Simeon
Maleb. 1757 BC
The second son of Jacob by Leah (Gen. 29:33). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26). He was detained by Joseph in Egypt as a hostage (42:24). His father, when dying, pronounced a malediction against him (49:5-7). The words in the Authorized Version (49:6), “they digged down a wall,” ought to be, as correctly rendered in the Revised Version, “they houghed an ox.”
Relationships
Siblings Asher, Benjamin (patriarch), Dan, Dinah, Gad, Issachar, Joseph (son of Jacob), Judah (patriarch), Levi (patriarch), Naphtali, Reuben, Zebulun
Member of Tribe of Simeon
Active in Egypt
Key verses
Genesis 34:30
Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”
Genesis 42:36
Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
Genesis 48:5
Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
Genesis 43:23
He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them.
1 Chronicles 2:1
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
Genesis 42:24
He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.