Simeon is Leah's second son: "for G-d has heard that I was hated, and He has given me this one too" (Genesis 29:33). The name comes from shama, to hear. After the seeing that gave Reuben his name, here is hearing.
Jacob does not bless him alone. He joins Simeon and Levi: "Simeon and Levi are brothers; their weapons are instruments of violence. Let my soul not enter their council." Then: "cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is harsh; I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:5 to 7). The verse curses the anger, not the men.
In the blessing of Moses, Simeon is not named (Deuteronomy 33). Rashi suggests an allusion: in the words "hear, O G-d, the voice of Judah," the verb shema recalls Simeon; and indeed, when the land was divided, Simeon received his portion within the lot of Judah (Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:7). One may compare this with the scattering Jacob announced: a tribe lodged at the heart of another.
On the breastplate his stone is the second of the first row, the pitdah: "pitdah for Simeon," writes Rashi. It is often rendered as topaz, with no certainty about the real stone. In the camp, Simeon stands in the middle of the southern camp, between Reuben and Gad (Numbers 2:12). The Midrash cited by Ramban explains this place: Simeon is in the middle "to atone for him." According to Rashi, his banner had the color of his stone.
According to the order of the banners, Simeon receives Av, the month of the letter Tet (Sefer Yetzirah 5:2); in the Vilna Gaon's version, Tet rules over hearing. The Bnei Yissaschar underlines the match: Leah named this son with a word of hearing, and the first letter of Simeon is that of shemi'ah, hearing. According to the order of birth, cited by the Shem MiShmuel with reference to the Zohar, Simeon receives Iyar, and again it is hearing that makes the link.
Keep this: Simeon's name recalls that G-d hears those who feel rejected. Anger is condemned by Jacob; hearing remains attached to this name in every tradition.
