1 Chronicles 4:25 Meaning and Explanation
“Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The repeated words his son do something the earlier verses of this chapter mostly avoid. Instead of listing brothers side by side, the record narrows to one man in each generation and follows him forward. Watching where that narrowing leads explains why Simeon's section reads the way it does, and prepares for the surprising note about family size a few lines later.
Simeon's line continues from Shaul through three generations, each linked by the phrase his son. The chain traces a single thread of descent rather than branching into brothers and households.
The Context of 1 Chronicles 4:25
Verse 24 opens the record of Simeon, the second son of Jacob and Leah, with five sons: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. Verse 25 picks up the last of those, Shaul, and traces his descendants one at a time. Verse 26 continues the same chain through Mishma. Verse 27 then reports that Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters while the wider tribe increased little. Verses 28 through 33 list the towns Simeon held, and verses 34 through 43 name princes who expanded their pasture in Hezekiah's reign.
What Does 1 Chronicles 4:25 Mean?
Three words carry the whole verse: his son, repeated after each name. Shallum is son to Shaul, Mibsam to Shallum, Mishma to Mibsam. The construction is a ladder, one rung per generation, with nothing hanging off the sides. Two of these names catch the eye for another reason. Mibsam and Mishma both appear in Genesis 25 among the twelve sons of Ishmael, and Simeon himself is said in Genesis 46 to have had a son by a Canaanite woman. Scripture does not explain the overlap here, and it may be coincidence of common names. It may also reflect marriage across the edges of Israel's southern desert.
Simeon's story in Scripture runs downhill in terms of numbers. At Sinai the tribe counted more than fifty-nine thousand fighting men, and by the second census on the plains of Moab that figure had fallen below twenty-three thousand. Jacob's words in Genesis 49 had spoken of Simeon and Levi being divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel, and the tribe's later history bears that out in quiet ways. A single-file genealogy fits the pattern. Where Judah's section of this chapter spreads out into branches, clans, craftsmen, and towns, Simeon's narrows to one name per generation. The shape of the list itself carries the memory of a people who grew thin while their neighbors grew wide.
The last book of the Bible returns to Simeon by name. In the sealing of the servants of God, twelve thousand are counted from the tribe of Simeon alongside the other tribes of Israel. A family line that thinned across the centuries and lost its own territory inside Judah's borders is still called by its own name at the end. God keeps track of what fades from human view. The three men in verse 25 are part of a people whose place in God's purpose outlasts their decline, and the promises made to Jacob's sons are honored in full even where the record on earth grows faint.
Bible Verses Related to 1 Chronicles 4:25
“The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul:”
- 1 Chronicles 4:24
“And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.”
- Genesis 46:10
“And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,”
- Genesis 25:13
“These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty and two thousand and two hundred.”
- Numbers 26:14
Where 1 Chronicles 4:25 Echoes in Scripture
Joshua 19:9 explains that the inheritance of the children of Simeon lay within the portion of the children of Judah, because Judah's share was too large for them. That single sentence accounts for much of what follows in this chapter, including why Simeon's genealogy sits immediately after Judah's and why the towns listed a few verses later fall in the far south. Verse 25 belongs to a tribe living inside another tribe's borders.
How to Apply 1 Chronicles 4:25 Today
Some families and some churches are shrinking. Attendance drops, children move away, a name that once filled a town appears on fewer and fewer mailboxes. Verse 25 sits inside a record of exactly that kind of decline, and it keeps writing the names down anyway. We can be honest about diminishing seasons without treating them as proof that God has lost interest. Faithfulness in a small remnant counts. Passing on what we received to the next single name in the chain is real work, and the God who kept Simeon's record is keeping ours.
Reflection & Prayer
Where do I measure God's favor by growth, and what would change if I measured it by faithfulness instead? Lord, you did not forget Simeon when the tribe grew small. Steady my heart in seasons that feel like decline. Help me hand on what I have been given to whoever comes next, and to trust your care for the line I cannot see the end of. Amen.