Tribe of Ephraim

Biblical Record

Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph and Asenath in Egypt (Genesis 41:50-52). Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons as his own and blessed them. In doing so, he laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger, placing him ahead of his older brother Manasseh (Genesis 48). As a result, Joseph's descendants formed two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and were counted among the twelve tribes of Israel.

Joshua, one of the men who spied out Canaan, came from this tribe (Numbers 13:8). After the settlement of Canaan, the tribe of Ephraim received an allotment in the central hill country (Joshua 16). The tabernacle of the congregation was set up at Shiloh, within its territory (Joshua 18:1).

In the book of Judges, the tribe protests to Gideon and to Jephthah that it had not been called to join their battles (Judges 8:1-3; 12:1-6). The Gileadites under Jephthah held the fords of the Jordan and put to death those whom they identified as Ephraimites by their pronunciation of "Shibboleth" as "Sibboleth." Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, was also an Ephraimite (1 Kings 11:26).

Background

Genesis 41:52 explains the name through Joseph's words: "For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." The name is therefore understood as related to the Hebrew verb meaning "to be fruitful." The hill country of Ephraim is an upland region lying between Benjamin to the south and Manasseh to the north. Important sites such as Shiloh and Shechem (Joshua 21:21) lay within it, and Bethel was nearby.

Significance Across Scripture

After the division of the kingdom, Ephraim became the leading tribe of the northern kingdom. For this reason the prophetic books often refer to the whole of northern Israel as "Ephraim" (Isaiah 7:2; Hosea 11:8). The name appears with particular frequency in the book of Hosea. Psalm 78:67-68 declares that God chose the tribe of Judah and Zion rather than Ephraim. Jeremiah 31:9, by contrast, promises restoration, saying, "Ephraim is my firstborn." In Ezekiel 37:15-28, the stick of Judah and "the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim" become one, a vision portraying the reunification of north and south.

In the New Testament, Hebrews 11:21 recalls Jacob's blessing of Joseph's sons as an act of faith. In the list of sealed tribes in Revelation 7:4-8, "Joseph" appears in place of Ephraim. The "Ephraim" of John 11:54 is the name of a town and is distinct from the tribe.

Interpretations and Debates

• The blessing that put the younger first: Many interpreters read this scene, like the accounts of Isaac and Jacob, as illustrating the theme that God's choice is not bound by birth order.
• The omission in Revelation 7: Various views have been proposed to explain why the names of Ephraim and Dan are missing. Some connect the omission with the idolatry of these two tribes, while others hold that "Joseph" stands in for Ephraim. No explanation is accepted as definitive.
• Stories of a lost tribe: Claims circulate that the descendants of Ephraim became a particular people after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, but the biblical text does not say this. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known to teach that many of its members belong to the lineage of Ephraim. This is that church's own claim.