Numbers 2:12-13

2:12 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 2:13 Those numbered in his division are 59,300.

Numbers 26:12-14

Simeon

26:12 The Simeonites by their families: from Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; from Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; from Jakin, the family of the Jakinites; 26:13 from Zerah, ¹  the family of the Zerahites; and from Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 26:14 These were the families of the Simeonites, 22,200. ² 

Genesis 29:33

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ³  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ⁴ 

Genesis 34:25-30

34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ⁵  and went to the unsuspecting city ⁶  and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them ⁷  and looted the city because their sister had been violated. ⁸  34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. ⁹  34:29 They captured as plunder ¹⁰  all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ¹¹  on me by making me a foul odor ¹²  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ¹³  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”

Genesis 42:24

42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹⁴  he had Simeon taken ¹⁵  from them and tied up ¹⁶  before their eyes.

Genesis 46:10

46:10 The sons of Simeon:

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,

and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).

Genesis 49:5-6

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ¹⁷ 

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ¹⁸ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

¹ tc This is “Zohar” in Exod 6:15 and Gen 46:10.

² sn Before entering Sinai the tribe numbered 59,300, the third largest. Now it was about one-third its original size.

³ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

⁴ sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

⁵ tn Heb “a man his sword.”

⁶ tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.

⁷ tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.

⁸ tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.

⁹ tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”

¹¹ tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.

¹² tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.

¹³ tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he turned to them and spoke to them.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “took Simeon.” This was probably done at Joseph’s command, however; the grand vizier of Egypt would not have personally seized a prisoner.

¹⁶ tn Heb “and he bound him.” See the note on the preceding verb “taken.”

¹⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitations”; (2) “merchandise”; (3) “counsels”; (4) “swords”; (5) “wedding feasts.” If it is from the verb כָּרַת (karat) and formed after noun patterns for instruments and tools (maqtil, miqtil form), then it would refer to “knives.” Since the verb is used in Exod 4:25 for circumcision, the idea would be “their circumcision knives,” an allusion to the events of Gen 34 (see M. J. Dahood, “‘MKRTYHM’ in Genesis 49,5,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 54-56). Another explanation also connects the word to the events of Gen 34 as a reference to the intended “wedding feast” for Dinah which could take place only after the men of Shechem were circumcised (see D. W. Young, “A Ghost Word in the Testament of Jacob (Gen 49:5)?” JBL 100 [1981]: 335-422).

¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed as the seat of the emotions and will (see HALOT 456 s.v. II כָּבֵד) for which the heart is the modern equivalent.