1 Chronicles 4:24-43

4. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF SIMEON (1 Chronicles 4:24-43)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 4:24. The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul: 25. Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26. And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. 27. And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah. 28. And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shual, 29. and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad, 30. and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag, 31. and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazarsusim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David. 32. And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities; 33. and all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy. 34. And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35. and Joe, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, 36. and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Abiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah, 37. and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah; 38. these mentioned by names were princes in their families: and their fathers-' houses increased greatly. 39. And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40. And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they that dwelt there aforetime were of Ham. 41. And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Meunim that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their stead; because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42. And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 43. And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped and have dwelt there unto this day.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 4:24. The sons of Simeon: Nemu-el, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul. 25. Shaul's son was Shallum, his grandson was Mibsam, and his great-grandson was Mishma. 26. Mishma's sons included Hammu-el (the father of Zaccur and grandfather of Shime-i). 27. Shime-i had sixteen sons and six daughters, but none of his brothers had large familiesthey all had fewer children than was normal in Judah. 28. They lived at Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29. Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30. Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31. Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These cities were under their control until the time of David. 32, 33. Their descendants also lived in or near Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan: some were as far away as Baal. (These facts are recorded in their genealogies.) 34-39. These are the names of some of the princes of wealthy clans who traveled to the east side of Gedor Valley in search of pasture for their flocks: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah, Joel, Jehu, Eli-o-enai, Ja-akobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adi-el, Jesimi-el, Benaiah, Ziza (the son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah). 40, 41. They found good pastures, and everything was quiet and peaceful; but the land belonged to the descendants of Ham. So during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah these princes invaded the land and struck down the tents and houses of the descendants of Ham; they killed the inhabitants of the land and took possession of it for themselves. 42. Later, five hundred of these invaders from the tribe of Simeon went to Mount Seir. (Their leaders were Pelatiah, Ne-ariah; Rephaiah, and Uzzielall sons of Ishi.) 43. There they destroyed the few surviving members of the tribe of Amalek. And they have lived there ever since.

COMMENTARY

The descendants of Simeon are reviewed in 1 Chronicles 4:24-43. Since he was not in the direct line of descent leading to Christ, this record is included simply to remind the reader that Jacob had other sons beside Judah. Jacob practically disinherited Simeon at the time of the pronouncement of the patriarchal blessing (Genesis 49:5-7). Simeon had a rather numerous family; however, by God's own design, this tribe was never to be a great one in Israel. The Simeonites took their possession within the limits of the territory of Judah. Some of their chief villages were Beersheba, Hormah, and Ziklag. All of these places are important in Hebrew history. When David came on the scene he found the Simeonites living in the territory which had been theirs since Joshua's day. There was a place in Judah called Etam where Samson took refuge on one occasion (1 Chronicles 4:32). The Simeonite people for the most part were shepherds and they lived in good pasture lands. The reference to Ham in 1 Chronicles 4:40 simply states that some of these people who settled mainly in Canaan and Egypt at one time lived in the southern tract of Judah. During Hezekiah's day (c. 700 B.C.) there had been conflict in Simeon's territory over pasture lands. The Simeonites were able at that time to take some territory in Edom (Mount Seir). At the same time the Simeonites successfully engaged the Amalekites in war.