Texts in Conversation
In Jacob’s curse on Simeon and Levi, the Hebrew version of Genesis 49:6 says they hamstrung oxen, describing repeated cruelty. The Greek Septuagint translation narrows this to a single bull, reading the violence as one specific act.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 49:6
Hebrew Bible
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their knives! 6 O my soul, do not come into their council, do not be united to their assembly, my heart, for in their anger they have killed men, and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their fury, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel!
LXX Genesis 49:6
Septuagint
5 Symeon and Leui are brothers; they put an end to lawlessness from their midst. 6 May my soul not come into their council, and may my inward parts not press in on their company, because in their anger they killed men and in their passion they hamstrung a bull. 7 Cursed be their anger, because it is selfcentered, and their wrath, because it has grown hard! I will divide them in Iakob and scatter them in Israel.
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Notes and References
"... the Septuagint has, “they ended the violence of their nature, ... because in their anger they slew men, and in their passion they houghed an ox”. The Peshitta, “instruments of violence are among them ... in their violence they overthrew a wall”. The Vulgate and Arabic Versions also took it as “a wall”, the Samaritan Pentateuch, “an ox”. ..."
Bowker, John
The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture
(p. 290) Cambridge University Press, 1969
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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