What does Genesis 34:21 mean?
Jacob's sons have told Hamor and Shechem that they'll allow their sister, Dinah, to marry Shechem (Genesis 34:14–16). This, however, is a lie (Genesis 34:13). The brothers are plotting revenge against Shechem for raping their sister (Genesis 34:1–3). Their deceptive condition is that every man in the city must be circumcised as they are. In the prior verse, Hamor and his son began their appeal to the townspeople.They start with the easy part: Let's intermarry with Jacob's people and allow them to live peacefully with us. There's plenty of room for everyone. Jacob has come into this region with considerable wealth (Genesis 30:43), so this is an attractive benefit.
Father and son start off mentioning peace, which might mean the townspeople are concerned about revenge. This might be a way of putting pressure on everyone to maintain good diplomacy. What they don't realize is that they're negotiating their own destruction.