Bible Strands
Genesis 49:6
May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob speaks to his sons during his final prophetic address, specifically targeting the violent partnership of Simeon and Levi.
The words — The Hebrew סֹדָם (sodam) translates literally to "their council," while קְהָלָם (qehalam) means "their assembly," denoting the organized gatherings Jacob explicitly rejects.
The thread — This refusal to associate with bloodshed echoes Jacob’s post-Shechem complaint in Genesis 34:30 and the psalmist’s plea in Psalm 26:9 to avoid being numbered with men of violence.
Why it lands — The verse commands readers to draw a hard boundary against factions that treat murder and arbitrary destruction as routine, demanding active non-participation rather than passive disapproval.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
Cross-references
- Genesis 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
- Psalms 26:9 Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
- Psalms 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely.
- Genesis 34:25 Three days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons (Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi) took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered every male.
- Psalms 26:4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.
- Psalms 57:8 Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
- Psalms 64:2 Hide me from the scheming of the wicked, from the mob of workers of iniquity,
- Proverbs 1:15 my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Jeremiah 15:17 I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation.