Day 486 of 1461 · 2028-04-30 · 20 verses
1 Chronicles 4:24–43
The Descendants of Simeon
Matthew Henry · 4:24–43
We have here some of the genealogies of the tribe of Simeon (though it was not a tribe of great note), especially the princes of that tribe, Ch1 4:38. Of this tribe it is said that they increased greatly, but not like the children of Judah, Ch1 4:27. Those whom God increases ought to be thankful, though they see others that are more increased. Here observe, 1. The cities allotted them (Ch1 4:28), of which see Jos 19:1, etc. When it is said that they were theirs unto the reign of David (Ch1 4:31) intimation is given that when the ten tribes revolted from the house of David many of the Simeonites quitted these cities, because they lay within Judah, and seated themselves elsewhere. 2. The ground they got elsewhere.…
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When those of this tribe that revolted from the house of David were carried captive with the rest into Assyria those that adhered to Judah were remarkably owned of God and prospered in their endeavours to enlarge their coasts. It was in the days of Hezekiah that a generation of Simeonites, whose tribe had long crouched and truckled, was animated to make these bold efforts. (1.) Some of them attacked a place in Arabia, as it should seem, called the entrance of Gedor, inhabited by the posterity of accursed Ham (Ch1 4:40), made themselves masters of it, and dwelt there. This adds to the glory of Hezekiah's pious reign, that, as his kingdom in general prospered, so did particular families. It is said that they found fat pastures, and yet the land was quiet; even when the kings of Assyria were giving disturbance to all their neighbours this land escaped their alarms. The inhabitants being shepherds, who molested none, were not themselves molested, till the Simeonites came and drove them out and succeeded them, not only in the plenty, but in the peace, of their land. Those who dwell (as we do) in a fruitful country, and whose land is wide, and quiet, and peaceable, have reason to own themselves indebted to that God who appoints the bounds of our habitation. (2.) Others of them, to the number of 500, under the command of four brethren here named, made a descent upon Mount Seir, and smote the remainder of the devoted Amalekites, and took possession of their country, Ch1 4:42, Ch1 4:43. Now the curses on Ham and Amalek had a further accomplishment, when they seemed dormant, if not dead; as had also the curse on Simeon, that he should be divided and scattered (Gen 49:7): yet to him it was turned into a blessing, for the families of Simeon, which thus transplanted themselves into those distant countries, are said to dwell there unto this day (Ch1 4:43), by which it should seem they escaped the calamities of the captivity. Providence sometimes sends those out of trouble that are designed for preservation.
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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 4:24
OF SIMEON. (1Ch. 4:24-43) The sons of Simeon--They are classed along with those of Judah, as their possession was partly taken out of the extensive territory of the latter (Jos 19:1). The difference in several particulars of the genealogy given here from that given in other passages is occasioned by some of the persons mentioned having more than one name [compare Gen 46:10; Exo 6:15; Num 26:12].
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More notes on this section (17)
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 4:31
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These were their cities unto the reign of David--In consequence of the sloth or cowardice of the Simeonites, some of the cities within their allotted territory were only nominally theirs. They were never taken from the Philistines until David's time, when, the Simeonites having forfeited all claim to them, he assigned them to his own tribe of Judah (Sa1 27:6).
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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 4:38
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increased greatly, and they went to the entrance of Gedor--Simeon having only a part of the land of Judah, they were forced to seek accommodation elsewhere; but their establishment in the new and fertile pastures of Gederah was soon broken up; for, being attacked by a band of nomad plunderers, they were driven from place to place till some of them effected by force a settlement on Mount Seir. Next: 1 Chronicles Chapter 5
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John Gill · 4:24
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The sons of Simeon,.... The account of whom, next to the tribe of Judah, is given before Reuben, because its inheritance lay in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 19:1 his sons were Nemuel, the same with Jemuel, Genesis 46:10. and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul; who, in the place referred to, is said to be the son of a Canaanitish woman; and Jarib and Zerah are the same with Jachin and Zohar there: and Obed is here omitted, it may be because he died without issue; see Numbers 26:12.
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John Gill · 4:27
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And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters,.... None of which are mentioned by name: but his brethren had not many children: Hamuel and Zacchur: neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah: to show the fruitfulness and great increase of which tribe, the genealogical account of it, in this and the two preceding chapters, is given.
