Only a 'Short Stop?'
At first glance, one could answer that Shechem was nothing more than a short stop along the way to Bet-El. As we know, Yaakov's young children and immense cargo forced him to travel slowly (see 33:12-15). Thus, Yaakov's 'brief stay' in Shechem could be considered no different than his 'brief stay' in Succot (see 33:17). [See "Further Iyun" regarding Yaakov's stay in Succot.]

But this approach is difficult to accept for two reasons:

1) Yaakov travelled the distance from Padan Aram to Har ha'Gilad in only seven days (see 31:21-23 and read carefully). Now that journey is much longer than the trip from the Gilad to Bet-El. (See Board #5.) Therefore, there seems to be no reason why Yaakov cannot complete the remainder of his journey to Bet-El in two or three days, a week at most!

2) Even if Yaakov does plan to 'rest' in Shechem for a few days, why would he buy a parcel of land? Furthermore, the overall impression from chapter 34 is that Yaakov and his family have pretty much settled down in Shechem (see 34:7, 34:10, 34:21 etc.).

In fact, when we consider everyone's ages according to "pshat," we are almost forced to conclude that the incident with Dena took place several years after Yaakov's arrival in Eretz Canaan! Let's explain why.