Simeon and Levi || Jacob’s Family Tree || Week 2

Welcome back to our series called “Jacob’s Family Tree”! Last week, we looked at the prayer Jacob gave to Reuben. This week, we’re looking at a prayer made to two of his sons. This prayer seemed to be a two-for-one prayer special because Jacob blessed both sons with this one prayer in Genesis 49:5-7, which says this:

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers. They used their swords to do violence.

6 I will not join their secret talks. I will not meet with them to plan evil. They killed men because they were angry. And they crippled oxen just for fun.

7 May their anger be cursed, because it is too violent. May their violence be cursed, because it is too cruel. I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacob. I will scatter them through all the tribes of Israel.

This comes off as a very aggressive word choice from Israel, but I believe we need to talk about what they did to hear such words from their father. Turn with me to Genesis 34:25 to see what they did. 

They Brought This on Themselves

Earlier in Genesis 34, we learn that Jacob’s daughter Dinah was “disgraced (34:13)” by his man named Shechem. This man, who was the prince of their land at the time, “took her and raped her (34:2)”. Shechem wanted so badly to marry her that he asked his father to get them (Jacob’s family) to allow this to happen. Jacob’s sons were troubled by him, obviously, and after some plotting and revenge-seeking, here’s what happened:

25 Three days later the men who were circumcised were still in pain. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi (Dinah’s brothers), took their swords. They made a surprise attack on the city. And they killed all the men there.

Now I left out some details about their deception to Shechem’s father and all that, so if you want to get more context. You should pause here and read Genesis 34:8-24. That set of scripture should be able to catch you up on everything. So there. You can see why some of Jacob’s rhetoric in his prayer to Simeon and Levi was a little…harsh, so what came of it.

How Simeon was Affected

Smallest Tribe in the Second Census

Simeon’s tribe became the smallest tribe in the second census, as stated in Numbers 26:14: 

14 These were the family group of Simeon. The total number of men was 22,200.

Now I know this doesn’t say much, so let me put this in context with some of the other families: Reuben’s family (43,730), Gad’s family (40,500), and Judah’s family (76,500). The next most minor family was Ephraim’s family at 32,500, over a 10,000-person difference. To put this in some context, the first census in Numbers 1 had Simeon’s family at 59,300. This is a difference of 37,100 people. That’s a lot of people. 

Was Omitted from the Blessing of Moses 

Simeon was omitted from the blessing that Moses gave in Deuteronomy 33:8, which says this:

8 Moses said this about the people of Levi: “Lord, your Thummim and Urim belong to Levi whom you love. Lord, you tested him as Massah. You argued with him at the waters of Meribah.

Now even those Moses left Simeon out, he was will still able to receive several allies in the southern territory of Judah (see Joshua 19:2-9), and they didn’t lose their identity (see 1 Chronicles 4:34-38)

Later Shared Territory with Judah

This may sound like a harmless thing. I mean, how could this be considered a consequence. Earlier in Joshua, they conquered land after land and divided the land into different lots for each of the 12 tribes. Joshua 19 picks up with the allotment for Simeon. Joshua 19:1 says what they received.

1 The second part of the land was given to the tribe of Simeon. Each family group received some of the land. It was inside the area of Judah.

The allotment that the tribes of Judah needed was way too big for what they needed, so Simeon could receive a part of it. This shows the results of the prayer Jacob gave them in Genesis 49:7. Remember it said, “…I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacob. I will scatter them through all the tribes of Israel.” It was a prophetic prayer from Jacob that we are now seeing come true. So, we’ve learned what happened to Simeon, but…what about Levi?

How Levi was Affected

Now Levi received the same scattering prophecy that Simeon received. Still, they became the priestly tribe and residents of the cities of refuge thanks to God’s grace and their loyalty to God. Check out what was Exodus 32:26 says: 

26 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp. He said, “Let anyone who wants to follow the Lord come to me.” And all the people from the family of Levi gathered around Moses.

Only the tribe of Levi responded to the call to action in response to this situation (The Golden Calf story) that demanded judgment be inflicted. They understood that neutrality couldn’t exist in the open confrontation between good and evil, meaning they couldn’t have it both ways in worshiping the Golden Calf and worshiping God himself. Family and national ties were superseded or replaced by submitting to God’s will, which in this situation, was to wield the word of God’s judgment to preserve his honor and glory.  

And they did. The Levites killed those who persisted in idolatry and immorality. What a challenging but positive thing that came out of all this. This is the first time we mentioned something positive in the first 3 of Jacob’s sons. They recognized their wrong, admitted to the guilt, submitted to God’s will, and received God’s grace to fix it. There is something that both dealt with, though.

No Designated Land

Neither Simeon nor Levi possessed their own designated region in the land. However, Levi’s priestly position was undoubtedly a privileged one. Check out Joshua 21:1-3 to see this:

1 The heads of the Levite families went to the Eleazar the priest. They also talked to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of all the tribes of Israel.

2 This happened at the town of Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The heads of the Levite families said to them, “The Lord commanded Moses that you give us towns where we may live. And he commanded that you give us pastures.”

3 So the Israelites obeyed this commandment of the Lord. They gave the Levite people these towns and pastures:

These cities were part of the allotment process I mentioned earlier. Moses told them almost the same thing the heads of Levi’s household told everyone. I find it interesting that out of these 48 cities, 6 of them were to be cities of refuge. They were to be cities that people could flee to if they committed manslaughter. All 48 cities were to be given by the larger tribes and the small tribes of various sizes, but “The larger tribes of Israel must give more cities. The smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites. The number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land. (Numbers 35:8)

I feel like we covered a lot of information there, but I love that these prayers Jacob gave to his sons have SO many layers to them. I hope you enjoyed this learning process. Next week, we look at the prayer given to Judah in Genesis 49:8-12. Go read that and meditate on it for the next blog. We’ll see you then. Stay blessed!