Introduction: Simeon and Levi were Jacob’s second and third sons. Leah was the mother of both. These two brothers aren’t mentioned often in Scripture, but both are known for one specific incident of cruelty at Shechem (Genesis 34). Jacob never forgot what they had done and when he was dying, gave a cruel but accurate prediction about these two sons and their tribes.
1 Simeon and Levi: the incident at Shechem
Text, Genesis 34: 25-31, KJV: 25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 31 And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
This incident at Shechem is one of the darkest periods of Jacob’s life. True, he had departed from Laban more or less peaceably and he must have thought that he had reached a place of peace when he settled in Shechem. That was not the case, and he almost lost his daughter forever plus, if he had stayed there much longer, he may have lost everything. At the least, this was the plan which Hamor, “prince of the country (34::2” and father of the man who assaulted Dinah sexually had in mind (see Genesis 34:18-24). Sermon Central has one of my messages on Jacob’s life during this era (see “Jacob-The ‘Dinah Jacobs’ Story”) which goes into a slightly different angle than this message here.
In one of the most incredible scenes in the Bible, all the men of Shechem agreed to become circumcised. They did this, as the text suggests, in order to become worthy to marry the women in Jacob’s household. Clearly there were more girls than only Dinah or Jacob and his sons wouldn’t have made the offer; some think this may refer to Jacob’s granddaughters or the girls born to his sons. We may never know the answer down here.
And it was while these men of Shechem were recovering, more or less, from the procedure of becoming circumcised, when Simeon and Levi performed one of the most wicked, most cruel acts ever recorded in Scripture. These two (and perhaps more) promptly slew all the males, including Hamor (the leader) and his son Shechem. Something odd seemed to take place because, as some of the commentators note, Dinah didn’t seem to want to leave (!) and her brothers had to forcibly take her out of Shechem’s house!
Even worse, these two “spoiled the city,” probably a reference to looting the place. It was bad enough they had murdered men who had agreed to a painful procedure but to take their property was not and nowhere justified. Jacob eventually found out about what they had done—it would have been hard to miss, given the increase in people and property!—and gave what seems to be a very mild reproof or expression of disappointment, Jacob said, “You got me in trouble and you just made me stink! The other peoples around here are going to kill me (and, you, too, by implication) and it’s anybody’s guess what they’ll do afterwards (paraphrased).”
The reply of Simeon and Levi is strange, to me: “Should he (Shechem or Hamor, maybe both) deal with our sister like a prostitute?” Shechem had laid an awful lot of sweet talk on Dinah and it seemed to work. She could have left, but she didn’t; and when her brothers came to rescue her, as mentioned, she didn’t want to leave. One wonders just what Shechem really had in mind when he and his father approached Jacob and his sons with the offer of “dowry for the daughter”.
Oddly, the story stops here, with a reclaimed daughter, a rebuked pair of brothers, and a rattled father. Nothing more was said about this, and years passed by, until Jacob let these two know he never approved of this deed. As some have observed, God did indeed “divide them in Jacob”, as Simeon’s tribe became one of the smallest and the Levites, or descendants of Levi, settled in various parts of Israel. In the days of Joshua, the priests and Levites, all sons of Levi, received various cities where they could live.
But all of that was long in the future. There was another encounter for Simeon.
2 Simeon, held hostage in Egypt
Text, Genesis 42:8-24, KJV: 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. 12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: 15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. 17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses: 20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. 21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
Several years had come and gone between the incident at Shechem and this first journey to Egypt. Joseph, whom the other ten had sold into slavery, had risen to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. Joseph had the duty to sell grain to those who had come to buy grain (“corn,” KJV) due to a regional famine. At the very least, the area where Jacob and his sons were living seemed to be under famine conditions too—hence, the need to go to Egypt and buy grain.
Joseph may have been surprised to see his brothers bow down to him, with their faces in the dirt (verse 6). He recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him. They were probably still dressed in the clothing of Canaan while Jacob was most likely dressed like the Egyptians. Besides, Joseph had only been 17 when they sold him to traders; by now, he was probably in his mid to late 30’s. Twenty years can change the appearance of many people!
