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The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Hebrew: שבטי ישראל “Shivtei Yisrael”) according to Abrahamic Religions Scriptures are the households of the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel. Through his twelve sons are shaped the tribes that together constitute the nation and the people of the believers. Since the Assyrians exiled the tribes of Israel in the eighth century B.C., the mystery of what happened to the Israelite lineage has thickened inexorably over the centuries.

Historical Introduction: The 12 Tribes of Israel

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#4476a5″ class=”” size=”16″]The twelve Tribes of Israel (שבטי ישראל “Shivtei Yisrael”) come from the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel. Through his twelve sons, the united tribes form the nation and people of believers.[/perfectpullquote]

The history of the tribes of Israel begins with Jacob, grandson of the patriarch Abraham, whose name was changed to Israel when the LORD appeared to him while he was fleeing from Esau at Padn-Aram. Jacob begat twelve sons, each of whom became the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and each of them settled in a different region of the land of Canaan, on either side of the Jordan River.

The names of the sons by which tribes came are:

1. Reuben, the firstborn son of Leah, whose name means look: “a son!”.
2. Simeon, the second-born son of Leah. His name means “YHWH has heard me.”
3. Levi, third son of Leah. Meaning “He shall become [now] acquainted to me” remembering Leah’s hope for a greater closeness to her husband Jacob after she had bore him a third son.
4. Judah, Lia’s fourth son, also called the “young lion.” Means “I will praise YHWH.”
5. Dan, son of Bilhah, a maidservant of Rachel, since she seemed unable to bear children. Means “YHWH has done me justice.”
6. Naphtali, another son of Bilhah. It comes from naphtule or “fight”, and means “whom who fights” based on the rivalry between the two sisters wives of Israel
7. Gad, son of Zilpah, maidservant of Leah who cried “good fate” in Hebrew.
8. Aser, second son of Zilpah, in Hebrew ‘Āšēr means “happy”
9. Issachar, conceived by Leah on a day when Jacob was supposed to lie with Rachel. The name in Hebrew can be transcribed with Yissachar or Issacar יִשָּׂשׁכָר, standard vocalization Yissaḫar, meaning “he is [my] wages.”
10. Zebulun, another son of Leah. “GOD has given me a good gift this time my husband will favor me, for I have borne him six sons.” After Zabulon Lia also had a daughter, Dina.
11. Joseph, “GOD has taken away my dishonor,” Rachel said when her first son was born to him.
12. Benjamin, Rachel’s second and last child. Fear not, she said, before she died. The name, in Semitic, means son of my right hand, chief, or ruler of the South (the south indicated by the right hand in Semitic geography).

Summary Table

Within ancient Judaism, a person’s tribal affiliation had a great impact on each person’s life, as some tribes enjoyed privileges that others did not and some tribes received different blessings than others. [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#4476a5″ class=”” size=”16″]The Southern Tribes of Judah and Benjamin constitute the historical ancestors of most of the Jewish people as they are known today[/perfectpullquote]

The Southern Tribes of Judah and Benjamin constitute the historical ancestors of most of the Jewish people as they are known today, while the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom seem to many to have now disappeared. But surely even though these dynasties are in fact no longer identifiable today, they still exist and the words of Ezekiel’s prophecy resonate strongly in support of this claim:

21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.
(Ezekiel 37, 21-22)

Over the centuries these prophetic words, as well as those of many other Biblical passages (among them Jer 23, 5-8 & Ez 36, 24-27), have instilled hope that one day the brethren will come together to reconstitute GOD’s kingdom to bring Peace and Justice to Earth. But first these Ten Lost Tribes will have to be re-established, or rather re-identified.

The 10 Lost Tribes

After more than 200 years, the kingdom of Israel came to an end when it was captured by the Assyrians. The ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel were gradually exiled to distant provinces of the empire, while the invaders repopulated Israel with exiles and other expatriates who had been uprooted from other conquered countries. So although the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel seem to have disappeared without a trace, if we actualize this situation in today’s context we can understand that anyone who believes in the GOD of the Holy Scriptures today can be identified with some of the exiled tribes of the past. We read from the Bible that the first destinations of the exiled people were in the neighboring states of the Middle East:

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
(2King 17, 6)

So if during the years 722-721 B.C. the ten tribes that were part of the northern kingdom of Israel moved away from the Holy Land conquered by the Assyrian king Salmanassar V , the first movements were in upper Mesopotamia and in the region of the Medes, that is today’s Syria and Iraq. From here these tribes have spread throughout the world, following the nature of the Jews that their name testifies, “Jew” comes from ivri עברי and means just “to cross” or “one who passes by”, “who wanders” going from nation to nation. The pilgrims descendants of Abraham were scattered throughout the world, and even the kingdom of Judah had the same fate when, in the mid-fifth century BC, King Nebuchadnezzar II (634 BC approx – 562 BC) of Babylon conquered Jerusalem. In that assault the First Holy Temple was burned and looted, and many Jews killed or taken into captivity in Babylon, and only a few of Jerusalem’s lower-ranking residents were allowed to remain in the Holy Land.

