בראשית, פרק מ״ט, פסוק ו׳

Jacob vehemently distances himself from the violent and reckless actions of his sons, Simeon and Levi, expressing absolute disapproval of their path. His words reflect a profound desire to separate his personal legacy from acts of rage and cruelty, offering a piercing analysis of their motives. He traces their actions through a progression, beginning with their hidden planning and clandestine consultations, and culminating in their public execution and gathering [הכתב והקבלה, מלבי״ם, רש״ר הירש].

In response to both the plotting and the execution, Jacob pleads that his soul and honor remain entirely detached from their company. His honor represents the soul itself, the highest and most dignified aspect of a person. Alternatively, it refers to the divine inspiration and Holy Spirit resting upon the righteous, which Jacob begs not to have profaned by association with their deeds [אבן עזרא, שד״ל, רד״ק, ביאור יש״ר, אם למקרא].

This profound disassociation is understood in two primary ways. Historically, it reflects the massacre of the people of Shechem. Jacob declares that he had no part whatsoever in their plot to kill the city's inhabitants and entirely rejects their methods [רמב״ן, רד״ק, רשב״ם]. Conversely, a widespread Midrashic approach views this declaration as a prophecy and a prayer for the future. Jacob asks that his name be omitted from the Torah's record of the future sins committed by the descendants of these tribes. The hidden planning hints at Zimri from the tribe of Simeon, who sinned with the Midianite woman, while the public gathering points to the congregation of Korah from the tribe of Levi, who rebelled against Moses [רש״י, גור אריה, מזרחי, תורה תמימה].

Jacob justifies his rejection by analyzing the nature of their violence. He notes that they killed indiscriminately, wiping out the entire collective population of Shechem [רד״ק, שד״ל, רש״י]. This slaughter was driven by a blazing, uncontrollable fury that caused them to lose all restraint [העמק דבר, רמב״ן]. However, Jacob contrasts this explosive rage with a second, even more disturbing phase of their attack, which was carried out willfully after their anger had subsided. This subsequent destruction was cold, calculated, and executed out of sheer malice, revealing a much deeper level of cruelty [העמק דבר, ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם].

This cold-blooded destruction involved the uprooting of an ox, an act understood in several complementary ways. On a literal level, it means they cruelly hamstrung the pack animals of Shechem to ruin them, or that they looted and destroyed all of the city's livestock [רמב״ן, שד״ל, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another perspective suggests that through linguistic parallels, the concept of the ox refers to a wall, indicating that after massacring the men, they systematically dismantled and uprooted the fortified walls of Shechem [רמב״ן, רד״ק, חזקוני, נתינה לגר]. Alternatively, the ox serves as a metaphor for a powerful ruler, pointing to the targeted assassination of Hamor and his son Shechem, the princes of the land [רמב״ן, רד״ק, רלב״ג]. Finally, a prominent approach connects this calculated malice to the sale of Joseph, who is elsewhere compared to an ox. The brothers deliberately plotted to uproot Joseph from the world. Although they did not kill him directly, their malicious intentions and calculated steps, such as throwing him into a pit and condemning him to slavery, are considered as though they had completely destroyed him [רש״י, אור החיים, חומת אנך, משכיל לדוד].