12 Tribes of Israel

The 12 Tribes of Jacob

So it’s definitely been a while since I have posted my thoughts on the blog. I wanted to put down a few quick things here to help with the reading. In this chapter and the end of the previous one, we read about the 12 tribes of Israel. If you have been wondering what they were and where the names came from, it’s all explained here. Jacob will later get his named changed to “Israel” which means “he wrestles with God.” Jacob had 12 sons and each son is the parent of the eventual 12 tribes that develop. He had these sons with his 2 wives and also with their handmaids (so 4 women in all).

Here is a break down:
Children from Leah (the first woman that he marries)
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
(Dinah- his daughter)

Children from Bilhah (the handmaid of Rachel)
Dan
Naphtali

Children from Zilpah (the handmaid of Leah)
Gad
Asher

Children from Rachel (the second woman he marries and is the younger sister of Leah)
Joseph
Benjamin

List of sons by birth order
1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Levi
4. Judah
5. Dan
6. Naphtali
7. Gad
8. Asher
9. Issachar
10. Zebulun
11. Joseph (who will have 2 sons- Manasseh and Ephraim)
12. Benjamin

A note about the number of tribes
These 12 sons of Jacob become the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph’s 2 sons each get a distinct share of inheritance in Israel. So sometimes it gets a little confusing when reading through a list of the tribes in later books of the Bible. Instead of reading Joseph’s name as one of the tribes, we read both of his son’s names in his place.

And while this would then lead to a list of 13 tribes, the tribe of Levi is often omitted in the lists. Levi is often omitted because they were a special tribe that was set apart for the priesthood. They became a sanctified (which means “set apart” or “made holy”) tribe while at Mount Sinai during the time of Moses. They were the tribe that fought for the LORD against the Israelites who worshipped the golden calf.