Weit von sich weisen - reflexive pronoun sich

Question

I am using the verbal expression etwas weit von sich weisen and I am not sure about the form or declination of sich in this case, I would say for instance

Er hat die Regel des Abstands weit von sich gewiesen.

I would say this doesn't sound good

Er hat die Regel des Abstands weit von ihm gewiesen

when ihm refers to the same person as er. Is the first sentence correct and are there different approaches ?

Answer 1

The first sentence would be correct and sounds good to me!

Er hat die Regel des Abstands weit von sich gewiesen.

You would need to choose the preposition sich as in jmd./etw. weist etw. von sich. It needs to be sich as you are speaking about the third person singular: herself, himself, itself, oneself (direct or indirect object).

Using "von ihm" would suggest there's a second person (not himnself), the speaker refers to.

Answer 2

You should check the table Reflexivpronomen once again.

While e. g. in plural first person uns is the reflexive pronoun as well as a personal pronoun, ihm is only a personal pronoun, so using it switches to the wrong pronoun type.