Interesting Facts

• According to Jubilees, Shaul was the son of a Zephathite woman.
• Genesis refers to Shaul as the son of a Canaanitish woman. This suggests a connection between the Zephathites and the broader Canaanite population.
• The Zephathite woman was the mother of one of Simeon’s sons, Shaul.

Genealogy

• The sources identify a Zephathite woman as the mother of Shaul, one of the sons of Simeon.
• Shaul is listed among the sons of Simeon who went with Jacob into Egypt.
• The provided sources do not offer any further genealogical information about the Zephathite woman or the Zephathites as a people, such as their ancestry or other familial connections beyond this single maternal link to Shaul.

Historical Context

The mention of a Zephathite woman within the genealogy of Simeon’s descendants places them within the broader context of Jacob’s family settling in Canaan and their subsequent migration to Egypt due to the famine. The intermarriage of Simeon with a woman identified as Zephathite, and also Canaanitish in another account, reflects the interactions and potential integration of Jacob’s lineage with the indigenous populations of the land before their descent into Egypt. The differing descriptions of the woman as both “Canaanitish” and “Zephathite” could indicate that the Zephathites were a subgroup or inhabitants of a specific region within Canaan. This highlights the diverse ethnic and tribal landscape of Canaan during this period, as perceived and recorded in these ancient texts.

Narrative

The narrative involving the Zephathites, as presented in these sources, is limited to the identification of the mother of Shaul, a son of Simeon, as being a Zephathite woman. This inclusion serves a genealogical purpose, detailing the lineage of one of Jacob’s grandsons who would later journey to Egypt with the rest of his family. The Zephathites themselves do not appear as active participants in any of the recounted events. Their presence in the narrative is through this single connection, providing a detail about the maternal ancestry of Shaul within the listing of Jacob’s descendants who entered Egypt at the time of the famine.