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John Gill · 4:28
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And they dwelt at Beersheba,.... posterity of Simeon; and this and the other places of their habitation are mentioned in the same order, and with very little variation of names to the end of 1 Chronicles 4:31, as in Joshua 19:2 and here, at 1 Chronicles 4:31 it is added: these were their cities unto the reign of David; when, according to Kimchi, and other Jewish writers, he expelled them from thence, and restored them to the tribe of Judah.
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John Gill · 4:32
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And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities. There are but four mentioned in Joshua 19:7 one might be added since, or new built, namely, Tochen; these, according to Kimchi, were all that remained for them to dwell in, in the times of David; and therefore they were obliged to seek out for new settlements for themselves and flocks, as in 1 Chronicles 4:39, &c.
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John Gill · 4:33
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And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal,.... The same with Baalathbeer, Joshua 19:8. these were their habitations, and their genealogy; as before described, until the times of David.
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John Gill · 4:34
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And Meshobab, and Jamlech,.... These, with those that follow to the end of 1 Chronicles 4:37 were famous men in the tribe of Simeon, of rank and dignity, and eminent for courage and valour, as the latter part of the chapter testifies, though they are nowhere else taken notice of. Jamlech, as Fabritius (k) observes, is not very different from Jamblichus, the name of a famous Platonic philosopher. (k) Bibliothec. Gr. l. 4. c. 28. p. 294.
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John Gill · 4:38
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These mentioned by their names were princes in their families,.... The principal men of them, heads of their fathers' houses: and the house of their fathers increased greatly; by them, so that they were obliged to seek out for new habitations, as follows.
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John Gill · 4:39
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And they went to the entrance of Gedor,.... There was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:18 but this seems to be further off, and perhaps is the same with Gedaris, mentioned by Strabo (l) along with Azotus and Askelon, cities that belonged to the Philistines; since it was inhabited by the posterity of Ham, of whom the Philistines were, as in the following verse: even unto the east side of the valley; which was near to Gedor, and a suitable place: to seek pasture for their flocks; their sheep and goats. (l) Geograph. l. 16. p. 522.
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John Gill · 4:40
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And they found fat pasture and good,.... In or near the valley of Gedor: and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; there was room enough for them and their flocks, and they had no enemies on either side to disturb them: for they of Ham had dwelt there of old; either the Canaanites who descended from Canaan the son of Ham, and had never been expelled from thence; or the Philistines, who were a colony of the Egyptians, the posterity of Ham; and these inhabitants being of this cursed race, the Simeonites scrupled not to dispossess them.
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John Gill · 4:41
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And these written by name,.... Before in 1 Chronicles 4:34, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; as Dr. Lightfoot (m) thinks, not within the first fourteen years of his reign, when the Syrian army was abroad, and none dost peep out, but in his last fifteen years, when the army was destroyed and gone: and smote their tents; the tents of those who dwelt there for the sake of feeding their flocks, and whose pasturage the Simeonites wanted: and the habitations that were found there; or the Meunaim or Maonites, which the Septuagint Version here calls Mineans, a people sometimes mentioned along with the Philistines, and others: see Judges 10:11. and destroyed them utterly unto this day: to the writing of this book; they had not then recovered their possessions: and dwelt in their room, because there was pasture there for their flocks; which was the thing they were in search of. (m) Works, vol. 1. p. 111.
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John Gill · 4:42
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And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to Mount Seir,.... In the land of Edom: having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi; these four captains are said, by the ancient Rabbins, to be of the tribe of Manasseh, as Kimchi observes; see 1 Chronicles 5:24 but as the five hundred they were at the head of were of the sons of Simeon, the captains, no doubt, were of the same race.
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John Gill · 4:43
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And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped,.... That escaped the sword of Saul; though, according to the Jews (n), 100,000 of them were slain by him in one day; and of the sword of David, though he is said not to leave man or woman alive, 1 Samuel 27:8. and dwelt there unto this day; in the cities of the Amalekites, even of the posterity of the above; who were some of the remnant of Israel, that were not carried away by the king of Assyria, and who dwelt here after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, even in the times of Ezra, the writer of this book; see 2 Chronicles 34:9. (n) Midrash Esther, fol. 93. 4.
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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 4:27
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his brethren had not many children--(see Num 1:22; Num 26:14).
