John Calvin Commentary Genesis 49:7

"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." — Genesis 49:7 (ASV)

Cursed be their anger. What I have said must be kept in mind; namely, that we are divinely admonished by the mouth of the holy prophet to keep at a distance from all wicked counsels. Jacob pronounces a woe upon their fury. Why is this, if not so that others may learn to restrain themselves and be on guard against such cruelty?

However, (as I have already observed) it will not suffice to keep our hands pure unless we are far removed from all association with crime. For though it may not always be in our power to suppress unjust violence, yet concealing it is blameworthy when it approaches the appearance of consent.

Here even family ties, and whatever else would bias sound judgment, must be set aside, since we see a holy father, at God's command, thundering so severely against his own sons. He declares the anger of Simon and Levi to be all the more hateful because it was violent from its beginning and remained implacable to the very end.

I will divide them in Jacob. It may seem a strange way to proceed that Jacob, while designating his sons as patriarchs of the Church and calling them heirs of the divine covenant, should pronounce a curse on them instead of a blessing. Nevertheless, it was necessary for him to begin with the chastisement that would prepare the way for the manifestation of God’s grace, as will become clear at the end of the chapter. But God mitigates the punishment by giving them an honorable name in the Church and leaving their rights intact. Indeed, His incredible goodness unexpectedly shone forth when what was Levi's punishment was changed into the reward of the priesthood.

The dispersion of the Levitical tribe originated in their father's crime, so that he would not congratulate himself on account of his perverse and lawless spirit of revenge. But God, who in the beginning produced light out of darkness, found another reason for the Levites to be dispersed among the people—a reason not only free from disgrace but highly honorable—namely, that no corner of the land would be without competent instructors.

Lastly, He appointed them overseers and governors in His name over every part of the land, as if He would scatter everywhere the seed of eternal salvation or send out ministers of His grace. From this we conclude how much better it was for Levi to be chastised at the time for his own good, than to be left to perish as a consequence of present impunity in sin.

And it should not be considered strange that when the land was distributed and cities were given to the Levites far apart from each other, this reason was suppressed, and an entirely different one was brought forward: namely, that the Lord was their inheritance. For this, as I have recently said, is one of God's miracles: to bring light out of darkness.

Had Levi been sentenced to distant exile, he would have fully deserved the punishment. But now, God in a measure spares him by assigning him a wandering life in his paternal inheritance.

Afterwards, with the mark of infamy removed, God sends his descendants into different parts under the title of a distinguished embassy.

In Simon there remained a certain, though obscure, trace of the curse, because a distinct territory did not fall to his sons by lot; instead, they were mixed with the tribe of Judah, as is stated in Joshua 19:1. Afterwards, they went to Mount Seir, having expelled the Amalekites and taken possession of their land, as it is written (1 Chronicles 4:40–43).

Here, also, we perceive the manly fortitude of holy Jacob, who, though a decrepit old man and an exile, lying on his private and lowly couch, nevertheless assigns provinces to his sons as if from the lofty throne of a great king. He also does this in his own right, knowing that the covenant of God was entrusted to him, by which he had been called the heir and lord of the land. At the same time, he claims for himself authority as a prophet of God.

For it is very important for us, when the word of God sounds in our ears, to grasp by faith what is proclaimed, as if His ministers had been commanded to carry into effect what they pronounce.

Therefore, it was said to Jeremiah:

See I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jeremiah 1:10).

And the prophets are generally commanded to set their faces against the countries they threaten, as if they were equipped with a large army to make the attack.