Genesis 49:6
Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- In consilium eorum non veniat anima mea, et in cœtu illorum non sit gloria mea : quia in furore suo occiderunt virum, et in voluntate sua suffoderunt murum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- εἰς βουλὴν αὐτῶν μὴ ἔλθοι ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ συστάσει αὐτῶν μὴ ἐρίσαι τὰ ἥπατά μου· ὅτι ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτῶν ἀπέκτειναν ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτῶν ἐνευροκόπησαν ταῦρον.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- בְּסֹדָם֙ אַל תָּבֹ֣א נַפְשִׁ֔י בִּקְהָלָ֖ם אַל תֵּחַ֣ד כְּבֹדִ֑י כִּ֤י בְאַפָּם֙ הָ֣רְגוּ אִ֔ישׁ וּבִרְצֹנָ֖ם עִקְּרוּ שֽׁוֹר
Haydock's commentary
Slew a man, viz., Sichem, the son of Hemor, with all his people, chap. xxxiv. Mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ; whom their posterity, viz., the priests and the scribes, put to death. (Challoner)
A wall, Sichem, which they destroyed: or, according to the Septuagint, "they ham-strung" a bull, as the same Hebrew word signifies; both which may refer to the prince of the town, or to Joseph, (Calmet) in whose persecution these two were principally concerned. Jacob declares, he had no share in their attack upon the people of Sichem: his soul, or his glory, was not impaired by their misconduct. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Instructor, Chapter VII. Who the Instructor Is, and Respecting His Instruction
It is He also who teaches Moses to act as instructor. For the Lord says, “If any one sin before Me, him will I blot out of My book; but now, go and lead this people into the place which I told thee.” Here He is the teacher of the art of instruction. For it was really the Lord that was the instructor of the ancient people by Moses; but He is the instructor of the new people by Himself, face to face. “For behold,” He says to Moses, “My angel shall go before thee,” representing the evangelical and commanding power of the Word, but guarding the Lord’s prerogative. “In the day on which I will visit them,” He says, “I will bring their sins on them; that is, on the day on which I will sit as judge I will render the recompense of their sins.” For the same who is Instructor is judge, and judges those who disobey Him; and the loving Word will not pass over their transgression in silence. …