Simeon and Levi || Jacob’s Family Tree – Revisited #2

Welcome back to the “Jacob’s Family Tree – Revisited” series. This series takes another look at the blessings Jacob gave to his children and how those blessings are showcased in the rest of the biblical story. In the last part, we looked at the mistake that cost Reuben his double inheritance as the firstborn. This blog will look at Simeon’s and Levi’s blessings. Their blessing is combined and for a really concerning reason.

Genesis 49:5-7

5             “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence.

6             May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger, they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport.

7             A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse throughout Israel.

So, they murdered people and crippled (not killed, which might have been better, honestly) oxen for fun. This response to their anger led to Jacob saying their tribes would be dispersed throughout Israel. Let’s talk about it.

There’s an interesting thing about their backstory.

Genesis 29:33-34

33           She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon, for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”

34           Then she became pregnant for a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi, for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons.”

She named her second son Simeon because God heard that she was unloved. She named her third son Levi because she hoped her husband would feel affection for her. Simeon is the Hebrew word sane (saw-nay’), which means to hate. Their mother felt hated and unloved by her husband, their father, and believed that Simeon would help resolve those feelings. Levi is the Hebrew word lavah (law-vaw’), which means to join or be joined. Their mother felt alone and isolated, lacking affection from her husband, and believed Levi would resolve these feelings. Simeon is connected to hatred and feeling unloved. Levi is connected to a lack of affection. These are essential to remember as we learn about them and their descendants.

Simeon didn’t have any notable descendants like Reuben. Levi had many notable descendants: Aaron, Moses, Eli, Samuel, and John the Baptist.

Genesis 34:25-30

25           But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there,

26           including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed him with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and return to their camp.

27           Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there.

28           They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys – everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields.

29           They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They took their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

30           Afterward Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ruined me! You’ve made me stink among all the people of this land – among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. I will be ruined, and my entire household will be wiped out!”

This is a lot of information to retain. I’d recommend reading Genesis 34 to understand what’s going on. Still, this section signifies the highlight Jacob made about their anger.

When Shechem raped Dinah, the consequences were far more significant than he could’ve imagined. In seeking revenge against Shechem, Simeon and Levi lied, stole, and murdered. Their desire was right, but their ways of achieving it were wrong. Because of what they did, their father cursed them.

Many generations later, Simeon’s descendants lost the part of the Promised Land allotted to them. In contrast, Levi’s descendants are scattered among the other tribes.

I want to touch on the concept of the desire being right, but how they achieved it was wrong. Is there a right way to respond after finding out your sister was raped? I don’t believe so. Your family was violated. A special person in your life was wronged in a very extreme way. They reacted out of emotion. They sought revenge and kept their eyes focused on that revenge. They didn’t stop, process, and pray to God about the “proper” way to respond. The three days later mentioned in verse 25 refers to an earlier part of the revenge plan that Simeon and Levi concocted. You see that God was never mentioned in this passage at all. They took matters into their own hands.

They wanted revenge and justice. Revenge is wrong, but justice is good. How often do we misinterpret the two and confuse them? We say we want justice for something that was done wrong to us, but we go out and do something out of revenge and claim it as justice. Going back to my sextortion incident, I prayed many times for the truth to be revealed and for God’s justice to be served. This was my mantra for months after I was terminated, and what did I do about it. Nothing. I did nothing to force justice to be served. I sat back, complied, kept quiet, and allowed time to do its course. Did I want something to happen soon? Absolutely. The quicker it happened, the quicker my soul got quieted. Because I sat back and allowed God to do what was needed when he needed to happen, God’s peace allowed me to rest. I didn’t need to control how God’s justice was served. Still, I trusted and had faith in my heavenly father, who got me through it to allow his truth and justice to happen when needed.

Joshua 19:9

9             Their allocation of land came from part of what had been given to Judah because Judah’s territory was too large for them. So, the tribe of Simeon received an allocation within the territory of Judah.

Now, Simeon’s tribe lost their specific section of the Promised Land. Levi’s descendants were scattered amongst the various tribes. Yet, the tribe of Judah gave the tribe of Simeon a part of their land because their land was too big. Simeon’s tribe now lives as a part of the community of Judah. For me, this connected to how the Kingdom of God works. From Judah, as we’ll talk about in the next part, comes Jesus Christ. Jesus provides enough for all his people, especially those who are lost or scattered. Jesus opens his arms to welcome us with love and a warm embrace.

I’ll leave it at that because this is an excellent preview of discussing the blessings of Judah. I hope you enjoyed learning about the story of Simeon and Levi. Until next time, friends, stay blessed!