1 Chronicles 4:24

"The sons of Simeon: Nimuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; Shallum his son. Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah. And they dwelt at Beersheba, and Moladah, and Hazarshual, and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad, and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag. and at Beth-marcaboth, and at Hazarsusim, and at Beth-bari, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David. And their villages were Etham, and Ain, and Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities. And all their villages which were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy. And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesemiel, and Benaiah, and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah - these mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers' houses increased greatly. And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they that dwelt there aforetime were of Ham. And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Meunim that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their stead; because there was pasture there for their flocks. And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and have dwelt there unto this day."

"The sons of Simeon" (1 Chronicles 4:24). "This list differs from that in Genesis 46:10 and in Numbers 26:12; and this may have been occasioned by the same person having different names, one list giving one name, and another list giving the other. The matter is really of no importance."[1]

"In these chapters there is a sense of the grand sweep of human history and of the purpose of God which runs through it. None of us are mere creatures of today; we are the product of generations and generations of mankind; and in our lives there are tides of influence that began to move in the remotest antiquity. Our lives gain enormously in depth and meaning when we see our small existence as part of the whole adventure of man upon the earth."[2]

The first paragraph here (1 Chronicles 4:1-23) gives further genealogies connected with the tribe of Judah. It is by no means clear why these particular genealogies were kept or considered important enough to be included here.

"Caleb the son of Jephunneh" (1 Chronicles 4:15). This man, along with Joshua, was one of the faithful spies sent out by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan.

"Jabez ... named in sorrow" (1 Chronicles 4:9). The mother's statement that she bore him in sorrow is "probably a reference to unusual suffering in childbirth."[3] Jabez's prayer is one of the noblest found in the O.T., and has often been used as a sermon text. Basing his criticism on an alleged meaning of the word `evil,' Elmslie called this prayer un-Christian. "His prayer was crude and selfish. His conscience was not troubled by the thought that others would suffer if he gained his wishes."[4] We do not agree with such opinions, because God's answering Jabez's prayer indicates the purity of the petitioner's motives.

"The sons of Simeon" (1 Chronicles 4:24). "The genealogy of Simeon is fragmentary, reflecting the fact this tribe lost its identity quite early and was absorbed into the tribe of Judah."[5]