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Twelve Tribes of Israel
[Bible]The Twelve Tribes of Israel are the twelve divisions of the people of Israel descended from the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel). In the Old Testament they served as units for the allotment of land and the organization of the people; in the New Testament they serve as a symbol of the whole people of God.
1 Chronicles 2
[Bible]1 Chronicles 2 lists the twelve sons of Israel and then gives a detailed genealogy of the tribe of Judah. It records the lines of Hezron's three sons, Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb, and traces the line of Ram down to David.
Benjamin
[People]Benjamin was the second son of Jacob and Rachel and the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons. He was the ancestor of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jacob
[People]Jacob is a patriarch of the Israelite people in the Book of Genesis, the son of Isaac and the younger twin brother of Esau. God gave him the new name "Israel," and his twelve sons became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Patriarch
[Bible]"Patriarch" refers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the founding ancestors of the people of Israel, and to Jacob's twelve sons. Their story is told in Genesis 12–50. In the Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong), the corresponding Korean term (jokjang) is also used for the head of a clan or family.
Genesis 49
[Bible]Genesis 49 is the chapter in which Jacob, shortly before his death, calls his twelve sons together, speaks in poetic form about the future of each, asks to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, and then dies.
Genesis 35
[Bible]In this chapter Jacob puts away the foreign idols in his household, goes up to Bethel, builds an altar, and is again given the name Israel. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, and the chapter continues with a list of Jacob's twelve sons and closes with the death of Isaac.
Genesis 48
[Bible]In this chapter the aged and ailing Jacob adopts Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own. Crossing his arms as he lays his hands on them, he blesses the younger, Ephraim, ahead of the elder, Manasseh.
Nebaioth
[People]Nebaioth was the firstborn son of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. His sister became the wife of Esau, and in the Book of Isaiah his name designates the tribe descended from him.
Tribe of Benjamin
[Bible]The tribe of Benjamin was one of the tribes of Israel, made up of the descendants of Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob. Israel's first king, Saul, and the apostle Paul both came from this tribe.
Kedar (son of Ishmael)
[People]Kedar was the second son of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Scripture records him as the ancestor of an Arabian nomadic tribe that the Old Testament also calls "Kedar."
Anakim
[Bible]The Anakim were a people of great stature who lived in the southern hill country, centered on Hebron, before the conquest of Canaan. After the report of the twelve spies, they became the adversaries Israel feared.
Dathan and Abiram
[People]Dathan and Abiram were brothers of the tribe of Reuben, sons of Eliab, who joined Korah in rebelling against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness after the Exodus. They are known for the incident in which the earth split open and swallowed them and their households.
Levites
[Bible]The Levites were members of the Israelite tribe descended from Levi, the son of Jacob. Rather than receiving land as an inheritance, they were set apart for the work of the tabernacle and the temple. Among them, the descendants of Aaron became priests.
Zebedee
[People]Zebedee was a Galilean fisherman and the father of James and John, two of the twelve disciples of Jesus. In the Gospels his name appears mostly in the phrase "the sons of Zebedee."
Numbers 3
[Bible]Numbers 3 records the genealogy of Aaron's sons and the tribe of Levi. It sets apart the Levites as those given to God in place of Israel's firstborn, assigns each Levite family its camp position and tabernacle duties, and then numbers both the Levites and the firstborn, requiring a redemption price for the difference.
Zelophehad
[People]Zelophehad was a man of the tribe of Manasseh who died during the wilderness period. He left no sons, only five daughters, and their petition led to the establishment of the law governing the inheritance of land by daughters.
Zilpah
[People]Zilpah was the maidservant whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah as her handmaid. Through Leah she became a wife of Jacob and bore Gad and Asher, making her the mother of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Puvah
[People]Puvah was the second son of Issachar and a grandson of Jacob. He was the ancestor of the Punite family within the tribe of Issachar, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and appears only in genealogies.
Issachar
[People]Issachar was a son of Jacob and Leah. His name became the name of the tribe of Issachar, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.