Genesis 49:5 - Meaning and Application

Simeon and Levi came next in age after Reuben, and they had also been a grief and shame to Jacob. He remembered how they had trickily and brutally destroyed the men of Shechem, and he brings that sin back before them here. Children should fear bringing on their parents’ righteous anger, lest they suffer for it long after and, when they would claim the blessing, be rejected.

Simeon and Levi were alike in character, but unlike their father. They were quick-tempered, revengeful, fierce, and hard to control. Their swords, which should have been only tools of defense, were, as the margin says, weapons of violence, used to harm others rather than protect themselves. It is nothing new for children to have very different temperaments from their parents. We should not think this strange, because it happened in Jacob’s own family. Even the best training cannot force a child’s heart into a certain mold. Jacob raised his sons in what was mild and quiet, yet they still proved to be furious.

Their violence is clear in the murder of the Shechemites, which Jacob had deeply hated at the time (Gen 34:30) and still hated now. They killed Shechem himself and many others. To carry it out, they tore down walls and broke into houses to plunder them and murder the people. Even the best rulers cannot always keep those under them from doing the worst evil. And when two people in one family are harmful, they often make each other even worse. It would be wise to keep them apart. Simeon and Levi were likely also the main ones involved in the wrong done to Joseph, and some think Jacob may be referring to that too, since in their anger they would have killed that man.

This shows how destructive stubborn self-will is in young people. Simeon and Levi would not listen to their old and experienced father. They chose their own passion over his good judgment. Young people would serve their own interests better if they gave less room to their own will.

Jacob then makes a solemn protest: “O my soul, do not come into their secret.” By this he declares not only that he hates such behavior in general, but also that he had nothing to do with it in particular. Perhaps people had suspected him of secretly helping or approving the crime. So he firmly states his disgust with the deed, so that he would not die under that suspicion. Our soul is our honor, because by our inner powers we are set apart from, and given dignity above, the beasts that perish. We should also hate and avoid all partnership and alliance with violent and harmful people. We must not want to be part of their secret plans, or to know the hidden ways of Satan.

He also speaks against the filthy passions that led them into this sin: “Cursed be their anger.” He does not curse their persons, but their sinful desires. Anger is the root of much sin, and it exposes us to God’s curse and judgment (Matthew 5:22). When we speak strongly against evil, we must carefully keep the sinner and the sin apart. We must not love or bless the sin because we like the person, and we must not hate or curse the person because of the sin.

Finally, Jacob foretells a mark of displeasure that would rest on their descendants: “I will divide them.” The Levites were scattered through all the tribes, and Simeon’s inheritance was not together in one place. It was so small that many from that tribe had to spread out to find land and a living. This curse was later turned into a blessing for the Levites. But the Simeonites carried it on, especially after Zimri’s sin (Num. 25:14). Shameful scattering is the right punishment for sinful unions and plots.