Hebrew word · H8110

שִׁמְרוֹן

shimron

Shimron

A place-name, probably from the root shamar, 'to guard or watch', giving something like 'watch-place'. It is not the same as Samaria (Shomron).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Issachar living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Gen.46.13;

son of: Issachar (H3485);

brother of: Tola (H8439), Puah (H6312) and Jashub (H3437H)

Also named: shim.ro.ni (שִׁמְרֹנִי "Shimronite" H8117)

§ Shimron = "watch-height"

4th son of Issachar and the progenitor of the family of Shimronites

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 19:15

Range of meaning

A place-name, probably from the root shamar, 'to guard or watch', giving something like 'watch-place'. It is not the same as Samaria (Shomron).

Against the English

All versions write 'Shimron'. Readers can confuse it with Simeon or with Samaria, but the translations are not the cause.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 11:1: the king of Shimron is summoned by Jabin of Hazor. Joshua 12:20: 'Shimron-meron' appears in the list of defeated kings. It is commonly linked with Shamhuna in the Amarna letters (14th century BC), which suggests a significant Canaanite city-state. Excavations at Tel Shimron (Tell Semuniyeh), ongoing since 2017, have uncovered a large Bronze and Iron Age site.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 46:13 וְשִׁמְרֽוֹן׃ and Shimron

    The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 26:24 לְשִׁמְרֹ֕ן of Shimron

    the Jashubite clan from Jashub, and the Shimronite clan from Shimron.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 11:1 שִׁמְר֖וֹן Shimron

    Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph;

    Here: A city on the north-western edge of the Jezreel Valley, later assigned to Zebulun (Joshua 19:15). It is usually identified with Tel Shimron and probably appears in Egyptian and Amarna texts as Shamhuna.

  2. Joshua 19:15 וְשִׁמְר֔וֹן and Shimron

    It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.

    Here: An important old Canaanite city. Its king joined Jabin of Hazor's alliance against Joshua (Joshua 11:1). It is usually placed at Tel Shimron, on the northwestern edge of the Jezreel Valley. Naming it here claims a well-known enemy stronghold for Zebulun.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 7:1 וְשִׁמְר֖וֹן and Shimron

    The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.