They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 31. Should they, and so forth This answer, full of insolence, to a father who was as much hurt by the indignity offered to Dina as they could be, heightens their crime. Sichem was the only one among the citizens really guilty, unless perhaps some of his servants might have given him assistance; and Hemor, the king, might contract some stain by not causing a better police to be observed, and by not punishing his son with greater severity, and not sending Dina home, and so forth But why are the harmless citizens to be involved in ruin? unless
Quicquid delirant Reges, plectuntur Achivi. Bible.
Procopius says Hemor also abused Dina; but the plural is here used for the singular, and this author builds upon a false supposition. Calmet.