Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah: Now is used by Revised Standard Version to shift the scene to Jacob. Some say “When Jacob learned….” Good News Translation begins a new paragraph. Heard may need to be rendered as “learned” or “found out.” He refers to Shechem. Defiled normally means to become or to make ritually unclean. Defilement could be caused by doing many forbidden acts in the Old Testament. In the sexual realm a man could become defiled by having sex with a menstruating woman, with his neighbor’s wife, with another man, or with an animal (Lev 18.19-23). In verses 5, 13, and 27 the term defiled is probably used on two levels of meaning. The more obvious is “dishonored,” “violated,” “disgraced.” At a deeper level the term is no doubt used because Dinah was forced to have sex with an uncircumcised Canaanite. In translation it is sufficient to express the dishonor or disgrace committed against her. A common translation that uses a euphemism (an expression that avoids the direct words) for sexual misconduct is “Jacob got the news that Shechem had made trouble for [or, with] his daughter.”
But his sons were with his cattle in the field is the reason Jacob says nothing about this matter. In some languages it will be more natural to express the reason first; for example, “Jacob’s sons were in the field caring for the livestock, and so he held his peace until they came home.” Cattle refers to livestock generally. Field refers to the open country where the animals were taken to graze.
Held his peace translates the Hebrew “kept silent.” We may also translate, for example, “so Jacob said nothing about it.” A number of translations make this refer to action in general rather than just speaking; for example, “He didn’t do anything straight away, because… He just waited for them to come home.”
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 .