Category Archives: Israel

Tribes of Israel – Simeon

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Simeon is the second son of Jacob and Leah. His name may mean the one who hears because Leah was announcing that God had heard her because she was unloved.

Genesis 49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.

Many of the maps I have seen have Simeon surrounded by Judah in the Southern part of the country. I have never read anything about what they did when the two kingdoms separated but there are Ten Tribes in the Northern Kingdom if you count the east and west tribes of Manasseh as separate tribes. There is the saying “from Dan to Beersheba” that may still be showing there was a separate tribe of Simeon; Dan was the Northern most tribe and Beersheba is in the middle of the land that was allotted to Simeon and was the most important city in southern Israel. Ziklag (where David had a base in 1 Samuel 29) was considered one of their thirteen towns in Joshua 19. In Joshua, Judges and 1 Chronicles Simeon is mentioned several times as doing things with the men of Judah and they appear again in the reforms of some of the kings in 2 Chronicles. So they do appear to have been dispersed in Israel according to the word of Jacob.

They do appear in Ezekiel and Revelations in the list of who gets land and have men among the 144,000; they are on the blessing side in Deuteronomy 27 but are not mentioned in Moses’ blessings in Deuteronomy 33.

A notable accomplishment for the tribe in 1 Chronicles 4:42+43 was that they killed off the remaining Amalekites who were still living in the land of Seir, they were the people who attacked Israel as they were going to the Promise Land. See my Amalekite blog, please.

Map from http://www.biblestudytools.com/resources/maps/twelve-tribes-of-israel-map.html and eBibleTeacher.com.

Tribes of Israel – Family List

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This is by no means all of the “Tribes” list; I choose these because they are at important junctions in the family’s story. I always assume that things in the Bible are there for a reason even if it is not readily apparent why. Notice how the positions of the brothers change especially Benjamin and the children of Leah, who are in italics. I really don’t have any great reason why some families are left out at various times. And though Reuben lost his birthright he still was held in a position of honor as viewed by his location on the listed.

The one thing I have noticed about the lists is there are always 12 names; you may have to not count Joseph like in Numbers 1 or Deuteronomy 33 or leave Levi out if he is surrounding the Ark or Temple as in Camp Order or Ezekiel 48.

Tribes of Israel – Judah

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Judah is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah and became the family leader. His name means “praise” because Leah decided to praise God at the birth of this son. The tension in this family that is reflected in the names of the sons is astonishing; the lesson here is don’t marry sisters:-)

His first recorded act after being tapped to be family leader was to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites; so that they would profit from the loss of a brother. I read the story in chapter 38 as occurring quickly but Er, the first born, would have been only thirteen when Joseph became ruler of Egypt so the incident with Tamar must have been around the beginning of the famine. (a movie made an interesting point that he moved out to get away from a grieving Jacob) Remember Tamar is a grandmother of Jesus which is why this part is included in Scripture. He does seem to take a positive lead of the family in chapter 43 when he repeats the deal Reuben tried to make with Joseph. He is the main spokesman in chapter 44:16 and Jacob sent him for directions in 46:28.

Jacob at the end of Genesis leaves this blessing for Judah: Genesis 49:8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.

That blessing pretty well covers everything: family leadership, authority over his enemies, personal wealth and good looks.

The two main people from Judah in the Exodus story are Bezalel, the artist, found in Exodus 35:30 and Caleb, the faithful spy, first mentioned in Numbers 13:6. Both of these men are again mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2 where the clans of Judah and the family of Jesse, David’s father, and David’s sons are discussed. This family history goes to chapter 4:23 and covers Jabez and his pray. It also covers the rulers after the Exile. This family tree is repeated again in Matthew 1, which is Joseph’s line, and again in Luke 3:23, which is Mary’s family line.

Deuteronomy 33: 7 And this he (Moses) said about Judah: “Hear, O Lord, the cry of Judah; bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause.
Oh, be his help against his foes!”

Jesus is from Judah through David’s son Nathan, brother of Solomon. In one sense much of the Old Testament is about that family; 1 & 2 Samuel, much of 1 Chronicles and the books of the Kings and 2 Chronicles covers that family. While the prophets spend many of their words talking about Jesus and His coming.

Pictures are from http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/ , http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/Pictures/David.htm

Tribes of Israel – Reuben

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The first-born son of Jacob by Leah was Reuben.

Genesis 29:32  Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son. Like all of the sons you should not only look at them but what happened with their families. All of the boys have prophecy about them form Jacob and then one for them/their tribe from Moses.

Jacob’s statement before he died concerning Reuben was “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. 4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. Genesis 49:3  (NIV 1984)

Moses’ statement to the tribe of Reuben before he died was found in Deuteronomy 33:6 “Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few.” (NIV 1984) A footnote in the NIV says that the meaning of this phrase is uncertain.

As I mused about Reuben I knew he had been removed as family leader but he was still family and loved by God. God did not throw him away because of the mistake. Reuben did try to save Joseph from his brothers (Gen. 37:29) and he tried to take the lead in Genesis 42:37 for getting food for the family when Jacob was reluctant to risk another trip. His family fulfilled the agreement with Moses when they took the lead with their troops going first into the Promise Land 9 (Joshua 1:16). Men from the tribe supported David at a critical time when he needed help (1 Chronicles 12:37).

God still honored him/his family; in Ezekiel his allotment is between Ephraim (Joseph) and Judah on the north side of the City and in Revelation 7 he is second on the list under Judah. Again in Ezekiel 48 his gate is with Judah and Levi on the north side of the City.

Their gate on the north side is a interesting direction but I guess it is because north is where trouble comes from so the strongest families are facing that way. Sounds like another Bible study to me.

Tribes of Israel – Marching Order

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This is Israel’s camping arrangement and marching order as found in Numbers 2-4.

  • Click on the diagram to make it bigger.
  • The underlined family was the first to lead and also camped closest to the Tabernacle area.
  • Check the birth order of the lead families as to who were the “first-born” or family leaders.
  • The marching order was also the order they presented the offerings to dedicate the Tabernacle in Numbers 7.