1.
Twelve Tribes of Israel
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The Twelve Tribes of Israel or Tribes of Israel were the tribes said by the Hebrew Bible to have descended from the patriarch Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons and at least one daughter by two wives and two concubines, according to the biblical tradition, the twelve sons fathered the twelve tribes of Israel. Before his death, Jacob blessed or foretold the destiny of each of his sons and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. The confederation of tribes lived in the midst of the nationalities who continued to occupy Canaan. Modern scholarship has called into question the beginning, middle, the account of the conquest under Joshua has largely been abandoned. The Bibles depiction of the period of the Judges is widely considered doubtful, the extent to which a united Kingdom of Israel ever existed is also a matter of ongoing dispute. Living in exile in the sixth century BC, the prophet Ezekiel has a vision for the restoration of Israel which will include the ideal reallotment of the land to the tribes of Israel. In the Christian New Testament, the tribes of Israel are referred to twice in the gospels. In Matthew, paralled by Luke, Jesus anticipates that in the Kingdom of God, His followers will sit on thrones, israelites Leaders of the tribes of Israel Ten Lost Tribes The Twelve Tribes at the Jewish Encyclopedia The Twelve Tribes of Israel at the Jewish Virtual Library
2.
Tribe of Reuben
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. From after the conquest of the land under Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c.1050 BC, no central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. According to the Book of Chronicles, Adina and thirty Reubenites aided David as members of his mighty warriors in conquering the City of David. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, Davids grandson, in c.930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Reuben was a member of the kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c.723 BC, from that time, the Tribe of Reuben has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. According to Kenneth Kitchen, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BC, however, almost all scholars have abandoned the idea that Joshua carried out a conquest of Canaan similar to that described in the Book of Joshua. In the case of the Tribes of Reuben, Gad and Menasheh, Moses allocated land to them on the side of the Jordan River. On that basis, some have suggested that the territory of Reuben was an enclave in the territory of Gad. According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Reuben, the first son of Jacob, however, Peakes commentary viewed this as a postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation. The territory of Reuben encapsulated the territory of the kingdom of Sihon. As part of the Kingdom of Israel, the territory of Reuben was conquered by the Assyrians, and the tribe exiled, Israel The Making of the Pentateuch This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Easton, Matthew George
3.
Tribe of Simeon
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes, kenneth Kitchen, a well-known conservative biblical scholar, dates this event to slightly after 1200 BCE. However, the view of modern scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred. Simeon was one of the significant tribes in the Kingdom of Judah. With Leah as a matriarch, scholars believe the tribe to have been regarded by the authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation. According to this narrative, the tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon to fight them in alliance to secure each of their allotted territories. Further verses state that about 500 men from the tribe migrated to Mount Seir, according to the Midrash, many families in the other Israelite tribes were descended from women from Simeon, which had been widowed from their original Simeonite husbands. Simeon was one of the strongest tribes during the wandering in the desert and its symbol is that of a gate representing the city of Shechem. This seeming contradiction can be explained in the following way, the tribe of Simeon, like Levi, was decreed to be scattered throughout as punishment for massacring Shechem. Levi was scattered throughout all of Israel whereas Simeon was scattered in towns only within Judah, in the Blessing of Jacob, this punishment appears to be prophesied, with the tribe being predicted to become divided and scattered. Nevertheless, an apocryphal midrash claims that the tribe was deported by the Babylonians to the Kingdom of Aksum, to a place behind the dark mountains
4.
