According to the Bible, the Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob. The descendants of Aaron, who was the first High Priest of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim.
Levite reading the law to the Israelites (1873 drawing)
Illustration of the allotment of land to the Levites (Numbers 35:4–5)
The Twelve Tribes of Israel are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, who collectively form the Israelite nation. The tribes were through his twelve sons through his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah. In modern scholarship, there is skepticism as to whether there ever were twelve Israelite tribes, with the use of the number 12 thought more likely to signify a symbolic tradition as part of a national founding myth, although some scholars disagree with this view.
Mosaic depicting the twelve tribes and their Hebrew names, with symbolic images. Asher: a tree Dan: Scales of justice Judah: Kinnor, cithara and crown, symbolising King David Reuben: Mandrake (Genesis 30:14) Joseph: Palm tree and sheaves of wheat, symbolizing his time in Egypt Naphtali: gazelle (Genesis 49:21) Issachar: Sun, moon and stars (1 Chronicles 12:32) Simeon: towers and walls of the city of Shechem Benjamin: jug, ladle and fork Gad: tents, symbolizing their itinerancy as cattle-herders
Parentage of Jacob's twelve sons, per Genesis 35
The dying Jacob blesses his twelve sons (Adam van Noort)
The twelve tribes of Israel camped around the tabernacle. (Jan Luyken, 1673)
