Simeon

Simeon was the second son of Jacob and Leah and father of the tribe of Simeon, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Hebrew meaning of his name means "God has heard that I was unloved" (Genesis 29:33). He and his brother Levi destroyed the entire village of Shechem in retribution for the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34). Simeon was a part of the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery. After the family was invited to Egypt during the famine in Canaan, he was appointed as the individual to stay behind as collateral for Benjamin so that his brothers would return from Canaan.

The tribe of Simeon lived in the southernmost part of the Land of Israel.

Sources: Bridger, David. Ed. The New Jewish Encyclopedia, NY: Behrman House, 1976; Navigating the Bible II