There is no question that out of all the sins that were committed in Genesis, Simeon and Levi’s slaughter of the Shechemites in Genesis 34 is one of the worst. It’s brutal, calculating, deceitful, and murderous.
Jacob rebuked them heartily for their transgressions as soon as he found out, informing his sons that they have made his name a curse in the land (Genesis 34:30). They acted in defense of their sister, to be sure, but “in their anger,” they slaughtered an entire town. That’s hardly justifiable.
But that didn’t have to be the end of their story.
In Genesis 49:5, Jacob is in the middle of blessing all of his children when he arrives at these two, which he groups together. His judgment on them is harsh and swift. They are self-willed, wrathful, and cruel, to use a few of Jacob’s words directly.
Their punishment is meted out in Genesis 49:7. Jacob says that God will “disperse them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” In other words, though every other tribe will receive a specific geographic allotment for their land, Simeon and Levi will not. Instead, they’ll receive cities inside the boundaries of other tribes (Joshua 19:1-9; Joshua 21).
This is heart-breaking, and in many cases, could break a man. Both Simeon and Levi had to realize that their anger had repercussions that lasted for thousands of years. Their grandchildren 400 years later would essentially be punished for Simeon and Levi’s actions.
Simeon never really recovers from this. Their tribe is the smallest of all (Numbers 26:14) – so small that they’re even passed over by Moses in the blessing of Deuteronomy 33.
Levi, on the other hand, turns the curse into a blessing.
As you might know, Levi will eventually be the “priestly tribe.” They’re the ones that minister to every tribe, and those scattered cities that became their inheritance positioned them strategically around the land to give the people easy access to God.
They become the priestly tribe by virtue of their actions at the base of Mt. Sinai. They are the only tribe that did not bow to the golden calf that was made by Aaron (Exodus 32), in addition to possibly standing up for God at the waters of Massah and Meribah as well (Deuteronomy 33:8-11).
This turnaround is remarkable when you consider the punishment given by Jacob to Levi. In Genesis 49:7, Jacob says that his soul will “not enter their council” – presumably because of their poor judgment. It’s a testament to their redemption story that they ended up becoming the vehicle for mediation between man and God.
Levi’s story is encouraging, especially to those who have a checkered history (which is probably most of us, to some extent). Like Levi, we have a choice: We can either be defined by the mistakes of our past, or focus on making things right with God. Levi chose the path that led back to God. May we all do the same.
