# 444 The Self-set Snare of Violence

The Book of Genesis

Day 444

Ge 49:5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. 6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.

Simeon and Levi are brothers? No kidding! What Jacob meant here is that they are kindred spirits. They were inherently cruel. Stay away from such people. Steer clear from those who think violence is the answer. To be counted among them as a companion is a good way to lose your honor.

How cruel were these brothers? They were the ones who used  the sacred rite of circumcision as a ploy to weaken the Shechemites, and after they were weakened, they slew them all and released their sister Dinah. By using such tactics, they brought mistrust and dishonor to the house of Jacob. (See Gen 34:30,31)

Their cruelty extended to animals too as they had apparently at one time had crippled an ox. Oh these were cruel men, with terrible tempers. They didn’t just get mad, they got even with planned acts of cruelty. Hamstringing an ox is a carefully planned act of violence as was the massacre at Shechem. Because of their cruelty, Jacob  said they would not receive an inheritance. Simeon’s inheritance was included with Judah’s, and the Levites had no inheritance of their own either., as the priestly tribe, their cities were scattered throughout the land. (They were literally “scattered in Israel!”)  The Levites did redeem themselves later on in the golden calf incident. Their zeal was never in question, it was their tactics that was the problem.

The writer of Proverbs warns us about keeping company with cruel and violent people. “My son do not walk in the way with them, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.” Simeon and Levi paid for their planned acts of cruelty, and so will those who engage in them today. Their rhetoric and zeal will be a powerful attraction for some, but beware! Stay clear, lest you too become caught in their self-set snare.