101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

164
yth #65:
Jacob disqualified Simeon and Levi from leadership.
The Myth: Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
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. 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. (Gen. 49:5–7)
The Reality: As Judah emerged on the political scene, it absorbed Simeon and
placed Levi under its control.
Jacob’s final blessing to his children (Gen. 49) groups Simeon and Levi together
and singles them out for particularly cruel and violent behavior. For these reasons,
Jacob disqualified them from a leadership role in the family. Since Reuben had been
previously disqualified, the elimination of these two sons, the second and third in order
of birth, cleared the way for Judah, next in line. The Judahites would have been responsible
for circulating this story as part of their efforts to justify Judahite domination
over the Israelites.
This is the second time in Genesis that Simeon and Levi are specifically linked
together. The first occasion occurred after the rape of Dinah, when the two of them
sneaked into the Shechemite camp and slaughtered King Shechem and his sons as
revenge for their sister’s treatment by the king’s son.
At the time, Jacob severely denounced their actions, claiming that it made him odious
in the eyes of his neighbors and that he and the family would have to move. The
brothers replied,“Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” In denying them a
leadership role, Jacob said,“for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they
digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it
was cruel.”
It is not entirely clear that Jacob, in this last statement, is referring to the incident at
Shechem but it would seem to be the only earlier incident in Genesis to which the