Tag Archives: tribes of Israel

Tribes of Israel – A timeline

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This is a new timeline of Jacob and Joseph. I now understand how hard it is to make an accurate line from a verbal description. To do this I started at the end (Jacob’s life) and moved to Joseph’s birth and the twenty years of service; transition/travel times also add error into my dates. The numbers surprised me, I have always thought that Jacob left around forty years of age because Esau’s age is mentioned when he married (Genesis 26: 34) and the text moves right to Isaac being tricked and Jacob leaving. My first timeline is wrong, especially when it comes to Isaac and Jacob and Isaac’s death. So please accept my “close” and use it that way. I used Excel and took screenshots to get my graphics so you will need to double click on them to view them.

The Tribes of Israel – How Old Were These Guys

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If you have watched movies about the Old Testament you may have the idea that the sons of Jacob must have been “old” just because of Jacob’s age. Now Jacob did have some age on him and the boys are always pictured as “older.”

Lets put a time line together.

Jacob works seven years and gets Leah instead of Rachael. Now he had to wait a week before he got her and then he worked off the other seven years. So let’s put Reuben being born about year 8 into the 20 years Jacob stayed with Laban. The first four children came one after another so when they left Laban to go back to Canaan that would make

  • 1 Reuben* 12 years old and maybe 14 or 15 when they got to Shechem
  • 2 Simeon – 11
  • 3 Levi – 10
  • 4 Judah – 9
  • 5 Dan* – 8 or 9
  • 6 Naphtali – one year younger than Dan
  • 7 Gad* – possible 8
  • 8 Asher – one year younger than Gad – 7
  • 9 Issachar – possibly 7
  • 10 Zebulun – 6
  • 11 Dinah – 5
  • 12 Joseph*  – I cannot find a reference for this but I always think he is two when they leave.
  • 13 Benjamin – was not born until they had been Canaan for a while. (Genesis 35)

Let’s give them a two-year trip back to Canaan. We don’t know how long Jacob camped/owned land in Shechem before Dinah got violated but lets add eight years to everyone’s age making Dinah thirteen and Simeon (19 yrs.) and Levi (18 yrs.) when they killed all the males in Shechem. It may have been longer so they would have been older but we don’t know.

The next definite age we have is Joseph at seventeen in Genesis 37.  So adding fifteen years to everyone makes Reuben twenty-seven when Joseph was sold. (He slept with Bilhah before this in Genesis 35.) That would make Judah twenty-five/six years old when he moved out in Genesis 38. From here we will need to use Joseph and seven good and bad years to reference ages.

Joseph was thirty when he became Governor of Egypt; that will make Reuben forty and Judah thirty-eight years old. Joseph reveals himself to his brothers in Genesis 45 and says there are five years of famine left so that is another nine years making Joseph 39, Reuben 49 and Judah 47.

Remember, Judah marries raises three sons and is tricked by his daughter-law in this time period. Some of this drama very possibly was taking place right around the trips to Egypt. (Reuben had two sons at this time – Genesis 42:37.)

Jacob died at 147 years old (Genesis 47:9 and 28). Honestly, I thought that Jacob was forty when he left for Paddan-aram but after reading (Genesis 26 -28) it several times all it says was that Esau married at 40 and then Isaac was old. I did a Patriarch timeline and will have to up-date it soon.

Tribes of Israel – Issachar

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Issachar is the fifth son of Leah and the ninth child of Jacob.

Deuteronomy 33: 18 About Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and you, Issachar, in your tents.
Genesis 49:14 “Issachar is a rawboned (strong) donkey lying down among the sheep pens. 15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. (NIV)

Like most of the other sons Issachar does not have a lot documented about his life. We know that he was involved in looting Shechem, selling Joseph and the trips to Egypt but that is about it for the story of his life. His family is also pretty quiet but he does have a few standouts in his linage and they are mentioned when all the tribes come together or are being assigned things to do by David or Solomon. They are included in some of the revivals in the latter part of Chronicles.

Tola, a judge mentioned in Judges 10:1+2 is from Issachar and Deborah includes them in her song in Judges 5:15.

