האומר לאביו ולאמו לא ראיתיו - וכי עלתה על לב שלוי עובד ע"ז? והלא כבר נאמר ויעמד משה בשער המחנה! אלא זה אבי אמו מישראל: ואת אחיו לא הכיר - זה אחי אמו מישראל: ואת בניו לא ידע - זה בן בתו מישראל:
(Devarim, 33:9) (Levi) "who said of his father and of his mother (in the incident of the golden calf) 'I have not seen them.'": Now would it enter your mind that Levi served idolatry? Is it not already written (Shemoth 32:26) "And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and he said 'Whoever is for the L-rd, (let him come) to me!' And there gathered unto him all the sons of Levi"? "his father," then (is to be understood as) his mother's Israelite (i.e., non-Levite) father, (whom he killed as commanded). "and his brothers he did not recognize": his maternal brothers by an Israelite. "and his sons he did not know": The son of his daughter by an Israelite.