And the second lot came forth to Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families; and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah.
The second lot fell to Simeon — not fresh ground, but land already counted to Judah. Why plant one tribe inside another tribe's borders, and how does Jacob's old word over Simeon come true here?
Nothing in this chapter is human preference. Writers point to the way the land west of the Jordan was handed out, and to what the lot did and did not settle.
The first section gives the inheritance of the tribes by lot. The lot marks how the land was shared out on the west side of the Jordan; the east side, as noted elsewhere, was shared without it. The lot showed the mind of God more clearly than any other way could: "its every decision is from the LORD," says the voice of inspiration itself (Prov. 16:33). But the lot seems to have settled only the position of these possessions, not their size. That left room to revise the boundary lines as each tribe grew or shrank through its faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
Simeon received no separate territory. The reason is given a few verses later, in the note that Judah's share was larger than Judah needed.
The second lot came out for Simeon, and it is described in much the same way at the start of Joshua 19:1-8, with the added statement that Simeon's inheritance was taken out of Judah's portion, since Judah's part was too much for them; so Simeon had their portion inside Judah's part (v. 9).
What Simeon received was land Judah had not been able to hold, and it lay at the edge of the country.
The inheritance of the children of Simeon was not the best, for it was taken from what Judah could not keep. So they received their portion out of what another tribe had to spare. It lay at the southern edge of the land of Israel, on the border facing the desert.
Long before, Jacob had said he would divide Simeon and Levi and scatter them in Israel. Simeon's inheritance is the shape that word takes.
The second lot comes out for Simeon, and it fits the character of the tribe. We have seen that its weakness lies in the ties it forms so easily. Now, it seems, God gives it ties after His own mind. And so Jacob's prophecy about them comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two opposite-looking things happen together. Simeon receives his inheritance as cities scattered, more or less, inside the territory already given to Judah — cities Judah cannot occupy, because that portion is too large for them. How little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need. He shows us how communion, which Simeon stands for, depends on worship — and how worship, with a difference, depends on communion. Much as the Levites were given to the priests in Leviticus, so here, we may say, Simeon is given to Judah.
Simeon and Levi were sentenced together, yet their stories go different ways. Commentators differ on how far Simeon's scattering became a blessing.
Levi really was scattered — but with what honour and blessing! God appointed him to keep up the worship of the LORD. He had no care or worry except what belonged to the worship of God. In Levi the word came true with wonder and grace: his scattering was his exaltation. Simeon was small in Israel: "nor did all their clan multiply like the men of Judah." Even so, those named were princes, and the house of their fathers prospered.
Another writer sets the two tribes side by side, then weighs what Simeon's limits decided.
In grace the Lord used Levi's scattering to give him priestly duties that suited his place. For Simeon it was otherwise: he went on bearing the mark of God's judgment. He was small in number, half surrounded by Judah's territory, open to enemy attack on the south, and without fixed borders. But we find here the truth already presented. When the faith of the whole people has failed, the faith of a few — as earlier the faith of one man, Caleb — moves them to "enlarge their borders." … The extent of their possessions depended neither on their numbers nor on their power.
The two tribal names, read together, suggest why this arrangement fits.
Judah's inheritance was so large that Simeon received a possession within Judah's borders. Simeon means "listening." Anyone who makes a habit of listening to God will praise Him. So he has a right to an inheritance within Judah, whose name means "praise." Scripture mentions no separating borders for Simeon, and God has a definite reason for this.
- Lot — God decided where each tribe's portion lay, not people. The lot fixed the position; the size could still change with a tribe's faithfulness.
- Leftover — Simeon got Judah's overflow: ground Judah could not keep, out on the desert edge. One tribe's excess met another's need.
- Scattered — Jacob said, "I will divide them." The gift itself makes it come true: cities dotted inside someone else's land.
- Grace — Levi's scattering became his exaltation in God's service. Commentators differ over Simeon: he stayed small, yet his named men were princes.
- Listening — Simeon's name means listening, and his home sits inside Judah, "praise." Those who listen to God live inside worship.
And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and Moladah,
The second lot falls to Simeon, and it opens with towns instead of a border. Why does one tribe get cities inside another tribe's land instead of its own territory? And what do names like Beersheba and Moladah mean?
The cities named here were not carved out of fresh ground. They came out of a portion already assigned, because the tribe holding it could not fill what it had been given.
