1 Chronicles 4:24-43

1 Chronicles 4:24 The Tribe of Simeon. This tribe’s allotted territory lay within Judah and was taken from that tribe (vv. 1 Chronicles 4:28; see Joshua 19:1). By David’s time (1 Chronicles 4:31) Simeon had been largely absorbed back into Judah. Nevertheless, some Simeonite clans maintained their tribal identity through genealogical records (vv. 1 Chronicles 4:34). These records would have included the historical notes of two military expansions undertaken to relieve overpopulation (v. 1 Chronicles 4:38): one westward into Philistine territory in the days of Hezekiah in the eighth century B.C. (vv. 1 Chronicles 4:39), and another into the southern Negeb (vv. 1 Chronicles 4:42). The westward campaign to Gedor (probably “Gerar”) is depicted in the language of the conquest under Joshua: marked... for destruction (see note on 1 Sam. 15:3).