The (Scattered) Hebrews: Tribe of Simeon

Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war

-1 Chronicles 12:25

Note: It is recommended to read the House of Israel and Levi before reading this article

In ancient Canaan where Jacob and his sons lived, Dinah, Jacob’s daughter was raped by an African Prince of the Hivites. This Prince Shechem strongly lusted for Dinah and attempted to have his father King Hamor arrange a marriage between him and the Israelite daughter. After the sons of Jacob heard what happened to their sister, they were enraged and lied to King Hamor and his son telling them if the Hivite men were circumcised, that the Prince could then marry their sister Dinah. The Hivite city agreed to this and were happy to bind their families with the Hebrew Israelites through the marriage. However Levi and Simeon both took their swords, came into the Hivite city on the 3rd day from when the Hivites were still sore from their circumcision and slaughtered all the males in the city because of what the Prince had done to their sister. This put the entire Hebrew Israelite family at risk among the rest of the Canaanites and Jacob was angry with them. This is what Jacob had to say about these two sons:

5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.

-Genesis 49:5–7

Sins of Simeon and Levi

Here Jacob mentions that Simeon (2nd son of Jacob) and Levi are brothers but all of his sons were brothers and their mother Leah birthed 7 of Jacob’s children (including Dinah) so all those 7 were full blooded siblings. Jacob singles out Simeon and Levi because those tribes would become close in physical connection in the Americas but still divided because of their sin in murdering all those Hivite men for the rape of their sister. This is exactly what we see even still today between Haiti (Levi) and the Dominican Republic (Simeon) and we know that Levi was scattered throughout Israel already from my previous article. The curse of Jacob between these brothers is why there has been a bitter division between these indigenous American Simeonites and the Levites of Haiti.