Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole clan did not become as numerous as the sons of Judah.
Parallel translations
- WEB Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, and all their family did not multiply like the children of Judah.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, nor did any of their families multiply as much as the children of Judah.
- NASB Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family increase like the sons of Judah.
- NLT Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but none of his brothers had large families. So Simeon’s tribe never grew as large as the tribe of Judah.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Shimei had many children, but Simeon's tribe as a whole did not multiply like Judah. It notes the tribe's relative decline.
Overview
Though Shimei was fruitful with sixteen sons and six daughters, the Chronicler observes that Simeon's families did not grow as Judah's did. This candid note reflects the gradual weakening and absorption of Simeon into Judah. It quietly illustrates how God's blessings of growth were distributed differently among the tribes, with Judah rising to prominence as the line of David and the Messiah.
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The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 4:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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