“They embittered him and shot him [varobu], and archers hated him” (Genesis 49:23). “They embittered him” – a son who embittered his brothers; a son whose brothers embittered him; a son who embittered his master’s wife. But I do not know who did the most. The verse states: “And shot him.”108By emphasizing that they shot him, the verse indicates that they embittered him more than he embittered them.
“Archers [baalei ḥitzim] hated him” – these are people who were in his company,109Joseph’s brothers (Matnot Kehuna); alternatively, Potifar’s wife and the other members of the household (Etz Yosef). who cast upon him items as hard as an arrow. “Sharp arrows of the warrior, [burning coals of the broom bush]” (Psalms 120:4) – why did it see fit to liken them to an arrow more than any other weapon? It is because all weapons strike from nearby, and this strikes from afar.
So it is that evil speech spoken in Rome kills in Syria. And it is not all coals, but like the coals of the broom bush, as all coals extinguish from within, but the coals of the broom bush, even though it is extinguished from without it continues to burn from within. So, anyone who receives [believes] evil speech; even if you go and placate [the victim] and he is placated, it still burns from within.
There was an incident involving a certain broom bush in which they ignited a fire and it burned twelve months: winter, summer, and winter.