Simeon

AI summary: Simeon matters because the biblical memory of him combines patriarchal prominence with moral diminishment. The cross references present him first within the sons of Jacob, then especially in the violent episode at Shechem alongside Levi, an event that shapes Jacob's later words about both brothers. The tribe of Simeon remains part of Israel, but often without the same prominence as some others. Taken together, the material presents Simeon as a son whose name remains integral to Israel's structure even while his legacy is shadowed by destructive zeal.¹

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.” ³