The second lot came forth to Simeon; and this is described similarly in the beginning of Joshua 19:1-8, with the added statement that Simeon's inheritance was taken out of the portion of Judah, the part of the former being too much for them: and therefore the latter had their portion within their part.
Commentators read this arrangement in different ways. One sees the placing as fitting and honourable:
Judah's inheritance was so large that Simeon was given a possession inside Judah's borders. Simeon means "listening," because the one who makes a habit of listening to God is sure to praise Him. That gives him title to an inheritance within Judah ("praise"). The account mentions no separating borders for Simeon, and God has a definite reason for this. But it does list many cities with their surrounding villages as belonging to Simeon.
after-note: DELETE
Another reads the same facts as a lesser portion, and notes where it lay:
But the inheritance of the children of Simeon was not the best, because it was taken from what Judah could not keep. So they received their portion out of what another tribe had to spare, at the southern edge of the land of Israel, on the border facing the desert.
The scattering of Simeon was foretold. It turned out to be provision — for Simeon and for Judah.
In this way Jacob's prophecy about them is fulfilled: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two seemingly opposite things happen through their receiving their inheritance as cities scattered, more or less, inside the territory already given to Judah — cities Judah cannot occupy, because its portion is too large for it. How little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need.
The verse gives Simeon town names, not boundary lines. One writer treats that silence as deliberate.
So Simeon has no real territory at all, and no boundary lines are drawn or mentioned. The cities do not speak of what Simeon has for its own private enjoyment. They speak of what God has provided for it, so that it may be kept going.
The first name carries an oath sworn generations earlier, and it marks the far edge of the nation.
This name means well of the oath. It was given to the place where Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant not to harm each other, and confirmed it with an oath. Later it became the home of Abraham and of Isaac... It became part of Simeon's lot, Joshua 19:1-2. After Israel settled the land, Scripture keeps pointing to it as the most southern part of the land they held, just as Dan marks the most northern.
The oath in that name is read as God's own pledge of blessing:
Blessed be God that for us there is this constant need of water from below and from above. Egypt, with its river whose source they cannot see, is not our portion. We need the Spirit, and so we need His gracious, patient, abundant ministry, shown to us in the first of Simeon's cities, secured to us by oath. "He who can swear by no greater has sworn by Himself, saying, Surely, blessing, I will bless you!"
The third name points to where the life of communion begins.
Moladah means "birth." We are born of the Spirit, born of the Word. This is the first qualification for communion: a nature able to grasp and enjoy the things of God.
The count and the spellings of these towns are not uniform across Scripture, and this is acknowledged openly rather than smoothed over.
There are questions about these Simeonite cities, even about how many there were. The first series is given as thirteen, while the Hebrew text has fourteen. According to the commentators, the names themselves often appear in a different form in Judah's list, and sometimes in a third form in 1 Chronicles.
- Oath. The list opens at Beersheba, the well of the oath. Simeon's portion starts at a sworn promise, not at a won border.
- Birth. Moladah means "birth." A nature able to take in the things of God is the first qualification for enjoying them.
- No borders. Simeon gets cities, not boundary lines. The towns supply what keeps the tribe going; they do not mark off what is his.
- Scattered. Jacob said Simeon would be scattered in Israel. These towns fulfil that word, and they also fill land Judah could not fill.
- Two readings. Commentators differ: is Simeon's place inside Judah an honour, or land left over? They also note that the number and spelling of the cities differ between Joshua and 1 Chronicles.
and Hazar-Shual, and Balah, and Ezem,
This verse sits inside the list of towns given to Simeon, a tribe whose whole inheritance came out of land already assigned to Judah. So why does a tribe of Israel hold scattered cities instead of a country with borders of its own?
The opening of the chapter sets the terms for every town named after it, including the three in this verse.
The second lot came out for Simeon; and this is described in much the same way at the beginning of Joshua 19:1-8, with the added statement that Simeon's inheritance was taken out of Judah's portion, since Judah's part was too large for them. So Simeon had their portion inside Judah's part.
Long before, Jacob said Simeon would be divided and scattered in Israel. One writer sees both halves of that saying come true in how the land was shared out.
The second lot comes out for Simeon. This fits the character of the tribe exactly. We have seen that its weakness lay in the ties it formed too easily, and now, it seems, God gives it ties after His own mind. In this way Jacob's prophecy about them comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two seemingly opposite things both happen in one way. Simeon receives its inheritance as cities scattered, more or less, within the territory already given to Judah — cities Judah could not occupy, because their portion was too large for them.