Joseph’s replies to his brothers may seem harsh to us, especially at first glance, but there was a reason for it. Joseph remembered what kind of men they had been, back home; were they the same? Would they try to make sharp bargains, as Jacob had done many times before? Were they indeed coming to Egypt to raid it, as they had done at Shechem? Joseph knew his brothers and had to be sure they were worthy. Why would he take a risk at welcoming people whom he knew could be evil at times?
Joseph then gave them a taste of what had happened to him: he had them placed “in ward” for three days. Now they realized a little of what Joseph had endured—and they had been responsible because of their attitude towards him. As he heard them talking among themselves, he realized they had changed, at least a little. He heard Reuben, the oldest, in so many words, “If you had listened to me, we wouldn’t be in this mess! We have to account for Joseph’s death! (he and they believed Joseph was dead)”.
Before this, Joseph had already commanded that one of the brothers be bound, or stay, in the prison until the others brought Benjamin, the youngest, to Egypt. Personally. Then Joseph had Simeon bound before their eyes. Joseph meant business, and he did this to keep his brothers accountable for their deeds.
The others received their loads of grain, and then went back to Jacob’s home, without Simeon. Of note is that Jacob lamented over Simeon as he had for Joseph, and oh, by the way, don’t even think of taking Benjamin down there to Egypt.
For a couple of years, the grain held out but they had to go back. Chapter 43 tells how Jacob finally gave in and allowed Benjamin to go with them down to Egypt. No contradiction: Jacob had said “Ben’s not going” when they had returned with the food; now he’s saying, “if we have to have food, and Ben is the key, then take him along,” He added with a bit of melancholy, “If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved (43:14).”
Something, though, was different this time. The brothers didn’t fall on their faces before Joseph, as they had done before (at least there’s no mention). Now, they stood before Joseph (43:15).
And this time, instead of being treated roughly, or like spies, Joseph arranged a private banquet for them! Needless to say, the brothers were very afraid—they didn’t know this was their own brother who was preparing a meal for them, and they also must have been concerned that a powerful ruler was associating with foreigners.
Sure enough, this was too much for the brothers to deal with. They approached Joseph’s steward, and explained why they were there. The steward reassured them all was well. As proof, he (the steward, as I take it) not only had Simeon released but he also brought all eleven brothers to Joseph’s house. The balance of chapter 43 describes this fellowship meal in detail.
Other events took place after this, recorded in the following chapters, including Joseph making himself known to his brothers, and the arrangement for the whole family to move to Egypt. Jacob met Joseph (chapter 46) and lived another 17 years in Egypt.
But now it was time for Jacob to complete his days on this earth. Before this, he gave a word to each of his sons. What he had to say to Simeon and Levi may not have been what they wanted to hear from their father.
3 A final word about these two
Text: Genesis 49:5-7, KJV: 5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 7 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.
Jacob never forgot what they had done in Shechem. The deed had never been discussed, resolved, or anything else after it took place. Jacob’s prophecy was that these two would be divided in Jacob and “scatter them in Israel”. Simeon’s tribe became one of the smallest in Israel (compare Numbers 1:23 with 26:14: Simeon’s tribe shrank by nearly half, from 59,300 to 22,200) and his tribe was given some of the land of Judah (Joshua 19:1-9). They were divided, all right, and Jacob’s prophecy was fulfilled.
Jacob’s prophecy about Levi was fulfilled, as well. The tribe of Levi became the priestly tribe, in that Aaron, one of Levi’s descendants, would be Israel’s first High Priest once the Law was established later. The whole tribe of Levi would literally handle the Tabernacle and later serve in the Temple doing the duties the Lord would prescribe later on. Levi wouldn’t have an inheritance like the rest, but they did receive cities in Canaan where they could live (see Joshua 21).
Their deeds were awful but they received God’s blessings. As with Reuben’s misdeeds, we can learn what they did wrong and avoid them! Perhaps more could be said but this is enough for this message.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