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John Gill · 4:25
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Shallum his son,.... The son of Shaul, and Mibsam was the son of Shallum, and Mishma the son of Mibsam.
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John Gill · 4:26
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And the sons of Mishma,.... These were Hamuel, Zacchur, and Shimei.
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About a five-minute read
Drawn from the public-domain commentaries and Spurgeon sermons that cover this exact passage · ~678 words.
Matthew Henry. An account of the posterity and cities of Simeon, their conquest of Gedon, and of the Amalekites in Mount Seir (v. 24-43). The posterity of Shobal the son of Hur (Ch1 4:1-4), of Ashur the posthumous son of Hezron (who was mentioned, Ch1 2:24), with something particular concerning Jabez (Ch1 4:5-10), of Chelub and others (Ch1 4:11-20), of Shelah (Ch1 4:21-23). A further account of the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, the most numerous and most famous of all the tribes. Now the curses on Ham and Amalek had a further accomplishment, when they seemed dormant, if not dead; as had also the curse on Simeon, that he should be divided and scattered (Gen 49:7): yet to him it was turned into a blessing, for the families of Simeon, which thus transplanted themselves into those distant countries, are said to dwell there unto this day (Ch1 4:43), by which it should seem they escaped the calamities of the captivity. It is said that they found fat pastures, and yet the land was quiet; even when the kings of Assyria were giving disturbance to all their neighbours this land escaped their alarms. Those who dwell (as we do) in a fruitful country, and whose land is wide, and quiet, and peaceable, have reason to own themselves indebted to that God who appoints the bounds of our habitation. (2.) Others of them, to the number of 500, under the command of four brethren here named, made a descent upon Mount Seir, and smote the remainder of the devoted Amalekites, and took possession of their country, Ch1 4:42, Ch1 4:43. Of this tribe it is said that they increased greatly, but not like the children of Judah, Ch1 4:27. When it is said that they were theirs unto the reign of David (Ch1 4:31) intimation is given that when the ten tribes revolted from the house of David many of the Simeonites quitted these cities, because they lay within Judah, and seated themselves elsewhere. 2. This adds to the glory of Hezekiah's pious reign, that, as his kingdom in general prospered, so did particular families. We have here some of the genealogies of the tribe of Simeon (though it was not a tribe of great note), especially the princes of that tribe, Ch1 4:38. When those of this tribe that revolted from the house of David were carried captive with the rest into Assyria those that adhered to Judah were remarkably owned of God and prospered in their endeavours to enlarge their coasts. It was in the days of Hezekiah that a generation of Simeonites, whose tribe had long crouched and truckled, was animated to make these bold efforts. (1.) Some of them attacked a place in Arabia, as it should seem, called the entrance of Gedor, inhabited by the posterity of accursed Ham (Ch1 4:40), made themselves masters of it, and dwelt there.
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. OF SIMEON. (1Ch. 4:24-43) The sons of Simeon--They are classed along with those of Judah, as their possession was partly taken out of the extensive territory of the latter (Jos 19:1). The difference in several particulars of the genealogy given here from that given in other passages is occasioned by some of the persons mentioned having more than one name [compare Gen 46:10; Exo 6:15; Num 26:12]. These were their cities unto the reign of David--In consequence of the sloth or cowardice of the Simeonites, some of the cities within their allotted territory were only nominally theirs. They were never taken from the Philistines until David's time, when, the Simeonites having forfeited all claim to them, he assigned them to his own tribe of Judah (Sa1 27:6). increased greatly, and they went to the entrance of Gedor--Simeon having only a part of the land of Judah, they were forced to seek accommodation elsewhere; but their establishment in the new and fertile pastures of Gederah was soon broken up; for, being attacked by a band of nomad plunderers, they were driven from place to place till some of them effected by force a settlement on Mount Seir.
Chapter introductions and general notes (1)
Matthew Henry · ch. 4
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In this chapter we have, I. A further account of the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, the most numerous and most famous of all the tribes. The posterity of Shobal the son of Hur (Ch1 4:1-4), of Ashur the posthumous son of Hezron (who was mentioned, Ch1 2:24), with something particular concerning Jabez (Ch1 4:5-10), of Chelub and others (Ch1 4:11-20), of Shelah (Ch1 4:21-23). II. An account of the posterity and cities of Simeon, their conquest of Gedon, and of the Amalekites in Mount Seir (v. 24-43).
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