Notice what the text never gives Simeon: boundary lines. It lists only towns.
Simeon has no real territory at all, and so no boundary lines are drawn or even mentioned. Communion, so to speak, has no territory of its own — no boundary lines. The cities speak not of things it has for its own private enjoyment, but of what God has provided to sustain it.
One writer reads the first name in this verse as a picture of the flesh. He shows why a nature we cannot kill can still be shut in. He points to Romans 6:6, where older translations read "annulled" for what the ESV calls "brought to nothing."
"Hazar-shual" means "the enclosure of the jackal" — "the jackal-pen."… Everything around the word here leads us to believe it stands for the evil nature, the flesh, with its earthliness and its greed for corruption. This jackal-nature cannot be killed. But it can be "penned," and so in practice "annulled" — the real word in Romans 6:6. That is the fruit of faith in what the cross has done for us: "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
The next two names carry the same line of thought forward, from what is put to death to what is received. One writer spells Ezem as "Azem."
Balah means "withered, old." Under the number that speaks both of the cross and of salvation, it reminds us that "our old self was crucified with him … so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Rom. 6:6).
Under the number of the Spirit and of resurrection from the dead we have Azem, "strength." This is the ability to enter the portion God has made our own without hindrance, and to enjoy it with God.
Another writer finds the reason in the meaning of the tribe's name, and holds that every town in the list repays study.
Because Judah's inheritance was so large, Simeon received a possession within Judah's borders. Simeon means "listening." The one who makes a habit of listening to God will surely praise Him, and so has a right to an inheritance within Judah, whose name means "praise." Scripture mentions no separating borders for Simeon, and God has a definite reason for this. Instead it lists many cities with their surrounding villages as Simeon's. All of these also have spiritual meaning, which brings blessing to those who care about it and are able to search it out.
Simeon's portion was small and exposed. One writer, following the tribe's later history, finds that its smallness became a spur.
Simeon was small in number, partly enclosed in Judah's territory, open to enemy attack on the south, and without definite borders. But we find here a truth already seen. When the faith of the whole people has failed, the faith of a few still moves them to "enlarge their borders," as the faith of Caleb once moved him alone.… The size of their possessions depended neither on their numbers nor on their power. They bore the results of the curse pronounced on them, but their deep poverty, which they could not deny, drove them to conquer what God placed within their reach.
- Divided — Judah's part was too large, so Simeon's inheritance came out of it. Jacob's word about being scattered in Israel came true in the shape of the land itself.
- Bordered — Simeon gets no boundary lines at all, only cities. What Simeon holds is provision to keep it going, not private ground to fence off.
- Penned — Hazar-shual, "the jackal-pen," pictures the evil nature. We cannot kill it, but faith in the cross can shut it in (Rom. 6:6).
- Withered, then strong — Balah ("old") answers to the old self crucified. Ezem ("strength") answers to the power to enter and enjoy the portion God has made ours.
- Enlarged — a small, exposed tribe with no borders still pressed out and took what God put within reach. Their possessions never depended on their numbers.
and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen thirteen cities and their hamlets;
Joshua 19:6 closes the first block of towns given to Simeon with two names and a total. Simeon's whole portion came out of land already given to Judah. So why did one tribe live inside another's borders? And what does a bare list of towns and a number hold for the reader?
This verse falls inside the second lot. One writer states the plain fact behind it: Judah had more land than Judah could use.
The second lot came out for Simeon. The beginning of Joshua 19:1-8 describes it in much the same way. It adds that Simeon's inheritance came out of Judah's portion, since Judah's part was too much for them. So Simeon had their portion inside Judah's part. (Verse 9)
Notice what the chapter never gives Simeon: boundary lines. The list runs from town to town, then stops at a count. One writer takes that absence as deliberate, and reads Simeon as a picture of communion with God.
Simeon has no territory at all, properly speaking; and so no boundary lines are drawn or spoken of. Communion has, so to speak, no territory of its own — no boundary lines. The cities do not speak of things it has for its own private enjoyment. They speak of what God has provided to keep it going.
Jacob had said that Simeon would be divided and scattered in Israel. The arrangement in this chapter carries out that word and gives the tribe its inheritance at the same time.
