O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
My soul, don't join their secret meetings; my honor, don't be united with their group: because in their anger they killed a man, and in their stubbornness they tore down a wall.
The writer is distancing himself from violent people who killed someone in anger and destroyed property out of stubbornness.
📚 Historical Context
In Genesis 49, Jacob is on his deathbed, blessing his twelve sons and prophesying about their descendants, as part of the larger narrative of Israel's family history. He specifically rebukes Simeon and Levi for their role in the violent massacre at Shechem, where they avenged their sister Dinah's violation by killing the men of the city in a fit of rage. This event, described earlier in Genesis 34, underscores the consequences of uncontrolled anger within the family dynamics of the patriarchs.
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