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The Land Given to Simeon

19 The second allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. Their homeland was surrounded by Judah’s territory.

Simeon’s homeland included Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their surrounding villages. It also included Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages, including all the surrounding villages as far south as Baalath-beer (also known as Ramah of the Negev).

This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. Their allocation of land came from part of what had been given to Judah because Judah’s territory was too large for them. So the tribe of Simeon received an allocation within the territory of Judah.

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Simeon’s Tribal Lands

19 The second lot belonged to the tribe of Simeon by its clans.[a] Their assigned land was in the middle of Judah’s assigned land. Their assigned land included[b] Beer Sheba,[c] Moladah, Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen—a total of thirteen cities and their towns, Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—a total of four cities and their towns, as well as all the towns around these cities as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the land assigned to the tribe of Simeon by its clans.[d] Simeon’s assigned land was taken from Judah’s allotted portion, for Judah’s territory was too large for them; so Simeon was assigned land within Judah.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 19:1 tn Heb “and the second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon by their clans.”tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate omit “for Simeon.”
  2. Joshua 19:2 tn Heb “and they had in their inheritance.”
  3. Joshua 19:2 tc The MT has “and Sheba” listed after “Beer Sheba.” The LXX suggests “Shema.” The Hebrew text may be defective here, since the form “Sheba” duplicates the latter part of the preceding name. If Sheba (or Shema) is retained as a separate city, the list numbers fourteen, one more than the number given in the concluding summary (v. 6). Some translations treat it as an alternate shorter name for “Beer Sheba” rendering it as “or Sheba;” cf. HCSB, TNIV, and JPS.
  4. Joshua 19:8 tn Heb “this was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon.”
  5. Joshua 19:9 tn Heb “from the portion of the sons of Judah was the inheritance of the sons of Simeon for the portion of the sons of Judah was too large for them, and the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.”