Baasha, a king of the Northern Tribes (Israel) is found in 1 Kings 15:27 – 16:7; the NIV mentions that the name may mean “bad” and he lived down to the meaning as he killed the previous king and his entire family. (That seemed to be standard practice for the day.)

Issachar with Zebulun and Judah formed the leading edge of the Camp during the Exodus; in fact those three appear together many times. I feel it is because they are the three “blessed” sons of Leah. Reuben, Simeon and Levi all incurred Jacob’s wrath during his lifetime. I also feel that they were the “true” children of a wife instead of a concubine. (Judah was not a poster child for good as he starts the selling of Joseph and had the trouble with his daughter-in-law.)

He and Zebulun are often mentioned together and were allotted land next to each other after the conquest. But like most of the Northern Tribes they go into Exile under the Assyrians and you loose track of them after that.

Another Issachar connection has to do with Gideon.  He was in Ophrah that was actually in the land of Issachar.  Several sources I have read refer to Manasseh mingling with both Issachar and Zebulun; a map in my Holman Bible puts much of his story in those lands.

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

Tribes of Israel – Levi

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Levi is the third son of Jacob and Leah. His name sounds like the Hebrew word for attached because Leah hoped that Jacob would be attached (love) to her.

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. (NIV)

This prophecy was fulfilled because the Levities had the “Lord as their inheritance” thus they received only cities within other tribes and Simeon was “scattered” into Judah. After the incident at Shechem, they really did not do anything else outstanding and just slip into history.

Deuteronomy 33:8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.
9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word
and guarded your covenant.
10 He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless all his skills, O Lord, and be pleased with the work of his hands. Smite the loins of those who rise up against him; strike his foes till they rise no more.” (NIV)

The Thummim and Urim were how the Israelites could receive instruction (Ezra 2:63) from the Lord. I have read that the breastplate (Exodus 28:30) the High Priest wore had stones with the names of the tribes inscribed on them and they may have been removable; then they would “roll” them and pick who the Lord’s choice was from the casting of these lots. An example of this may be in Judges 1:1+2 when Judah was picked to lead Israel against the Canaanites. (If you Google this subject, you will find a lot of non-Christian/Biblical info)

Massah and Meribah was the name given to the campsite of Rephidim (Exodus 17) or the “spring and rock” where the Israelites argued and tested the Lord about drinking water. Rephidim is also where the Amalekites come into the Exodus story as enemies.

Exodus 32 is an interesting chapter featuring the Levities. Moses is up on a mountain seeking God and receiving the Commandments, Aaron is making a golden calf and the family collectively is killing people who are out of control because of the calf. And once again God shows His mercy by making Aaron the priest even after he “fibs” about the golden calf in vs.24.  It is interesting to note that a specific genetic marker has been found that allows them to specifically trace Aaron’s family line. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Aaron

Other notable descendants of Levi and Aaron are David’s Praise Team: Heman, Asaph, and Ethan (1 Chronicles 15: 19), Benaiah the captain of David’s guard was a priest-1 Chronicles 27:5. Jeremiah was from the priestly family of Hilkiah.

clipart.christiansunite.com/1352029261/Old_Testament_Clipart/Old_Testament009.jpg 

The Tribes of Israel and Shechem

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Shechem in Genesis 33 and 34 is a family and a town. In my tribe series, its importance is that it is the places where Simeon and Levi incur their father’s wrath by killing all the men of Shechem. It is also where Jacob built an altar and bought a piece of land that he later gave to Joseph.

After Joshua brought the children into the Promised Land they were instructed in Deuteronomy 27 to have some tribes stand on Mount Gerizim and pronounce blessings for Israel and the other tribes to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses.

The land went to Ephraim in the allotment and Shechem became a city of refuge as stated in Joshua 17:17.

We see it again in Judges 9 being associated with Abimelech.

When the Northern Kingdom went into exile the Samaritans were brought in to occupy the land.  They accepted some of the beliefs of Israel; one thing they did was to build a shrine on Mt. Gerizim to offer sacrifices. Years later in John 4 Jesus meet the women at the well in a town of Sychar, which is believed to be Shechem. If you remember this meeting was at Jacob’s well.

http://bibleatlas.org/shechem.htm