Genesis 49:5-7

“Simeon and Levi are brothers,

Weapons of violence are their swords,

Oh my soul, do not come into their council,

Oh my glory, to their assembly do not be united.

For in their anger they slew man,

And in their self-will they hamstrung oxen,

Cursed be their anger for it was fierce,

And their wrath for it was cruel,

I will divide them in Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.”

Simeon and Levi demonstrated their strength and their fierceness when they led their men against Shechem having disabled the inhabitants by their ruse (Genesis 34). They were two of four full brothers to Dinah, but Reuben and Judah did not join with them in their blood vengeance, although later joining in the general destruction of the city. They wanted justice without mercy, and acted together in unison. And that is Jacob's complaint, that they are merciless. (Their being mentioned together may suggest that they are twins).

“Their swords are weapons of violence.” Or alternately ‘Their plans (devices) are instruments of violence.' The meaning of mecherah is not certain, but the general idea is clear. They are violent men who carry out violent deeds. Thus they are to be avoided.

“Oh my soul, do not come into their council, oh my glory, to their assembly do not be united.” They are troublemakers and best avoided, they are the kind who lead men astray. ‘Oh my glory' is parallel to ‘oh my soul' and clearly has a similar implication. He is warning his immediate family, his ‘soul', not to be carried along by their aims and methods, and warning his ‘glory', all the remainder of the household, not to be so either.

“For in their anger they slew man, and in their selfwill they hamstrung oxen.” This could be seen as referring metaphorically to their ruse whereby the men of Shechem were basically hamstrung by circumcision and slain. But it also refers to more general cruelty, that being short tempered and harsh they do not restrain themselves. They have within them a streak of cruelty and harshness. They slay men without thought and hamstring oxen. Hamstringing of oxen (cutting the tendons in the hocks) was unnecessary and may have been their way of punishing someone who had offended them. Compare here Joshua 11:6; Joshua 11:9 where battle chargers were hamstrung to prevent their use in battle.

The point here is that while all had to kill in those days if necessary in self defence, they seemed to delight in it. They were not murderers, but they were heartless.

“Cursed be their anger for it was fierce, and their anger because it was cruel.” This again suggests Shechem and may confirm that the oxen are to be seen as metaphorical. But Jacob would surely not have so dealt with them if it had been a one-off incident. So the impression is of passionate, violent and merciless men who do not mind inflicting pain.

“I will divide them in Jacob, I will scatter them in Israel.” The use of ‘Israel' for the tribal group rather than just the patriarch has begun to be apparent (Genesis 47:27; Genesis 48:20). Here ‘Jacob' is also used in the same way. Because of their fierce and cruel ways they must be separated by the tribe and kept apart, otherwise they will dominate. They are dangerous men. ‘Scatter' is a poetic use to parallel ‘divide'. The ‘I' may be God who will do the dividing, or the tribe acting in Jacob's name.

The age of the narrative comes out in that there is no thought of Levi as a priestly tribe (although even there they were not averse to slaying their brothers. They had a fierce godliness). As a tribe Levi would indeed be scattered among the tribes, but then for a godly purpose. His descendants will have, as it were, purged his contempt. But this is clearly not what Jacob has in mind, although we may see it as having a secondary significance. As a result they were divided up.

Simeon later combines with Judah as the weaker of the two tribes (Joshua 19:9) but it retains its identity (1 Chronicles 4:41; 1 Chronicles 12:24; 2 Chronicles 15:9) although it is never mentioned after the Exile (except in the list in Revelation 7). Thus Jacob's words do not directly relate to the tribes of Simeon and Levi but to his sons, with only secondary application to their seed.

So the first two deathbed sayings are analyses of the brothers themselves, depicting their weaknesses and the consequences. In the case of Reuben loss of pre-eminence, something that has already partly befallen him. In the case of Simeon and Levi separation in the tribe in order to control their blood lust. Thus it comes as some surprise when the words about Judah are more full and prophetic, for in his case his father sees wonders that lie ahead. But by now Judah had revealed his leadership potential.