They slew Hamor … with the sword is literally “… with the mouth of the sword,” an expression in which a part of an object is used to represent the whole object. “Mouth” refers to the blade or edge of the sword. This expression is used, for example, in Job 1.15. It may be preferable in some cases to avoid speaking of the sword and to say, for example, “They also killed Hamor and his son Shechem.”

Took Dinah out of Shechem’s house: Dinah, whose role is entirely passive in this story, appears now to have been held since the rape in Shechem’s house. This may appear strange since nothing was said about returning her in the marriage negotiations in verses 14-17.

And went away: this means “they left the town,” and as some translations say, “went back to their own camp.”

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 .