The second lot comes out for Simeon, exactly in keeping with the character of the tribe... and so Jacob's prophecy about them is fulfilled, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two seemingly opposite things happen together in one way. They receive their inheritance as cities scattered, more or less, inside the territory already given to Judah. They cannot occupy those cities, because their portion is too large for them. Sadly, how little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need. He shows us that communion (which Simeon stands for) depends on worship, and that worship in turn depends on communion.
Both towns here carry a meaning. The count raises a problem: the Hebrew names add up to one more than thirteen. One writer traces the difficulty and refuses to force a solution.
Beth-lebaoth, the "house of lionesses," comes fourth in the Hebrew text. The usual clearness is missing here, and there must be a mistake somewhere. Sharuhen, the "dwelling of grace," according to the dictionaries, would fit well enough in fifth place. But then the number must be fourteen instead of thirteen, as the Hebrew text has it. The differences in the Septuagint and in 1 Chronicles do not lessen the puzzle. We must leave it, regretfully, exactly where it is.
The same town seems to surface again elsewhere in Scripture under a different name.
A town of Simeon. 1 Chronicles 4:31. Apparently the same as BETH-LEBAOTH in Joshua 19:6.
Why should Simeon of all the tribes sit inside Judah? One writer answers from the meanings of the two names.
Simeon means "hearkening." The person whose habit is to listen to God will certainly praise Him, and so has title to an inheritance inside Judah ("praise").
A verse made of two place names and a number looks like the least rewarding kind of Scripture. One writer argues the opposite: the detail is there on purpose.
But there is another part of Joshua: the actual inheritance, after the conflict is over. How wonderful it is that every city, every valley, every spring, everything is dwelt on in such fine detail in the last half of the book! Without doubt this is to tell us of the varied spiritual blessings that are ours.
Commentators differ over how far to press the individual names. Some work through them one by one; another holds back.
This is a chapter that contains many names; nearly a hundred and fifty are recorded... Many of these names may come from different roots and so have a different meaning. The meaning of others is unclear. We cannot follow the possible meaning and application of these names. The lesson, however, is that the Lord distributed the inheritance to His people and placed them as it pleased Him.
- Given — Simeon won no land of its own. The Lord took Simeon's portion out of Judah's oversized lot, town by town, down to this closing count of thirteen.
- Borderless — Simeon has no boundary lines. It holds cities only, and those cities are what God provides to keep the tribe going.
- Hearing — Simeon means "hearkening" and Judah means "praise." The one who listens to God lives inside the land of the one who praises.
- Scattered — the same arrangement carries out Jacob's word that Simeon would be divided and scattered in Israel.
- Unclaimed — Simeon could not occupy all these towns. That is a picture of how little of God's blessing we enjoy.
Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan four cities and their hamlets;
Joshua 19 opens the second round of land allotments, and Simeon comes first. The list runs through towns in the dry south, ending with the four named here. None of these four cities stood on land of Simeon's own. They sat inside a portion already measured out to Judah.
A few verses later the text explains why.
The second lot came out for Simeon. The opening of Joshua 19:1-8 describes it in much the same way. It adds that Simeon's inheritance came out of Judah's portion, because Judah's share was too much for them. So Simeon had their portion inside Judah's part.
Jacob had said of Simeon that his descendants would be broken up among the other tribes. Scattered cities inside a neighbour's land turn out to be how that happened.
The second lot comes out for Simeon… and so Jacob's prophecy about them comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two seemingly opposite things happen together. Simeon receives its inheritance as cities scattered, more or less, within the territory already given to Judah. Judah could not occupy those cities, because their portion was too large for them. How little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need.
Notice also what the chapter never gives Simeon.
Simeon has no territory of its own at all, and no boundary lines are drawn or even mentioned. In fact communion has no territory of its own — no boundary lines. The cities do not speak of what communion holds for its own enjoyment. They speak of what God has provided to keep communion alive.
The first two names, Ain and Rimmon, raise a question. Other lists join them into one place.
Keil says of "Ain and Rimmon" that they "are given as Simeonite towns, and, being written without the connecting word, are treated as one name… But as they were also called 'En-Rimmon' after the captivity, and are given as a single place in Neh. 11:29, they were probably so close together that in the course of time they grew into one."
Read for their meanings, the four towns hang together around one subject — the work of a priest.
