the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
Click here to learn more!
Bible Encyclopedias
Tribe of Simeon.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or The six sons of Simeon and the chief families of the tribe are mentioned in the lists of Genesis 46:10 (in which one of them, bearing the name of Shaul, [Saul], is specified as "the son of the Canaanitess"), Numbers 26:12-14, and 1 Chronicles 4:24-43. In the last passage (1 Chronicles 4:27) it is mentioned that the family of one of the heads of the tribe "had not many children, neither did they multiply like to the children of Judah." This appears to have been the case not only with one family, but with the whole tribe. At the census at Sinai Simeon numbered 59,300 fighting men (Numbers 1:23). It was then the most numerous but two, Judah and Dan alone exceeding it; but when the second census was taken, at Shittim, the numbers had fallen to 22,200, and it was the weakest of all the tribes. This was no doubt partly due to the recent mortality following the idolatry of Peor, in which the, tribe of Simeon appears to have taken a prominent. share, but there must have been other causes which have escaped mention.
The connection between Simeon and Levi implied in the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49:5-7) has already been adverted to. The passage relating to them may be thus rendered:
Simeon and Levi are [uterine] brethren, Instruments of violence are their swords. Into their [secret] council come not my soul! Unto their assembly join not my honor. For in their wrath they slew man, And in their self-will they houghed ox. Cursed be their wrath, for it [was] fierce, And their anger, for it [was] cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.
The terms of this denunciation seem to imply a close bond of union between Simeon and Levi, and violent and continued exploits performed under that bond, such as the one that now remains on record. The expressions of the closing lines evidently refer to the more advanced condition of the nation of Israel after the time of the death of the father of the individual patriarchs. Taking it, therefore, to be what it purports — an actual prediction by the individual Jacob — it has often been pointed out how differently the same sentence was accomplished in the cases of the two tribes. Both were "divided" and "scattered." But the dispersion of the Levites arose from their holding the post of honor in the nation, and being spread, for the purposes of education and worship, broadcast over the face of the country. In the case of Simeon the doom refers primarily to the fact that originally this tribe had no separate allotment of territory, but only a series of cities selected from the region at first assigned to Judah (Joshua 15:21 sq.; comp. with 19:1 sq.). (See SOUTH COUNTRY). The eventual dispersion seems to have arisen from some corrupting element in the tribe itself, which first reduced its numbers, and at last drove it from its allotted seat in the country — not, as Dan, because it could not, but because it would not, stay — and thus in the end caused it to dwindle and disappear entirely. The non appearance of Simeon's name in the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:6) may be explained from the circumstance that the tribe is, in accordance with the above peculiarities, not regarded as having an independent existence. During the journey through the wilderness Simeon was a member of the camp which marched on the south side of the sacred tent. His associates were Reuben and Gad — not his whole brothers, but the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid. The head of the tribe at the time of the Exode was Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai (Numbers 1:6), ancestor of its one heroine, the intrepid Judith. Among the spies Simeon was represented by Shaphat, son of Hori, i.e. Horite, a name which, perhaps, like the "Canaanitess" of the earlier list, reveals a trace of the lax tendencies which made the Simeonites an easy prey to the licentious rites of Peor, and ultimately destroyed the permanence of the tribe. At the division of the land his representative was Shemuel, son of Ammihud.
The connection between Judah and Simeon already mentioned seems to have begun with the conquest. Judah and the two Joseph brethren were first served with the lion's share of the land; and then, the Canaanite's having been sufficiently subdued to allow the sacred tent to be established without risk in the heart of the country, the work of dividing the remainder among the seven inferior tribes was proceeded with (Joshua 8:1-6). Benjamin had the first turn, then Simeon (19:1). By this time Judah had discovered that the tract allotted to him was too large (Joshua 8:9), and also too much exposed on the west and south for even his great powers. To Simeon accordingly was allotted a district out of the territory of his kinsman, on its southern frontier, which contained eighteen or nineteen cities, with their villages, spread round the venerable well of Beersheba (Joshua 8:1-8; 1 Chronicles 4:28-33), Of these places, with uthe help of Judah, the Simeonites possessed themselves (Judges 1:3; Judges 1:17); and here they were found, doubtless by Joab, residing in the reign of David (1 Chronicles 4:31). During his wandering life David must have been much among the Simeonites. In fact, three of their cities are named in the list of those to which he sent presents of the spoil of the Amalekites, and one (Ziklag) was his own private property. It is therefore remarkable that the numbers of Simeon and Judah who attended his installation as king of Hebron should have been so much below those of the other tribes (12:23-37). Possibly it is due to the fact that the event was taking place in the heart of their own territory, at Hebron. This, however, will not account for the curious fact that the warriors of Simeon (7100) were more numerous than those of Judah (6800). After David's removal to Jerusalem, the head of the tribe was Shephatiah, son of Maachah (27:16).
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
