Verse 6
6. Their secret council Allusion to their private conspiracy to massacre the men of Shechem .
Unite not This uniting in secret assembly is to be punished by dividing and scattering them . Genesis 49:7.
My honour Used of the heart or soul, as the noblest and most honourable part of man’s nature . Compare Psalms 7:5; Psalms 16:9; Psalm 30:13 . But at the same time the ordinary meaning of the word may be here kept prominent: Let not my honour be compromised or tarnished by any union with their counsels .
They slaughtered men Hebrews, a man. The singular, though used collectively, gives peculiar vividness to the thought as conceived in the Hebrew idiom.
They houghed oxen Here, too, the Hebrew employs the singular in the same collective sense. The fact stated illustrates the wanton cruelty of these brothers. The common version, they digged down a wall, follows the Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, Aquila, and Symmachus; but the authority of these versions, which have copied from one another, is outweighed by the fact that in all other passages where the Piel of this word ( עקר ) occurs, it means to hamstring or hough an animal . Such uniform usage has greater authority than the testimony of many versions.
Be the first to react on this!
