Joshua 19 · a question people ask
Is Simeon's place inside Judah what Jacob meant by "scatter them in Israel"?
Jacob said of Simeon and Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). Joshua 19 says Simeon's inheritance "was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Judah" (19:1) and gives its own reason: "the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them" (19:9). It doesn't mention Genesis 49. Christians read the two side by side in more than one way. Both views read the same verses and agree on what 19:1 and 19:9 say; they differ on whether to connect them to Genesis 49.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Jacob's words worked out
Some read 19:1-9 as Jacob's words coming to pass for Simeon, as they did for Levi, who has "no portion among you" (18:7) and lives in cities given out of the other tribes, including "out of the tribe of the children of Simeon" (21:9). They note that Simeon's towns are also in Judah's list (15:21-32), and that 1 Chronicles says of them, "These were their cities until David’s reign" (1 Chronicles 4:31).
Genesis 49:7 · Joshua 19:1 · Joshua 18:7 · Joshua 21:9 · 1 Chronicles 4:31
Joshua's own reason
Others read the reason the chapter gives, that Judah's portion "was too much for them" (19:9), as the whole account of Simeon's place here, and don't tie it to Genesis 49, since Joshua doesn't cite it. They note that the text gives Levi's lack of land its own reason: "the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance" (18:7).
Joshua 19:9 · Joshua 18:7
The verses
““Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
“The second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. Their inheritance was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Judah.”
“Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the middle of their inheritance.”