The Ghost Tribe: Covenant Consequences in the Desert
Introduction: History Has a Point
Modern Christians, when they come to a passage like this one, are tempted to let their eyes glaze over. We see a list of unfamiliar names, a catalog of forgotten towns, and we think it is little more than inspired record-keeping, something for the archives. We treat it like the fine print in a contract we have no intention of reading. But this is a profound mistake. The genealogies of Scripture are not dusty artifacts. They are the ledger books of a covenant-keeping God. They are the historical receipts that prove God pays His debts and keeps His promises, both the promises of blessing and the promises of cursing.
In these few verses, tucked away in the midst of the great genealogy of Judah, we are given a brief, almost melancholy, account of the tribe of Simeon. And it is a tale of what might have been. It is the story of a slow fade, of a people being absorbed, of a name becoming a memory. The Chronicler, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is not just listing names. He is making a sharp, theological point, and he makes it by way of a devastating comparison. He is showing us the difference between the tribe of the King and a tribe under a long and heavy shadow.
The story of Simeon cannot be understood here in Chronicles without going back to the beginning, to the book of Genesis. Two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, were men of fierce and bloody anger. In response to the rape of their sister Dinah, they orchestrated a deceitful and brutal massacre of the men of Shechem. Their father Jacob, on his deathbed, did not forget. He spoke a prophetic word over them that would echo down through the centuries of their descendants. "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" (Gen. 49:7). This passage in 1 Chronicles is the historical fulfillment of that word. Levi's scattering was redeemed by God; they were scattered as priests throughout the land, a holy tribe. But Simeon's scattering was a scattering into weakness, into dependency, and ultimately, into obscurity. They became a ghost tribe, living on borrowed land and in the shadow of their brother, Judah.
This is a story about covenant consequences. It is a story about how the character and actions of a father mark his children for generations. And it is a story that shows us that in the economy of God, there are only two paths: the path of Judah, which leads to the throne of the Messiah and multiplies, or the path of Simeon, which leads to the desert and diminishes.
The Text
The sons of Simeon were Nemuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. The sons of Mishma were Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah. They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, and Hazar-shual, at Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities; and all their villages that were all around these cities as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they have their genealogy.
(1 Chronicles 4:24-33 LSB)
A Fading Lineage (vv. 24-26)
We begin with the roll call, the official record of the tribe.
"The sons of Simeon were Nemuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. The sons of Mishma were Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son." (1 Chronicles 4:24-26)
On the surface, this is a standard genealogical entry. Names are listed, fathers and sons are connected. The Chronicler is establishing that Simeon, though diminished, is still part of the family of Israel. God has not erased their name from the book entirely. They have their genealogy, as verse 33 concludes. God keeps His books with perfect accuracy.
But we must read this in the context of what precedes it. The text has just spent a great deal of time on the sprawling, robust, and royal line of Judah. The line of Judah is full of life, full of kings, full of vigor. It is the line that is going somewhere. Then we turn the page to Simeon, and the list is comparatively short and thin. It is the sound of a small stream trickling after the sound of a rushing river.
This is not an accident. God is teaching us to read the Bible with discernment. He is showing us that even in the structure of the text, in the amount of space given to one tribe over another, He is telling a story. The story here is one of decline. These are the names of the men who inherited a curse, a divine promise of scattering and division. This is the official record of a family that is shrinking.
The Divine Commentary (v. 27)
In verse 27, the Holy Spirit provides an explicit interpretation of this genealogy. He does not leave us to guess.
"Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah." (1 Chronicles 4:27)
Here is the heart of the matter. The Chronicler points to one man, Shimei, who was an exception. He was fruitful. He had twenty-two children. This shows us that God's curse on a tribe does not necessarily mean that every individual within it is personally cursed. God can grant personal blessings, moments of fruitfulness, even in a family line that is under judgment. Shimei stands out as a flicker of light.
But the flicker only serves to emphasize the surrounding darkness. The text immediately pivots: "but his brothers did not have many sons." Shimei was the exception, not the rule. And then comes the devastating summary statement: "nor did all their family multiply like the sons of Judah." This is the divine scorecard. This is the final tally. Simeon did not keep pace. While Judah was growing, expanding, and becoming a great nation from which the King would come, Simeon was stagnating. They were losing ground.
Why? Because God was honoring the words of Jacob. Judah was blessed: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you... The scepter shall not depart from Judah" (Gen. 49:8, 10). Simeon was cursed: "I will divide them... and scatter them" (Gen. 49:7). History is the unfolding of God's spoken Word. What God says will happen, happens. The fruitfulness of Judah and the barrenness of Simeon are not sociological phenomena; they are theological realities. They are the long-term results of blessing and cursing.
Borrowed Land, Temporary Home (vv. 28-33)
The final verses detail the geography of Simeon's curse. Where you live reveals who you are.
"They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, and Hazar-shual... These were their cities until the reign of David... These were their settlements, and they have their genealogy." (1 Chronicles 4:28-33)
When the land was divided under Joshua, Simeon received no distinct territory of its own. Their inheritance was a collection of cities carved out from within the massive allotment given to Judah (Joshua 19:1, 9). They were, from the very beginning, tenants on their brother's land. They were surrounded, dependent, and without defensible borders of their own. This is what a scattering looks like on a map. You don't get your own color; you are just a series of dots inside someone else's territory.
This precarious situation had a shelf life. The Chronicler tells us, "These were their cities until the reign of David." What happened in the reign of David? The tribe of Judah, David's tribe, rose to absolute preeminence. The kingdom was consolidated, the government was centralized in Jerusalem, and the power of Judah became the power of Israel. In that process, the last vestiges of Simeon's distinct tribal identity were swallowed up. They were absorbed into the administrative and political life of Judah. They became, for all practical purposes, Judeans. Their settlements remained, but their independence vanished. They were a people assimilated.
The final phrase, "and they have their genealogy," is poignant. They still had their family records. They knew they were Simeonites. But in terms of land, power, and influence, they were a ghost. Their story was over. They had been scattered, just as God said they would be, and absorbed by the blessed line of the king.
Conclusion: Absorbed by the King
The story of Simeon is a sober warning written into the bedrock of Scripture. It is a warning against the kind of fierce, proud, and violent anger that defined their father. It is a stark reminder that God takes His prophetic word seriously. When He promises blessing, it comes. When He promises cursing, it also comes. Our God is not a God to be trifled with. History is His story, and He writes it according to His own script.
But the story does not end in the deserts of southern Judah. The contrast between Simeon and Judah is not just about two of Jacob's sons. It is a contrast that points us directly to Christ. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the fulfillment of all the promises of blessing, fruitfulness, and dominion. In Him, the scepter remains, and His kingdom multiplies without end.
The destiny of every person, every family, and every church is to be either a Simeon or a Judah. We will either be marked by a bitterness and anger that leads to being scattered, diminished, and absorbed by the world, or we will be grafted into the tribe of the King. To be in Christ is to be adopted into the family of Judah. It is to have our cursed lineage cut off and to be made partakers in the royal blessing.
The church today must hear this warning. Are we multiplying like Judah, or are we shrinking like Simeon? Are we taking dominion with the joyful confidence of the royal tribe, or are we being quietly absorbed into the culture around us, living as tenants in a land that is not our own? Are we known for our fierce internal squabbles and anger, or for the grace and power of the King? The fate of Simeon teaches us that to be scattered is to be absorbed. Our calling is not to be scattered. Our calling is to gather all nations to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose fruitful and multiplying kingdom there is no end.