seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 49:Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords[a] are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
their swords[a] are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
a. Genesis 49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain
It's the hamstringing of oxen that catches the eye. Bible.org explains it.
These two brothers of Dinah were greatly angered by the violation of her purity at the hand of Shechem, but it was not righteous indignation. By their submitting to circumcision they had deceived the men of Shechem, letting them believe that a treaty was being ratified. And in their anger they slew the men of the city. The hamstringing of the oxen was a further evidence of their uncontrolled anger, a detail not mentioned in the account of Genesis 34:25-30. Horses were hamstrung because of their military use, pulling chariots (cf. Joshua 11:6), but oxen were used for peaceful purposes. The hamstringing of these oxen evidenced wanton violence and senseless destruction. The alliance of Simeon and Levi was an unholy one, and thus, like those at Babel who joined together in disobedience (Genesis ll:lff.), they would be dispersed.
The Blueletterbible.com site has this to say.
The real problem with Simeon and Levi was their anger (in their anger they slew a man). Their anger was sin because it was rooted in self-will (in their self-will they hamstrung an ox).
I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering turned out to be a curse for Simeon. The tribe of Simeon was the weakest numerically of the 12 (Numbers 26:14) and shared an allotment of land with Judah (Joshua 19:1).
The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for Levi. Because of the faithfulness of this tribe during the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26-28), it was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel. They received no large tract of land, for the LORD was their inheritance, not land (Joshua 13:33).
The Bible speaks of a godly anger (Be angry and do not sin, Ephesians 4:26) and an ungodly anger (Let all bitterness, wrath, anger … be put away from you, Ephesians 4:31). Often, the difference between a godly, righteous anger and an ungodly anger is self-will.
I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering turned out to be a curse for Simeon. The tribe of Simeon was the weakest numerically of the 12 (Numbers 26:14) and shared an allotment of land with Judah (Joshua 19:1).
In fact, the tribe of Simeon became small during the wilderness wanderings. They started out from Egypt being the third largest tribe (Numbers 1:23), but some 35 years later, at the second wilderness census of Israel, 63% of the tribe perished and they became the smallest tribe (Numbers 26:14).
The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for Levi. Because of the faithfulness of this tribe during the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26-28), it was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel. They received no large tract of land, for the LORD was their inheritance, not land (Joshua 13:33).
So, the murder of all those men over the rape of Dinah could have been forgiven but..... Simeon and Levi had other items on their list of horrible deeds. They picked on defenseless, hard working oxen. They were warped. So Simeon would see his family tree wither to be the smallest of the twelve tribes and Levi's tribe would dance around a golden calf and loose their land. All this time I've been blaming Simeon for throwing Joseph into the cistern. This morning I went back to Genesis 37. It doesn't say he did it. All the brothers [except Rueben] were in on it. However, it was Simeon that Joseph jailed (Genesis 42). That IMHO speaks volumes.
So this dysfunctional family has some really rotten luck ahead of them.