In Christianity and Islam

The twelve tribes of Israel are also mentioned in the New Testament. In the gospels of Matthew (19, 28) and Luke (22, 30), Jesus anticipates that in the Kingdom of GOD his disciples will “sit on [twelve] thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The epistle of James (1, 1) addresses its audience as “the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad.”

The Book of Revelation (7, 1-8) provides a list of the twelve tribes. However, the tribe of Dan is omitted, while Joseph is mentioned alongside Manasseh. In the vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, the names of the tribes are written on the gates of the city (Revelation 21, 12-13).

The romanticized lost tribes have thus exerted a surprising influence on Christianity as well. A number of British sects, for example, claimed that the English people were descendants of the lost tribes, and this theology (called British Israelism) was one of the pillars of the Worldwide Church of God founded by Herbert Armstrong and still taught in some churches. Other movements around the world have also tried to identify local communities with some lost tribes (The restoration of the lost tribes is also one of the articles of faith of the Mormons) and of course analyzing history there is no one to argue otherwise, as over the millennia the lineages obviously evolved and spread out. Infinite facets of thought and doctrine, though with one constant: to worship the One GOD contained in the Scriptures of the Religions coming from Abraham.

Islam, of course, having all the Scriptures preceding the Quran in common with Judaism and Christianity, also recognizes these tribes. The Quran records that the people of Moses were divided into twelve tribes. In Chapter 7 (Surah Al-A’raf) verse 160 it states:

We divided them into twelve tribes—each as a community. And We revealed to Moses, when his people asked for water, “Strike the rock with your staff.” Then twelve springs gushed out. Each tribe knew its drinking place. We shaded them with clouds and sent down to them manna and quails,¹ ˹saying˺, “Eat from the good things We have provided for you.” They ˹certainly˺ did not wrong Us, but wronged themselves.
(Qur 7, 160)

Both the New Testament and the Quran therefore confirm in these verses the descent of Moses, and therefore the belonging to the Davidic dynasty also of the followers of Christ and the Ishmaelites.

12 Tribes, 12 Paths to Enlightenment

When in the Torah we read how Jacob blesses his sons, the fathers of the twelve tribes, just before “join his ancestors” (i.e. “dying”) many exegetes and scholars affirm that in these words are contained secrets that predict future events.
As the verse tells us Jacob (Israel) called his sons and said:

¹ Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. ² “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
(Genesis 49, 1-2)

Each of the tribes therefore has its own special journey in its own existence, and to understand these twelve paths we must delve into the different ways in which the tribes are described in the Torah. In the Bible we find three descriptions for these tribes:

1. When they are called by their mothers (Genesis Chapter 29 to 30 & Gen 35, 18) each child is given a name with a special meaning for a specific reason
2. When Jacob blesses them before he dies (Gen 49)
3. When Moses blesses them at the end of the Torah (Deut 33, 6-25)

But the tribes are mentioned many other times in the Torah. When they enter Egypt, when they leave it after slavery, during their 40-year journey through the Sinai Desert, they travel and camp as Tribes, their offerings for the dedication of the Temple are repeated twelve times (although they carried the same offerings) to emphasize the twelve unified but distinct paths.

For the Kabbalah to each Tribe is assigned a path to enlightenment. Below we find one of the applications from Jewish tradition to these twelve paths, based on the blessings of Jacob:

Ruben – The First
Simeon – The aggressor
Levi – The Priest
Judas – The leader
Dan – The Judge
Naphtali – The Free Spirit
Gad – The Warrior
Asher – The Prosperous
Issachar – The Scholar
Zabulon – The Businessman
Joseph – The Sufferer
Manasseh – The Reconciler
Ephraim – The transformable
Benjamin – The ravenous consumer