The next group is only four cities. Two of them, Ether and Ashan, we have had already, plainly referring to our Lord's sanctuary work. Rimmon, the "pomegranate," was on the border of the high priest's garment. Ain, the first, means "eye" as well as "spring"; and the priest's eye was constantly needed. So here we have the priestly work of Christ for us. We need that work to keep communion, just as we need it for worship.
The first name carries the thought of sight. So how should a believer feel about being seen?
Ain comes first, the "eye" that searches out the truth perfectly, so that intercession may fit the need and the right grace may be given. This eye is worth welcoming, not fearing. It is the eye of the physician and the friend, not of the judge or accuser. For keeping communion, what is more necessary than the cry, "Search me, O God, and know my heart!"? We can "draw near" as the Psalmist could not. What holds us back, except the fear that the light of the throne and the eye of omniscience will expose something we would rather not see as it really is?
The pomegranate itself repays a closer look.
The pomegranate is not a tall tree; height would have put its treasures out of reach. Its leaf stays green all year. Its flower and its fruit are both beautiful, and the seeds of future fruit are found all through the fruit. It is a precious picture of the word of divine testimony. Anything that passes for communion, yet does not rest on and live by the communication of the grace of God, His mind for men, is not communion.
The last of the four brings the list to a close on a note of dependence.
The fourth city is Ashan, "smoke," and it reminds us once more of our weakness. We have also seen that it refers to the sanctuary incense. So we come now to our own need of prayer, and the worth which Christ's perfection gives to it.
- Borrowed ground. Simeon's four cities sat inside Judah's portion. Judah's share was more than Judah could hold.
- Scattered by promise. That arrangement carried out Jacob's word: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Simeon received cities, not a country.
- Need meeting need. Judah could not fill its land, so God used Simeon's need to supply Judah's.
- A priestly list. Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan all point to sanctuary work: the searching eye, the pomegranate on the high priest's robe, and the incense of prayer.
- Kept, not merely given. These cities picture what keeps fellowship alive, not what it owns: an eye to welcome, a word to feed on, and prayer Christ makes acceptable.
and all the hamlets that are round these cities to Baalath-beer, [that is] Ramah of the south. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
This verse closes the list of Simeon's towns and calls the whole of it Simeon's inheritance. Notice what is missing: no boundary line, and no block of land of Simeon's own. Simeon is given cities and villages inside another tribe's land, and commentators ask why.
One writer gives the plain reason: Judah's lot was simply too big.
The second lot came out to Simeon. Joshua 19:1-8 describes it in much the same way, and adds that Simeon's inheritance came out of Judah's portion, since Judah's part was too much for them. So Simeon had his portion inside Judah's part.
The verse names villages, not borders. One commentator reads Simeon as a picture of communion with God.
Simeon has, strictly speaking, no territory at all, and so Scripture draws no boundary lines for him and never speaks of any. In fact communion, so to speak, has no territory of its own — no boundary lines. The cities speak not of things it has for its own private enjoyment, but of what God has provided to keep it going.
Another writer ties the missing borders to the meaning of the two names, Simeon and Judah.
Simeon means "hearkening," for the one whose habit is to listen to God will certainly praise Him, and so has title to an inheritance within Judah ("praise"). Scripture mentions no separating borders for Simeon, and God has definite reason for this, but it lists many cities with their surrounding villages as belonging to Simeon.
Simeon's weakness was in the associations the tribe formed so easily. Now, it appears, God gives them associations after His own mind, and Jacob's word about them comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." These two seemingly opposite things happen together in one way: Simeon receives an inheritance of cities scattered, more or less, inside the territory already given to Judah — cities they cannot occupy, because their portion is too large for them. Sadly, how little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need. He also shows us that communion (which Simeon stands for) depends on worship, and that worship, in its own way, depends on communion. Much as the Levites were given to the priests, so here we may say Simeon is given to Judah.
Baalath-beer, the outer marker, goes by other names elsewhere in Scripture.
A town on the south border of the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:8). It is also called "Ramath of the South," and "South Ramoth" in 1 Samuel 30:27. It seems to be the same place as "Baal" in 1 Chronicles 4:33.
One writer finds a picture in these names.
Many unnamed villages around these cities come as a kind of appendix, reaching to Baalath-beer, the Ramath of the south — names with a simple beauty in what they say. The "mistress of the well" has to be "the exalted one" of the dry "south," which only needs the water to grow into wonderful fruitfulness. Blessed be God that for us there is this constant need of water from below and from above.
