Genesis 29:33-34

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ¹  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ² 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ³  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ⁴ 

Genesis 34:25-31

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ⁵  and went to the unsuspecting city ⁶  and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them ⁷  and looted the city because their sister had been violated. ⁸  34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. ⁹  34:29 They captured as plunder ¹⁰  all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ¹¹  on me by making me a foul odor ¹²  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ¹³  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, ¹⁴  “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”

Genesis 46:10-11

46:10 The sons of Simeon:

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,

and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).

46:11 The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Proverbs 18:9

18:9 The one who ¹⁵  is slack ¹⁶  in his work

is a brother ¹⁷  to one who destroys. ¹⁸ 

[29:33]  ¹ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

[29:33]  ² sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

[29:34]  ³ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ⁴ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[34:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

[34:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

[34:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.

[34:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.

[34:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”

[34:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”

[34:30]  ¹¹ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

[34:30]  ¹² tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

[34:30]  ¹³ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

[34:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ¹⁶ tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ¹⁷ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”