite than the original. It may be necessary to fill out Shechem’s words to make his thought clear; for example, “Ask her father to let me marry this girl” or “Buy [pay the bride price for] that woman so that we-two can marry.”

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 .