Tribe of Simeon

Encyclopedia : T : TR : TRI : Tribe of Simeon

Tribes of Israel

Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Issachar
Zebulun
Joseph
*Manasseh
*Ephraim
Benjamin
^{[This template]}
The Tribe of Simeon or Bnei Shim'on (Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן "Hearkening; listening", Standard Hebrew Šimʻon, Tiberian Hebrew Šimʻôn) is one of the Hebrew tribes, founded by Simeon son of Jacob. It was "divided and scattered" according to the prediction in [Genesis 49:5–7]. They gradually dwindled in number, sinking into a position of insignificance among the other tribes. They decreased in the wilderness by about two-thirds (compare [Numbers 1:23], [26:14]). Moses pronounces no blessing on this tribe; it is passed over in silence in [Deuteronomy 33]. Contemporary scholars believe that the tribe had been absorbed by Judah by the time that Moses' blessings were written.

Tribes of Israel
Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Joseph Manasseh Ephraim Benjamin
^{[This template]}

This tribe received as their portion a part of the territory already allotted to the Tribe of Judah ([Joshua 19:1-9]). It lay in the southwest of the land, with Judah on the east and the Tribe of Dan on the north; but it is unlikely that it was a compact territory. In Jacob's blessings, Simeon is compared to his brother Levi, and the two were cursed for their massacre of the inhabitants of Shechem. Rather than being allotted a separate territory, Levi was given scattered cities in the territories of other tribes. It is therefore assumed that Simeon was also given scattered cities in the southern half of the Tribe of Judah's territory.

Subsequent notices of this tribe are but few ([1 Chronicles 4:24-43]). Like the Tribe of Reuben on the east of Jordan, this tribe had little influence on the history of Israel, and seem to have become assimilated into Judah quite early.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

Some Christian Identity followers believe themselves to be descendants of the Tribe of Simeon.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.