אחים. והיה הכבוד הראוי לראובן ראוי להם בנפלו ממנו. Brothers. Because of your brotherhood you should have received the kingship after Reuvein lost it, but a king, who is charged with establishing justice, cannot be a violent person.
אמנם כלי חמס מכרותיהם. וזה לא יאות למלך אשר במשפט יעמיד ארץ לכן לא יאות מלכות לשום אחד משניכם: כלי חמס מכרותיהם, people who make use of weaponry in their day to day activities are not suitable material for wielding political and military power. Hence neither one of them will be accorded the status taken away from Reuven. (compare Proverbs 29,4 where Solomon describes a king’s primary characteristic as being במשפט יעמד ארץ, “seeing to it that the rule of law and justice prevails on earth.”) Shimon and Levi had disqualified themselves from claiming such a distinction.