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 49:5

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ⁵ 

Genesis 49:7

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel! ⁶ 

Numbers 31:7

31:7 They fought against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁷ 

Numbers 31:17

31:17 Now therefore kill every boy, ⁸  and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man. ⁹ 

Proverbs 4:16

4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; ¹⁰ 

they are robbed of sleep ¹¹  until they make someone stumble. ¹² 

Proverbs 6:34-35

6:34 for jealousy kindles ¹³  a husband’s ¹⁴  rage,

and he will not show mercy ¹⁵  when he takes revenge.

6:35 He will not consider ¹⁶  any compensation; ¹⁷ 

he will not be willing, even if you multiply the compensation. 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.

[49:5]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49,5,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).

[49:7]  ⁶ sn Divide…scatter. What is predicted here is a division of their tribes. Most commentators see here an anticipation of Levi being in every area but not their own. That may be part of it, but not entirely what the curse intended. These tribes for their ruthless cruelty would be eliminated from the power and prestige of leadership.

[31:7]  ⁷ sn Many modern biblical scholars assume that this passage is fictitious. The text says that they killed every male, but Judges accounts for the Midianites. The texts can be harmonized rather simply – they killed every Midianite who was in the battle. Midianite tribes and cities dotted the whole region, but that does not mean Israel went and killed every single one of them. There apparently was a core of Midianites whom Balaam had influenced to pervert Israel.

[31:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “every male among the little ones.”

[31:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “every woman who has known [a] man by lying with a man.”

[4:16]  ¹⁰ sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).

[4:16]  ¹¹ sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.

[4:16]  ¹² sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).

[6:34]  ¹³ tn The word “kindles” was supplied in the translation; both “rage” and “jealousy” have meanings connected to heat.

[6:34]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a man’s.”

[6:34]  ¹⁵ tn The verb חָמַל (khamal) means “to show mercy; to show compassion; to show pity,” usually with the outcome of sparing or delivering someone. The idea here is that the husband will not spare the guilty man any of the punishment (cf. NRSV “he shows no restraint”).

[6:35]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lift up the face of,” meaning “regard.”

[6:35]  ¹⁷ tn The word rendered “compensation” is כֹּפֶר (cofer); it is essentially a ransom price, a sum to be paid to deliver another from debt, bondage, or crime. The husband cannot accept payment as a ransom for a life, since what has happened cannot be undone so easily.

[6:35]  ¹⁸ tn BDB 1005 s.v. שֹׁחַד suggests that this term means “hush money” or “bribe” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). C. H. Toy takes it as legal compensation (Proverbs [ICC], 142).