Simeon

sim'-e-on (shim`on; Sumeon; the Hebrew root is from shama`, "to hear" (Gen 29:33); some modern scholars (Hitzig, W. R. Smith, Stade, etc.) derive it from Arabic sima`, "the offspring of the hyena and female wolf"): In Gen 29:33; Gen 30:18-21; Gen 35:23, Simeon is given as full brother to Reuben, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, the son of Leah; and in Gen 34:25; Gen 49:5 as the brother of Levi and Dinah. He was left as a hostage in Egypt by orders of Joseph (Gen 42:24; Gen 43:23).

1. The Patriarch: Biblical Data:

In the "blessing" of the dying Jacob, Simeon and Levi are linked together:

"Simeon and Levi are brethren;

Weapons of violence are their swords.

O my soul, come not thou into their council;

Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united;

For in their anger they slew a man,

And in their self-will they hocked an ox.

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).

Whatever view may be taken of the events of Gen 34:25 (and some would see in it "a tradition of the settlement of Jacob which belongs to a cycle quite independent of the descent into Egypt and the Exodus" (see S. A. Cook, Encyclopedia Brit, article "Simeon")), it is clear that we have here a reference to it and the suggestion that the subsequent history of the tribe, and its eventual absorption in Judah, was the result of violence. In the same way the priestly Levites became distributed throughout the other tribes without any tribal inheritance of their own (Deut 18:1; Josh 13:14). From the mention (Gen 46:10; Exod 6:15) of Shaul as being the son of a Canaanite woman, it may be supposed that the tribe was a mixed one.

In the "blessing of Moses" (Deut 33) Simeon is not mentioned at all in the Hebrew text, although in some manuscripts of the Septuagint the latter half of Deut 33:6 is made to apply to him: "Let Simeon be a small company." The history of the tribe is scanty and raises many problems. Of the many theories advanced to meet them it cannot be said that any one answers all difficulties.

2. The Tribe in Scripture:

In the wilderness of Sinai the Simeonites camped beside the Reubenites (Num 2:12; Num 10:19); it was Zimri, a member of one of the leading families of this tribe, who was slain by Phinehas in the affair of Baal-peor (Num 25:14). The statistics in Num 1:22 f, where the Simeonites are given as 59,300, compared with the 2nd census (Num 26:14), where the numbers are 22,200, indicate a diminishing tribe. Some have connected this with the sin of Zimri.

At the recital of the law at Mt. Gerizim, Simeon is mentioned first among those that were to respond to the blessings (Deut 27:12). In the conquest of Canaan "Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him" (Judg 1:3; compare Judg 1:17). (Many scholars find in Gen 34 a tribal attempt on the part of the Simeonites to gain possession of Shechem; if this is so, Judah did not assist, and the utter failure may have been a cause of Simeon's subsequent dependence upon, and final absorption in, Judah.) In Judg 4 and 5 Simeon is never mentioned. In the settlement of the land there is no account of how Simeon established himself in his territory (except the scanty reference in Judg 1:3), but "their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah" (Josh 19:1); this is accounted for (Josh 19:9), "for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them." Nevertheless we find there the very cities which are apportioned to Simeon, allotted to Judah (Josh 15:21-32; compare Neh 11:26-29). It is suggested (in 1 Chr 4:31) that the independent possession of these cities ceased in the time of David. David sent spoil to several Simeonite towns (1 Sam 30:26), and in 1 Chr 12:25 it is recorded that 7,100 Simeonite warriors came to David in Hebron. In 1 Chr 27:16 we have mention of a ruler of the Simeonites, Shephatiah, son of Maacah.

In 1 Chr 4:39 f mention is made of certain isolated exploits of Simeonites at GEDOR (which see), against the MEUNIM (which see), and at Mt. SEIR (which see). Later references associate certain Simeonites with the Northern Kingdom (2 Chr 15:9; 2 Chr 34:6), and tradition has come to view them as one of the ten tribes (compare Ezek 48:24; Ezek 48:25; Ezek 48:33; Rev 7:7), although all the history of them we have is bound up with Judah and the Southern Kingdom. There is no mention of the return of any Simeonites after the captivity; their cities fall to Judah (Neh 11:26).

3. References in Egyptian and Assyrian Inscriptions:

It has been supposed by many authorities that the name Shim`an occurs in the list of places plundered by Thothmes III (see Petrie, Hist, II, 104; also Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition, 268; Sayce, Early Hebrew Traditions, 392). In the 7th century we have a doubtful reference in an inscription of Esar-haddon relating his Egyptian campaign when a city Ap-ku is mentioned as in the country of Sa-me-n(a), which may possibly be a reference to Simeon. The survival of the name so late, if true, is strange, in the light of what we gather from the Bible about the tribe. (For discussion of both of these inscriptions, with references to the lit., see EB, coll. 4528-30.)

4. The Territory of Simeon:

The cities of Simeon as given in Josh 19:2-6 and 1 Chr 4:28; 1 Chr 4:31 are (the names in parentheses are variations in the latter reference): Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, Balah (Bilhah), Azem (the King James Version) (Ezem), Eltolad (Tolad), Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah (Hazar Susim), Beth-lebaoth (Beth-biri), Sharuhen (Shaaraim) (Etam), Ain Rimmon, Ether (Tochen), Ashan--in all, 16 cities in Joshua and 17 cities in 1 Chronicles. Ashan (1 Chr 6:59) is the only one assigned to the priests. It is written wrongly as "Ain" in Josh 21:16. All the above cities, with certain variations in form, and with the exception of Etam in 1 Chr 4:32, which is probably a mistake, occur in the list of the cities of Judah (Josh 15:26-32; Josh 15:42). Ziklag is mentioned (1 Sam 27:6) as being the private property of the kings of Judah from the days of David, who received it from Achish, king of Gath.

For the situation of these cities, so far as is known, see separate articles under their names. It is clear that they were all situated in the southwestern part of Palestine, and that Simeon had no definite territorial boundaries, but isolated cities, with their villages, among those of the people of Judah.

E. W. G. Masterman

(shim`on; Sumeon):

(1) The 2nd son of Jacob by Leah (see separate article).

(2) Great-grandfather of Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 2:1).

(3) A man in Jerusalem described as "righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel." When the infant Jesus was brought into the Temple, he took Him into his arms and blessed God in words which are famous as the Nunc dimittis. Simeon bestowed his blessing on the wondering father and mother (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:34). Legend has made him the son of Hillel and father of Gamaliel I, but this has no historical basis.

(4) An ancestor of Jesus (Luke 3:30); the Revised Version (British and American) "Symeon."

(5) The Revised Version (British and American) "Symeon": one of the prophets and teachers in the Christian community at Antioch. He is also called Niger, which was the Gentile name he had assumed, Symeon being Hebrew. He was among those who set apart Paul and Barnabas for their missionary work (Acts 13:1; Acts 13:2). Nothing more is known of him.

(6) The Revised Version (British and American) "Symeon": the Hebrew name of Simon Peter (Acts 15:14).

S. F. Hunter