Genesis 49:5

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ¹ 

Genesis 13:8

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ² 

Genesis 42:13

42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. ³  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, ⁴  and one is no longer alive.” ⁵ 

Genesis 42:32

42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. ⁶  One is no longer alive, ⁷  and the youngest is with our father at this time ⁸  in the land of Canaan.’

¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49,5,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).

² tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

³ tn Heb “twelve [were] your servants, brothers [are] we.”

⁴ tn Heb “today.”

⁵ tn Heb “and the one is not.”

⁴ tn Heb “twelve [were] we, brothers, sons of our father [are] we.”

⁵ tn Heb “the one is not.”

⁶ tn Heb “today.”