Genesis 49:5,Genesis 49:7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 49:5-7

These were next in age to Reuben, and they also had been a grief and shame to Jacob, when they treacherously and barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, which he here remembers against them. Children should be afraid of incurring their parents? just displeasure, lest they fare the worse for it long afterwards, and, when they would inherit the blessing, be rejected. Observe, 1. The character of Simeon and Levi: they were brethren in disposition; but, unlike their father, they were passionate and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 49:5

Simeon and Levi are brothers ,.... Not because they were so in a natural sense, being brethren both by father and mother's side, for there were others so besides them; but because they were of like tempers, dispositions, and manners F6 "--------par nobile fratrum Nequitia et nugis pravorum et amore gemellum." Horat. Sermon. l. 2. Satyr. 3. , bold, wrathful, cruel, revengeful, and deceitful, and joined together in their evil counsels and evil actions, and so are joined together in the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 49:5

Simeon and Levi are brethren - Not only springing from the same parents, but they have the same kind or disposition, head-strong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel. They have accomplished, etc. - Our margin has it, Their swords are weapons of violence, i. e., Their swords, which they should have used in defense of their persons or the honorable protection of their families, they have employed in the base and dastardly murder of an innocent people. The Septuagint gives a different turn... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 49:5

Verse 5 5.Simeon and Levi are brethren. He condemns the massacre of the city of Shechem by his two sons Simon and Levi, and denounces the punishment of so great a crime. Whence we learn how hateful cruelty is to God, seeing that the blood of man is precious in his sight. For it is as if he would cite to his own tribunal those two men, and would demand vengeance on them, when they thought they had already escaped. It may, however, be asked, whether pardon had not been granted to them long ago;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:1-33

The patriarchal blessing, or the last words of Jacob, I. THE SONS OF LEAH . 1. The blessing on Reuben . 2. The blessings on Simeon and Levi . It is only by a species of irony that the words pronounced on the authors of the Shechem massacre can be styled a blessing. 3. The blessing upon Judah . Recalling probably the part which his fourth son had played with reference to Benjamin, Jacob fervently declares that Judah should be— 4. The blessing on Zebulun .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:1-33

Last words. Jacob's benediction on his sons was a prophetic treasure, to be kept in store by future generations, and a foundation on which much faith could afterwards be built.. It has been called "the last full bloom of patriarchal prophecy and theocratic promise." The central point, the blessing on the royal tribe of Judah. The corresponding eminence being given to Joseph. The Israel blessing to the one, the Jacob blessing to the other. In each case we distinguish— 1. The earthly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:5-7

Simeon and Levi are brethren (not in parentage alone, but also in their deeds; e.g. their massacre of the Shechemites ( Genesis 34:25 ), to which undoubtedly the next words allude); instruments of cruelty are in their habitations— literally, instruments of violence their מְכֵדֹת , a ἅπαξ λεγόμ. which has been variously rendered read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 49:1-33

- Jacob Blesses His Sons5. מכרה mekêrāh, “weapon;” related: כיר kārar or כרה kārāh dig. “Device, design?” related: מכר mākar “sell,” in Arabic “take counsel. Habitation.”10. מחקק mechoqēq, “lawgiver, judge, dispenser of laws.” This word occurs in six other places - Numbers 21:18; Deuteronomy 33:21; Jud. Deuteronomy 5:14; Psalms 60:9; Psalms 108:9; Isaiah 33:22; in five of which it clearly denotes ruler, or judge. The meaning “sceptre” is therefore doubtful. שׁילה shı̂ylôh, Shiloh, a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 49:5

Genesis 49:5. Simeon and Levi are brethren In disposition, but unlike their father: they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and wilful; instruments of cruelty are in their inhabitations, or, as מכרתיהם mecherotheihem rather signifies, their counsels, or compacts, alluding to their treacherous agreement with the Shechemites: their swords, which should have been only weapons of defence, were (as the margin reads it) weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 49:1-28

Blessings on Jacob’s twelve sons (49:1-28)The last words of Jacob to his sons found their fulfilment in the history of Israel’s twelve tribes (49:1-2). First Jacob dealt with the six sons of Leah (see v. 3-15), then with the four sons of the minor wives (see v. 16-21), and finally with the two sons of Rachel (see v. 22-27).Reuben should have been strong, but through lack of self-control he lost the leadership of the nation (3-4; cf. 35:22). Simeon and Levi had been violent, and their tribes... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 49:5-7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 49:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 49:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 49:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:1-33

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:1-33

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 49:5-7

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 49:1-33

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 49:5

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 49:1-28

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