Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · In the Text · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Simeon is the second son of Jacob and Leah, born after Reuben; Leah named him from the Hebrew shama' (to hear) — "Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also" (Gen 29:33). Like his elder brother Reuben, Simeon carried both a hopeful naming and a tragic biography. With his brother Levi, Simeon led the slaughter of the men of Shechem after their sister Dinah was defiled (Gen 34) — a savage revenge that Jacob never forgave. On his deathbed Jacob said: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations... Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Gen 49:5-7). The tribe of Simeon DID end up scattered: their inheritance lay WITHIN the territory of Judah (Josh 19:1-9), and over time Simeon was absorbed by the larger tribe; by Moses's blessing (Deut 33), Simeon is missing — the only tribe omitted. Yet the name itself — HEARING — is one of the great biblical virtues. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom 10:17). Simeon the Righteous (Luke 2:25-35) bore the same name and exemplified hearing: he had heard the Spirit's promise that he would not die before seeing Messiah, and he heard the Spirit's prompting that drew him to the temple at the right moment. The name redeems what the tribe lost.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Second son of Jacob and Leah, named for God's HEARING (Gen 29:33); leader with Levi of the Shechem massacre; tribe scattered within Judah's territory. Same name as Simeon the Righteous.
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SIMEON, noun. (1) The second son of Jacob and Leah (Gen 29:33). (2) The tribe descended from him. (3) The aged saint who held the infant Christ in the temple (Luke 2:25-35).
Hebrew Shim'on — "hearing." The patriarchal Simeon led with Levi the Shechem massacre (Gen 34); the tribe was scattered within Judah (Gen 49:7; Josh 19:1-9; omitted from Moses's blessing of the tribes in Deut 33).
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 29:33 — "And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon."
Genesis 49:5-7 — "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations... Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."
Joshua 19:1 — "And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah."
Romans 10:17 — "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Simeon is corrupted when the Shechem-massacre is excused as "justified zeal" or when the canonical pattern of tribal scattering as discipline is dismissed; both the violence and its long discipline are part of the canonical record.
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Justified-zeal apologetics. Some commentators try to soften Genesis 34 — "Shechem had defiled their sister; Simeon and Levi acted to defend her honor." But Jacob's deathbed word is sharp: "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel." The patriarch did not see the massacre as zeal; he saw it as cruelty, and his blessing reflects it. The Bible does not excuse violence done in the name of honor — and modern Christian readings should not either, including in our own arguments about "defending" causes by means that exceed proportion.
Tribal-scattering dismissal. The disappearance of Simeon from later Israelite history (omitted from Deut 33's tribal blessing, absorbed into Judah) is sometimes treated as random demographic drift. But the canonical text presents it as the FULFILLMENT of Jacob's deathbed word: "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Gen 49:7). The discipline ran for centuries. The Bible takes patriarchal blessings seriously as actually shaping history — a point modern commentary often loses.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew Shim'on (H8095) — "hearing" or "he has heard"; second son of Jacob and Leah; tribe scattered within Judah's territory.
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Hebrew Shim'on (H8095) — "hearing"; from shama' (to hear, listen, obey)
Second son of Jacob and Leah (Gen 29:33); tribal patriarch of Simeon
Led with Levi the Shechem massacre (Gen 34); cursed by Jacob (Gen 49:5-7); tribe scattered within Judah (Josh 19:1-9)
Same name as Simeon the Righteous (Luke 2:25) and Simon Peter (Greek Symeōn, G4826)
Usage
"Simeon means HEARING — the virtue the patriarch's tribe lost in the violence but the name itself preserved."
"Faith cometh by hearing — the gospel virtue that Simeon's name encodes."
"Cursed be their anger — Jacob's word to the sons whose zeal exceeded covenant; a warning for every generation."
📖 In the Text
Chapters of the reading Bible where this entry is linked.