Tribe of Levi
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The Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob, or high priest of the Israelites. Moses and his brother, Aaron, were descendants of the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well, in return, the landed tribes were expected to give tithe to the Cohanim, particularly the tithe known as the Maaser Rishon. They performed the work in the Temple, the Levites who were not Cohanim played music in the Temple or served as guards. Notable descendants of the Levite lineage according to the Bible include Miriam, John the Baptist, Samuel, Ezekiel, Ezra, the descendants of Aaron, who was the first kohen gadol, high priest, of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim. The tribe is named after Levi, one of the sons of Jacob. Levi had three sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, kohaths son Amram was the father of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. The descendants of Aaron, the Kohanim, had the role as priests in the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The remaining Levites were divided into three groups, Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites, each division filled different roles in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple services. Levites principal roles in the Temple included singing Psalms during Temple services, performing construction and maintenance for the Temple, serving as guards, Levites also served as teachers and judges, maintaining cities of refuge in Biblical times. The Book of Ezra reports that the Levites were responsible for the construction of the Second Temple and also translated and explained the Torah when it was publicly read. During the Exodus the Levite tribe were particularly zealous in protecting the Mosaic law in the face of those worshipping the Golden Calf and they are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what people have spoken, saying. Jeremiah 33, 22-24 The prophet Malachi also spoke of a covenant with Levi, Know then that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips, he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, but who may abide the day of his coming. And who shall stand when he appeareth, the Levites are not mentioned by the Song of Deborah considered one of the oldest passages of the Bible. Jahwist passages have more language, traditionally interpreted as referring to a person named Levi they could also be interpreted as just referring to a social position titled levi
5.
Tribe of Judah
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel. According to the account in the Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judahs divinely ordained portion is described in Joshua 15 as encompassing most of the portion of the Land of Israel, including the Negev. However, the consensus of scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred. According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon to fight them in alliance to secure each of their allotted territories. As is the case with Joshua, many scholars do not believe that the book of Judges contains reliable history. In Samuels account, after the death of Saul, all the other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul. The Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the United Monarchy under King Solomon, a majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomons territory in the united monarchy are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the united monarchy never existed at all. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David and these tribes formed the Kingdom of Judah, which existed until Judah was conquered by Babylon in c.586 BCE and the population deported. When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile, residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, bethlehem and Hebron were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe. In biblical times, this region was subdivided into three sections – the wilderness of En Gedi, the wilderness of Judah, and the wilderness of Maon. The hill country – the elevated plateau situated between the Shephelah and the wilderness, with rocky slopes but very fertile soil and this region was used for the production of grain, olives, grapes, and other fruit, and hence produced oil and wine. According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Judah, some Biblical scholars view this as an etiological myth created in hindsight to explain the tribes name and connect it to the other tribes in the Israelite confederation. With Leah as a matriarch, Biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been believed by the authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation. As depicted by the Deuteronomists and post-exilic writers, the tribe of Judah was the tribe of the Kingdom of Judah. David and the line belonged to the tribe, and the line continued after the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in the Exilarchs. The traditional Jewish belief was that the Messiah would be of the Davidic line, indeed, many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the literary prophets Isaiah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah, all belonged to the tribe
6.
Tribe of Dan
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The Tribe of Dan, meaning, Judge, was one of the tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. They were allocated a portion of land when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land. According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of the descendants of Dan, in the biblical account, Dan is one of the two children of Bilhah, the handmaid of Jacobs wife Rachel, the other child of Bilhah being Naphtali. Scholars see this as indicating that the authors saw Dan and Naphtali as being not of entirely Israelite origin. Some have noted that the territory of the handmaid tribes happens to be the territory closest to the north and eastern borders of Canaan, thus exposing them to Assyria and Aram. In the Biblical census of the Book of Numbers, the tribe of Dan is portrayed as the second largest Israelite tribe. Some textual scholars regard the census as being from the Priestly Source, dating it to around the 7th century BC, and more likely to reflect the biases of its authors. According to the narrative, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE. Dan was the last tribe to receive its territorial inheritance, the land originally allocated to Dan was a small enclave in the central coastal area of Canaan, between Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and the Philistines. On the north the territory of Dan ended opposite Joppa, the modern Jaffa and this territory, not very extensive originally, was soon diminished by its dangerous neighbors, the Philistines. The tribe was able to camp in the hill country overlooking the Sorek Valley. The region they were trying to settle extended south into the Shephelah in the area of Timnah, as a result, the modern state of Israel refers to the region as Gush Dan. From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first united Kingdom of Israel in c.1050 BC, no central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. The most celebrated Danite was Samson, a Danaite judge from the period of settlement in the lands allotted by Joshua, pnina Galpaz-Feller sees similarities between the story of Samson and Denyen tribal legends. Thus their territory in the end lay northeast of that of Naphtali, east of the upper Jordan River, near its eastern sources, a number of biblical texts thus refer to All Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, Davids grandson, in c.930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to re-form a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. As part of the Kingdom of Israel, the territory of Dan was conquered by the Assyrians, and exiled, the manner of their exile led to their further history being lost. Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer, and Simon the Magican, came from the village of Gitta in Samaria, according to Justin Martyr, a site settled by the tribe of Dan according to Josephus
7.
