Simeon in the Bible

Simeon was Jacob and Leah’s second son, a full brother of Reuben, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, and the ancestor of the tribe of Simeon. He is especially associated with Levi in Genesis 34 and with Joseph’s hostage test in Genesis 42–43.

This profile is about Simeon, son of Jacob and Leah. Other biblical men with the same name include the devout Simeon who saw the infant Jesus, an ancestor in Jesus’ genealogy, and Simeon called Niger in the church at Antioch.

Genesis 29:33 connects the Hebrew name Shim‘on with the verb shama, “to hear.” Leah says Yahweh heard that she was unloved and gave her another son. The name is therefore commonly associated with “heard” or “he has heard,” though the verse’s wordplay is clearer than a single uncontested dictionary definition.

Simeon’s father was Jacob, also called Israel, and his mother was Leah. He was their second son, born after Reuben.

Simeon and Levi killed the males of Shechem after the violation of Dinah. Years later Joseph selected Simeon as the brother who would remain bound in Egypt until the others returned with Benjamin. Simeon then moved to Egypt with his six named sons.

After Shechem violated Dinah, Simeon and Levi used the proposed circumcision agreement deceitfully. On the third day they entered the weakened city, killed every male, killed Hamor and Shechem, and brought Dinah out. Jacob condemned the danger they created and later cursed their anger and violence.

Genesis records their outrage and their closing defense of Dinah, but Jacob condemns their violent response in Genesis 34:30 and again in Genesis 49:5–7. The text does not treat the massacre and plunder as an uncomplicated model of justice.

Genesis says Joseph chose Simeon, bound him before the brothers, and kept him until they returned with Benjamin, but it does not explain why Simeon was selected. Claims that Joseph chose the eldest brother after Reuben or the chief aggressor against him are interpretations rather than stated reasons.

Simeon was among Joseph’s brothers, but Genesis does not single him out during Joseph’s sale. Years later Joseph detained Simeon in Egypt as security while the other brothers returned to Jacob and were required to bring Benjamin back.

Genesis 46:10 names Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, whose mother was a Canaanite woman. Numbers and Chronicles preserve several variant names and arrangements, including Nemuel and Zerah.

The Bible does not name Simeon’s wife or wives. Genesis identifies the mother of Shaul only as a Canaanite woman without giving her name.

The Bible does not record Simeon’s age at death, cause of death, or burial place. Exact lifespan figures from later traditions should not be presented as biblical facts.

Jacob called Simeon and Levi brothers whose weapons were instruments of violence. He cursed their fierce anger and declared that they would be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. The curse is directed at their anger, not phrased as a curse on the two men themselves.

The tribe declined from 59,300 fighting men in the first wilderness census to 22,200 in the second. It later received towns within Judah’s territory, joined Judah in conquest, and sent groups to find new pasturelands. The Bible does not describe one moment when Simeon simply vanished or was formally absorbed.

Numbers records the sharp decrease and identifies the Simeonite leader Zimri during the Peor crisis, but it does not explicitly say that every part of the decline was caused by that plague. The connection is plausible context, not a complete explanation stated by the text.

Simeon’s situation does not fit a simple label. Its towns lay within Judah, Chronicles records later Simeonite migrations and communities, and Revelation still names the tribe. Scripture never announces that every Simeonite disappeared in a single event.

Yes, but the New Testament references normally concern other men named Simeon or the tribe rather than new events in Jacob’s son’s life. Revelation 7:7 names the tribe of Simeon.