This writer uses an older wording, "Ramath of the south." The ESV has "Ramah of the Negeb."
The verse calls this Simeon's inheritance, yet the tribe later dropped out of sight. Even so, Simeon's name still appears in two later prophecies.
In a way they were lost in the land. But in the future day Ezekiel speaks of, the twelve tribes will be restored and the land divided again — and the tribe of Simeon has its portion (Ezekiel 48:24-35). They are also mentioned in Revelation 7:7, when a remnant of them will be sealed for blessing.
- Cause — Judah's lot was larger than Judah needed. So Simeon's cities and villages lay inside it.
- Gift — Jacob's word sounded like a curse. God used it to make Simeon's need supply Judah's need.
- Reach — The villages stretch out to Baalath-beer, a dry height. Only water makes it fruitful.
- Shape — No borders are drawn, because communion has no land of its own. Simeon holds this portion by listening to God, not by fences.
- Result — Simeon was almost lost in the land. Yet Ezekiel still names a portion for the tribe, and Revelation names a sealed remnant.
Out of the lot of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too great for them, and the children of Simeon inherited within their inheritance.
The second lot fell to Simeon, and it came out of Judah's share, because Judah held more land than that tribe could use. Simeon alone gets no border of its own, which raises a question: what does it cost to live inside another tribe's portion?
The bare facts of the allotment are worth stating first, since the whole lesson hangs on them.
The second lot came out for Simeon, and this is described in much the same way in the opening of Joshua 19:1-8, with the added statement that Simeon's inheritance was taken out of Judah's portion, since Judah's part was too much for them; and so Simeon had their portion inside Judah's part.
Jacob had said of Simeon and Levi that he would divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. That word is worked out here — not by exile, but by scattered cities inside a brother's land. And the reason given for the arrangement carries a sting for any reader who has more from God than they actually use.
The second lot comes out for Simeon... and so Jacob's prophecy about them comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Both of these seemingly opposite things happen through the form of Simeon's inheritance. He receives cities scattered, more or less, within the territory already given to Judah — cities Judah cannot occupy, because their portion is too large for them. How little we are able to enjoy all the blessing God has made our own! But in this way He makes Simeon's need supply Judah's need.
The names of these two tribes matter. One writer takes their meanings as the key to why God set one inside the other.
Simeon's inheritance is closely connected with that of Judah. Simeon means "hearing" and Judah means "praise." So the two are linked together. If our hearts are open to hear, and our faith takes hold, we praise and worship and enjoy our God-given inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The record for Simeon lists cities, but never a boundary line. One writer treats that gap as the heart of the picture, reading Simeon as a figure of communion with God.
Simeon has, strictly speaking, no territory at all; and so no boundary lines are drawn or spoken of. Communion has, so to speak, no territory of its own — no boundary lines. The cities speak not of things it has for its own private enjoyment, but of what God has provided so that it may be maintained.
Not every writer reads the placement as pure privilege. Looking back at this verse from the alliance of Judah and Simeon in Judges 1, one commentator weighs what kind of land it actually was.
We learn from Joshua 19:9 that "the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them." But the inheritance of the people of Simeon was not the best. It came out of what Judah could not keep. So they received their portion out of what was surplus to another tribe, at the southern edge of the land of Israel, on the border facing the desert. God was not disowning either tribe, for it is written, "the LORD gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand."
Commentators differ in emphasis here. One sees a gift that ties hearing to praise. The other sees leftover land on an exposed border.
This was not the end of Simeon's story. One writer follows the tribe into its later history.
Simeon was small in number, partly surrounded by Judah's territory, open to enemy attacks on the south, and without definite borders. But we find here the truth already presented. When the faith of the whole people has failed, the faith of a few still moves them to "enlarge their borders" — as the faith of one man, Caleb, had done earlier... The extent of their possessions depended neither on their numbers nor on their power.
- Cause. Judah held more land than it could use, so Simeon's lot came out of it. The surplus of one tribe became the home of another.
- Gift. God set hearing (Simeon) inside praise (Judah). Open ears lead to worship, and worship is where the inheritance is enjoyed.
- Reach. Simeon gets cities, not a border. Scattered through a brother's land, this tribe owns nothing it can fence off alone.
- Warning. Judah could not occupy all its land. We are just as slow to take up and enjoy the blessing God has already made ours.
- Result. Small numbers and poor border land did not set Simeon's limits. Where faith stirred in a few, the borders grew.