Tribe of Naphtali
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The Tribe of Naphtali was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes, kenneth Kitchen, a well-known conservative biblical scholar, dates this event to slightly after 1200 BCE. However, the view of modern scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred. The most significant city was Hazor, from after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c.1050 BC, the Tribe of Naphtali was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, Davids grandson, in c.930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. In c.732 BCE, Pekah allied with Rezin, king of Aram, threatened Jerusalem, and Ahaz, king of Judah, appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help. After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram, according to 2 Kings 16,9 and 15,29, the population of Aram and the annexed part of Israel was deported to Assyria. The kingdom of Israel continued to exist until c.723 BC, when it was invaded by Assyria. From that time, the Tribe of Naphtali has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, according to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Naphtali, a son of Jacob and Bilhah, from whom it took its name. However, Biblical scholars view this as a postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation, militarism is featured in Naphtalis history. In the Blessing of Jacob, which textual scholars date to 700-600 BC - and thus a postdiction, Naphtali is compared to a hind let loose, and commended for giving goodly words. Centuries later, the Assyrians invaded Israel, which, though it had been a tributary, had also defaulted, with the land taken, the tribe were exiled, the manner of their exile led to their further history being lost. The symbol of the tribe is a very quick animal. The people of Naftali were famous for being great runners, there has been speculation that the Bukharian Jews of Central Asia are the descendants of the Naphtali tribe. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Easton
8.
Tribe of Gad
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Gad was one of the tribes of Israel who, after the Exodus from Egypt, settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River. From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c.1050 BC, no central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, Davids grandson, in c.930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Gad was a member of the kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c.723 BC, from that time then, the Tribe of Gad has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, however, in the case of the Tribes of Gad, Reuben and Menasheh, Moses allocated land to them on the eastern side of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The Tribe of Gad was allocated a region to the east of the River Jordan, according to the Torah, the tribe were descendants of Gad the seventh son of Jacob, from whom it took its name. However, some Biblical scholars view this also as a postdiction, furthermore, the Moabite Stone seemingly differentiates between the kingdom of Israel and the tribe of Gad, presenting Gad as predating Israel in the lands east of the Jordan. These details seems to indicate that Gad was originally a nomadic tribe. Though initially forming part of the Kingdom of Israel, from the biblical account it appears that under Uzziah and Jotham the tribe of Gad joined with the kingdom of Judah instead. The manner of the led to the further history of the tribe being lost
9.
Tribe of Asher
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Asher was one of the Tribes of Israel. According to the biblical Book of Joshua, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes, according to biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen, this conquest should be dated slightly after 1200 BC. However, the consensus of scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred. The Blessing of Moses appears to prophesy this allocation, although textual scholars view this as a postdiction. From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c.1050 BC, no central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. On the accession of Rehoboam, Davids grandson, in c.930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Asher was a member of the kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c.723 BC, from that time, the Tribe of Asher has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. In the New Testament, Anna the prophetess and her father, critical scholars generally conclude that Asher consisted of certain clans that were affiliated with portions of the Israelite tribal confederation, but were never incorporated into the body politic. According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Asher the fourth son of Jacob, critical scholars view this as an eponymous metaphor. A group named Aseru, living in a region to Asher in the 14th century BC, are mentioned in Egyptian monuments of the period. Identification with the tribe of Asher is plausible according to views that place the Exodus at the end of the Hyksos period and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Easton, Matthew George
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "article name needed". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the