Simeon

Simeon was a son of Jacob and traditional ancestor of the tribe of Simeon. Together with Levi he is associated with the attack on Shechem, an episode remembered as both defence of family honour and uncontrolled collective violence.

Simeon was born in Harran. Jacob’s final blessing in Genesis condemns the violence of Simeon and Levi and predicts their dispersal; the later tribe of Simeon was associated with territory within or alongside Judah in southern Canaan.

In Angela Hunt’s Brothers, Famine drives Jacob’s sons to Egypt, where Simeon bows before a powerful official without recognising the brother he once helped sell. Joseph remembers the pit and years of servitude, while Simeon’s imprisonment leaves him dependent on Mandisa, a widowed interpreter who sees tenderness beneath his defiance. Simeon is treated fictionally in Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent.