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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 49:5 - 49:7
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The blessing upon Simeon and Levi
v. 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren, not only by parentage, but also in character; they also were unfit for leadership. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations, the swords which they used in their revenge upon the Shechemites were weapons of wickedness, and Jacob does not wish to be identified with outrages of this kind.
v. 6. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united; the thought of being closely identified with them fills Jacob with horrified dismay. For in their anger they slew a man, their murdering of the helpless Shechemites was an infamous trick; and in their self-will they digged down a wall, rather, houghed oxen; the cattle of the people of Shechem which they had not taken with them after their raid, Gen_34:28, they had cruelly mutilated and caused to die a slow death by cutting the sinews of the hinder feet.
v. 7. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; the anger in itself may have been justified at the time, but the fact that its violence sought such an outlet is beyond excuse; and their wrath, for it was cruel; they went to excess in their angry impetuosity. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. This prophecy was fulfilled in such a way as to make Simeon the weakest among the tribes even before the entry into Canaan, Num_26:14, to omit the tribe in the blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33, and to give to the tribe only a few cities within the boundaries of Judah, Joshua 19, l-9; 1Ch_4:27-43, while Levi also, redeemed in some measure by the heroic act of a member of the tribe, Num_25:11-13, received no section of Canaan for his portion, but lived in cities ceded by the other tribes. Thus a whole family, and even a whole nation, may have to bear the guilt of a few sinners whom the Lord was obliged to condemn.