A Reconsideration :כלי חמס מכרתיהם / עוד לעניין "כלי חמס מכרתיהם"

This article reconsiders the meaning of the word מכרתיהם in Gen 49:5: שמעון ולוי אחים כלי חמס מכרתיהם (“Simeon and Levi are a pair; Their weapons are tools of lawlessness” – NJPS). As is well known, various meanings have been proposed for this word, whereas others understand it as a corrupt reading and suggest alternative readings. In my view, this word’s meaning can be elicited from the Bible itself. The context of מכרתיהם is the verse in which Jacob rebukes the two brothers for their actions in Shechem. Jacob again rebukes them in his deathbed discourse to his sons (Gen 49:22–26), this time for their murderous hatred of Joseph: וישטמהו בעלי חצים (“the archers ... assailed him” – NJPS; v. 23). In his utterance concerning Joseph, Jacob terms Simeon and Levi בעלי חצים (‘archers’; an opinion shared by some ancient commentators). Because חצים is a type of weapon, we can infer that מכרתיהם also refers to a weapon. מכרתיהם is derived from the root ,כר"ר a secondary root that developed from .גר"ר Derived from this root are nouns גרא/גררא - גיר (= ‘arrow’) in Aramaic in the determined state – and the Hebrew noun מגרה (= ‘knife’, ‘saw’); in other words a utensil that can serve as a weapon. Thus, the noun מכרה is equivalent to ;מגרה to be more precise .מכרה > מגרה