Ruben the firstborn (“bechor”) represents the powerful energy of all that is generated before. “As unstable as water” if its energy is used correctly, Ruben can change worlds, but if this energy is abused, it can destroy. Like water that can be the source of life, but if left in its primordial state and without control it erodes everything it covers and can flood the earth.
Simeon is an aggressive gevura, the antithesis of chesed. The anger and rage that can result from the gevura must be eliminated so that they do not become weapons of violence that consume the person and all with whom they come in contact.
Levi is the tribe chosen to serve in the Temple. “Levi” also means “united”, this is the personality that dedicates your life to serve the Divine calling and vocation. Get rid of your limitations, avoid the material sphere and dedicate yourself to Divine service.
Judah means recognition (‘hoda’ah’ as in ‘modeh ani ‘). The name also includes the four letters of the Divine Name, because Judah is the leader, and his descendants were the kings of Israel, beginning with David and ending with the Messiah (Mashiach). Judah must represent selflessness (“bittul “) as the most important ingredient for a true leader.
Dan is the way of law and order (“dan” means to judge), and objective justice is the heart of every civilization.
Naphtali is the free-spirited personality, like a “deer running free” and independence is a necessary component of growth. However, this free spirit must always take care to “convey words of beauty.”
Gad is the archetype of the warrior. Expanding on Dan’s justice, Gad is ready to fight for his beliefs. The warrior is needed both to defend our cherished values and to protect our freedoms.
Asher is both prosperity and pleasure. Asher is the dimension of received blessing that is beyond normal. But in receiving more than is necessary for survival, it also means having to have a personality that appreciates and returns what it has received.
Issacar is the scholar, and study provides wisdom, clarity in the directions to be taken and to have taken. It is the foundation of any system that functions according to justice, and Issachar is the dedication to immersing oneself in study and education.
Zabulon is the merchant, the personality of the businessman. His role is to enter the marketplace and redeem the luve of the Divine in the material world (the “secret treasure hidden in the sand” ( Deuteronomy 33, 19). Zabulon complements Issachar, both create a partnership where the former supports the scholar, funds him with a house and a “scholarship,” and this earns the right to share in the reward of Issachar’s studies.
Joseph•• represents suffering in life, a suffering of the righteous because he is betrayed by his own family (Genesis 37). However, he not only manages to survive, but thrives, forgives and rules his brothers. He achieves greatness through his challenges, overcoming all opponents and becoming a great leader, saving his entire generation. Despite his corrupt environment, he maintains his spiritual integrity, and the powerful light that emerges from the darkness in Joseph is divided into two dimensions, that of his two sons-Manasseh and Ephraim:
•Manasseh represents the ability not to succumb to the powers of the rulers (of Egypt, “mitzraim bonds”) who want you to forget your spiritual roots. To always stay in touch with the Righteous One and GOD regardless of the challenges.
•Ephraim pushes the goal even further, it is not enough to survive in an alien environment, but also to thrive, i.e. “to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Ephraim is the power to transform difficulties into Divine power.
Benjamin is hungry for the Light of the Divine, and therefore, as a “ravenous wolf,” Benjamin recognizes that his mission is to passionately seek out the Divine energy embedded in matter, to devour it, consume it, and elevate it.

Twelve tribes, and twelve different paths, though unified in their ultimate goal. All that is necessary to reach our destination: elevation, illumination, consecration, holiness, or how you want to identify it.
It will be very interesting to be able to understand which personality belongs to us, so as to be able to develop the parts necessary for our enlightenment. Surely at the end of the days, when we will gain clarity we will know which tribe we belong to, but this will happen in the time when the whole world will be full of knowledge, that Divine knowledge that so much pushes the human race towards new high goals.

Conclusions

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#4476a5″ class=”” size=”16″]Many scholars of the past have reported their belief that the dispersion of the Jews to all corners of the earth is the beginning of redemption.[/perfectpullquote]Many scholars of the past have reported their belief that the dispersion of the Jews to all corners of the earth is the beginning of redemption. But in order for Israel (a people that includes all nations that recognize the Oneness of GOD and the Abrahamic Holy Scriptures) to finally be restored and elevated once again as the light and guide of righteousness for the World, knowledge of what really happened in the past will be crucial in understanding what we must do today. The peace promised under the Messiah can only be restored in the World when all understand their role, and work together for the benefit of everybody. In order to be an active part of the Divine Plan, there will be no need in the World to come for all of us to become priests (Levites), all merchants or salesmen (Zabulon), not even all scholars (Issachar) or warriors (Gad), for each one has been predetermined by GOD a personal path. We should not be interested in what those who disbelieve are doing, not even if they are the most powerful people on Earth and the Heads of Nations, because complaining distracts us from our personal goal, saddens our souls and distances us from the right Path. Let us remain united in our innermost depths along a common path, which even if full of many facets always leads to the destination of love of our neighbor and the common good. We are all bound by the same destiny and we all walk the same Earth, judging means hurting our neighbor and this corresponds to hurting ourselves.

May these thoughts echo the hopes for a better world, so that all the efforts made by our ancestors, from the departure from Egyptian slavery of Moses to the American and French revolutions may really be the bricks to rebuild something better than what we found when we came to the World. The Messianic Era will begin when all the slaves have been freed, and today’s slaves are no longer those with iron chains on their wrists, but all the oppressed, the poor, the discriminated against and those who are denied their fundamental rights. In the age to come surely the Davidic dynasty will resume ruling, just as the Third Temple and the priests of the tribe of Levi will be restored, everything contained in the Law will be restored when the Messiah arrives, but everything will look completely different than it was in the past. Today we have nothing new under the sun compared to the past, but we must remember that everything has been transformed and changed. If there can be a King who is equal to the last of his subordinates, and a High Priest who humbly teaches what he himself has learned, and if the “servants” will have equal rights and equal opportunities to live and become themselves one day by growing “masters” then in that World no one will have the arrogance to judge another, because everyone will understand that the only responsibility of humans is to improve themselves.

References

• “The Twelve Tribes of Israel”. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
• “Did Israel Always Have Twelve Tribes?”. www.thetorah.com.
• 12 Tribes 12 Paths. www.chabad.org.