Genesis 49:5

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ¹ 

Genesis 31:37

31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? ²  Set it here before my relatives and yours, ³  and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! ⁴ 

Genesis 24:53

24:53 Then he ⁵  brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

[49:5]  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).

[31:37]  ² tn Heb “what did you find from all the goods of your house?”

[31:37]  ³ tn Heb “your relatives.” The word “relatives” has not been repeated in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

[31:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “that they may decide between us two.”

[24:53]  ³ tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.