Question: How many tribes were there in ancient Israel (Judah)? Was each one given land when Joshua conquered Canaan, or was it just one large land for all twelve tribes to share equally amongst themselves?
Wikipedia: According to Joshua 13–19, the Land of Israel was divided into twelve sections corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. However, the tribes receiving land differed from the biblical tribes. The Tribe of Levi had no land appropriation but had six Cities of Refuge under their administration as well as the Temple in Jerusalem. There was no land allotment for the Tribe of Joseph, but Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, received their father's land portion.[18][19]
Genealogy[edit]
Jacob, later called Israel, was the second-born son of Isaac and Rebecca, the younger twin brother of Esau, and the grandson of Abraham and Sarah. According to biblical texts, he was chosen by God to be the patriarch of the Israelite nation. From what is known of Jacob, he had two wives, sisters Leah and Rachel, and two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah, by whom he had thirteen children. The twelve sons form the basis for the twelve tribes of Israel, listed in the order from oldest to youngest: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Jacob was known to display favouritism among his children, particularly for Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of his favourite wife, Rachel, and so the tribes themselves were not treated equally in a divine sense. Joseph, despite being the second-youngest son, received double the inheritance of his brothers, treated as if he were the firstborn son instead of Reuben, and so his tribe was later split into two tribes, named after his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.[2]
Sons and tribes[edit]
Parentage of Jacob's twelve sons, per Genesis 35
The Israelites were the descendants of twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob. Jacob also had at least one daughter, Dinah, whose descendants were not recognized as a tribe. The sons of Jacob were born in Padan-aram
from different mothers, as follows:[3]· The sons of Leah; Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
· The sons of Rachel; Joseph and Benjamin (Jacob's last-born)
· The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan and Naphtali
· The sons of Zilpah
, Leah's handmaid; Gad and AsherDeuteronomy 27:12–13 lists the twelve tribes:
· Reuben (Hebrew רְאוּבֵן Rəʼūḇēn)
· Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן Šīməʻōn)
· Levi (לֵוִי Lēwī)
· Judah (יְהוּדָה Yəhūdā)
· Issachar (יִשָּׂשכָר Yīssāḵār)
· Zebulun (זְבוּלֻן Zəḇūlun)
· Dan (דָּן Dān)
· Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי Nap̄tālī)
· Gad (גָּד Gāḏ)
· Asher (אָשֵׁר ’Āšēr)
· Benjamin (בִּנְיָמִן Bīnyāmīn)
· Joseph (יוֹסֵף Yōsēp̄), later split into two "half-tribes":Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם ’Ep̄rayīm)Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה Mənašše)
Jacob elevated the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph and his Egyptian wife Asenath)[4] to the status of full tribes in their own right due to Joseph receiving a double portion after Reuben lost his birth right because of his transgression with Bilhah.[5]
In the biblical narrative the period from the conquest of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua until the formation of the United Kingdom of Israel passed with the tribes forming a loose confederation, described in the Book of Judges. Modern scholarship has called into question the beginning, middle, and end of this picture[6][7] and the account of the conquest under Joshua has largely been abandoned.[8][9][10] The Bible's depiction of the 'period of the Judges' is widely considered doubtful.[6][11][12] The extent to which a united Kingdom of Israel ever existed is also a matter of ongoing dispute.[13][14][15]
Living in exile in the sixth century BCE, the prophet Ezekiel has a vision for the restoration of Israel,[16] of a future in which the twelve tribes of Israel are living in their land again.[17]
See: The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel (Study)
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