Tribes

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Israel was divided into twelve tribes according to the twelve sons of Jacob ( Genesis 35:22-26). In the division of Canaan, the tribe of Levi received no allotment of its own but was given cities within all the other tribes ( Numbers 18:24;  Numbers 35:1-8; see Levite ). Joseph, by contrast, received two tribal allotments, one for each of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. This double portion was the inheritance of the firstborn, an inheritance that Joseph received instead of the eldest son, Reuben ( Genesis 48:13-20;  Genesis 49:22-26;  1 Chronicles 5:1-2).

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(φυλή)

From the earliest times the nation of Israel was divided into various tribes, the number invariably being given as twelve. Conflicting opinions have been held as to how these tribal divisions arose, the traditional theory being that the different families descended from the sons of Jacob multiplied till they formed tribes. Others take the view that the history of the sons of Jacob is really a history of the various tribal communities which were combined to form the nation, and that the divisions were to a large extent geographical. In the lists of the tribes, as we find them in the OT, considerable variations are to be found, and frequently the tribes descended from Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) have to be regarded as one in order to make the number twelve. Some of the tribes seem to have disappeared at an early date or were absorbed into larger communities, and the divisions tended more and more to become geographical. After the return from the Exile many members of other tribes probably came to Jerusalem along with Jews strictly so called, i.e. those belonging to the ancient tribe of Judah. Most of these returned exiles came to be regarded as members of the tribes of Judah or Benjamin, although some may have been able to trace their descent from a distinguished member of another tribe, and others determined their tribe from the locality which they left at the Exile. No doubt many members of the priestly caste were in a position to claim their descent from the tribe of Levi.

In the NT we have few allusions to any of the tribes, with the exception of Judah and Benjamin, which were always more or less closely associated. Anna the prophetess, however, is stated to have belonged to the tribe of Asher ( Luke 2:36), and Barnabas is described as a Levite ( Acts 4:36). The apostle Paul, a Jew brought up in the Roman province of Cilicia, claims to belong to the tribe of Benjamin ( Romans 11:1,  Philippians 3:5). The fact that Jesus was connected with the royal tribe of Judah is frequently mentioned, and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews calls attention to the fact in order to bring out the uniqueness of Christ’s Priesthood ( Hebrews 7:13-14). In the same way the writer of the Apocalypse calls Him the ‘lion of the tribe of Judah’ ( Revelation 5:5).

In NT times the conception seems to have been general that Israel even at that date still consisted of twelve tribes. Thus in  Acts 26:7 Paul, in addressing king Agrippa, uses the phrase ‘our twelve tribes’ as synonymous with ‘Israel.’ But just as the term ‘Israel’ came to be employed in a spiritual and Christian sense as the true people of God, so the expression ‘twelve tribes’ is used to signify Christian believers generally. Thus James ( James 1:1) addresses his Epistle to ‘the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.’ In  Revelation 7:4ff. the writer speaks of the sealing of the servants of God. We are told that one hundred and forty and four thousand of ‘all the tribes of the children of Israel’ are sealed, and then follows a list of twelve tribes each furnishing twelve thousand. The tribes enumerated are Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. The remarkable features about this list are the substitution of Joseph for Ephraim, and the omission of Dan, which seems to have fallen into disrepute at a comparatively early date. The fact that the writer has taken over a Jewish apocalypse and worked it into a Christian setting makes it difficult to settle who exactly are meant here by the servants of God who are sealed in their foreheads. Are the ‘servants of God’ of  Revelation 7:3 identical with the ‘multitude’ of  Revelation 7:9 ‘whom no man can number’? Can this be the case when the sealed are numbered so definitely? If not, who then are the sealed? Are they faithful Jews of the OT dispensation, or are they Jewish Christians, and are the Gentile Christians not to be sealed? The first suggestion is impossible, as the sealed are evidently still on the earth. The view that Jewish Christians are the sealed, while possible, is unlikely, as the whole trend of the Apocalypse is to identify Christians as the true Jews, the Israel of God. Probably, in spite of all difficulties, the same persons are indicated in both passages, and neither the numbering of the sealed nor the reference to the various tribes of Israel is to be taken literally. The servants of  Revelation 7:1-8, who are safeguarded on earth, are the innumerable multitude of  Revelation 7:9-17, viewed after their martyr death under a definitely Christian light. The OT imagery of the sealing is used to express the thought that God’s faithful people are numbered and protected on earth to the last individual, while the subsequent vision ( Revelation 7:9-17) points to their glory in heaven. For our writer as for James ( James 1:1) and Paul ( Galatians 6:16) the true Israel consists of Christian believers (cf. J. Moffatt, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Revelation,’ London, 1910, p. 395).

W. F. Boyd.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Tribes.  Numbers 13:2-15. The twelve sons of Jacob were heads of families, and each family a tribe. The two sons of Joseph were adopted by Jacob in place of Joseph.  Genesis 48:5. So there were thirteen tribes. But in dividing Canaan there were only twelve, since the family of Levi was assigned to the Lord's service and had no separate lot or share in the division of the promised land.  Joshua 13:7-14;  Joshua 13:33. The tribes were continued under one head or nation until after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from Judah and Benjamin, and set up the northern kingdom—Israel They were carried into captivity in 721 b.c., and no account of their return is given. Judah was also carried into captivity, 606 to 588 b.c.; but a remnant returned under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 536 b.c. and later. Tribes are referred to as being in the Christian church. Christ tells the apostles: "Ye... shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  Matthew 19:28;  Luke 22:30. James addresses his epistle "To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad."  James 1:1. In the Revelation "144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel" were sealed.  Revelation 7:4. See Jews.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Tribes—the name of the great groups of families into which the Israelitish nation, like other Oriental races, was divided. The modern Arabs, the Bedouins, and the Berbers, and also the Moors on the northern shores of Africa, are still divided into tribes. The clans in Scotland are also analogous to the tribes of the ancient Israelites. In Genesis 49 the tribes are enumerated according to their progenitors; viz.,

Reuben, the first-born;

Simeon, and

Levi, instruments of cruelty;

Judah, whom his brethren shall praise;

Zabulon, dwelling at the haven of the sea;

Issachar, the strong;

Dan, the judge;

Gad, whom a troop shall overcome, but who shall vanquish at last;

Asher, whose bread shall be fat;

Naphtali, giving goodly words;

Joseph, the fruitful bough;

Benjamin, the wolf:

all these were originally the twelve tribes of Israel. In this enumeration it is remarkable that the subsequent division of the tribe of Joseph into the two branches of Ephraim and Manasseh, is not yet alluded to. After this later division of the very numerous tribe of Joseph into the two branches of Ephraim and Manasseh had taken place, there were, strictly speaking, thirteen tribes. It was, however, usual to view them as comprehended under the number twelve, which was the more natural, since one of them, namely, the caste of the Levites, did not live within such exclusive geographical limits as were assigned to the others after they exchanged their nomadic migrations for settled habitations, but dwelt in towns scattered through all the other twelve tribes. Concerning the arrangement of these tribes on their march through the wilderness, in their encampments around the ark, and in their occupation of the land of Canaan, see the cognate articles, such as Exodus, Encampments, Genealogy, Levites, Wandering, and the names of the several tribes.