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 34:7 condemns the wrong done to Dinah. Jacob’s immediate rebuke in 34:30 concerns the danger the brothers have brought on his household; in 49:5–7 he explicitly condemns their killing, anger, and cruelty. Their anger over Dinah does not make the massacre an example to follow.

Joseph required one brother to stay while the others brought Benjamin back to prove their account of the family. He chose Simeon and bound him before them. Genesis explains the purpose of the detention but not why Joseph selected Simeon rather than another brother (Genesis 42:19–24).

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. It identifies Shaul’s mother as a Canaanite woman. Numbers 26 and 1 Chronicles 4 contain five-name lists with some different forms, 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 gives no lifespan or individual death account for Simeon. Acts 7:15–16 speaks collectively of the ancestors’ deaths in Egypt and burial at Shechem, without naming Simeon separately. It does not supply an age at death for him.

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.

Simeon’s count of men aged twenty and older who were able to go to war fell from 59,300 to 22,200 between the wilderness censuses. Its towns later lay within Judah’s territory. Chronicles records later Simeonite settlements and campaigns; the tribe did not simply disappear from the biblical record.

Numbers does not give a complete explanation. Simeon’s military census total fell by 37,100 between the two counts. The Peor plague killed 24,000 Israelites in all, without a tribal breakdown. Although Zimri was a Simeonite leader, the text does not attribute the whole decline to that plague.

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.