Who are the Twelve Tribes of Israel?

There are many references to the tribes of Israel in the New Testament. Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1), and Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, was a priest, meaning he descended from Aaron of the tribe of Levi. Who were the twelve tribes of Israel?

The twelve tribes are the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin (Genesis 29:31-30:24, 35:18). We learn about the character of the ten oldest sons throughout the second half of Genesis. Simeon and Levi kill an entire people group, Reuben sleeps with one of Jacob’s wives, Judah sleeps with his daughter in law, and the ten oldest are all involved in the selling of their younger brother Joseph into slavery and telling Jacob he was killed by a wild animal (see Genesis 34-35, 37-38).

We can analyze the tribes up in various ways: who bore them (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah or Zilpah), their relative sizes (Judah was largest, Benjamin smallest), or how they were geographically positioned in the Promised Land (Asher and Naphtali in the north, Judah in the south). As interesting and helpful as this study may be, there is not a specific pattern or theme we can unlock based on this information. In fact, as we progress through the biblical narrative, it seems most of the men God chose to be fathers of His people do not seem very noble and the behavior of the tribes of Israel in general follow in the footsteps of their fathers.

We see the evidence of this when we look at some of the most well-known tribes in Joseph, Levi and Judah.

Joseph

Joseph’s stellar character is highlighted in Genesis 39-50 where he refuses the sexual advances of his boss’ wife, provides food for the nation and forgives and blesses his brothers who betrayed him. In contrast to the character of Joseph, the tribes that descended from him – Ephraim and Manasseh – were unfaithful to the commands of God and “Ephraim” became synonymous with the unfaithfulness of Israel as a whole (Hosea 4:17).

Levi

God chose the Levites to perform the sacrifices and serve Him in the Tabernacle and Temple (Exodus 32:29). The reason for this is seen in Exodus 32 when the Israelites committed idolatry by worshipping the golden calf. When Moses asked who was on the Lord’s side, it was the descendants of Levi who gathered around Moses and then executed God’s justice on those who worshipped the calf (Exodus 32:26-28). But we also see the unfaithful descent of the Levites in Judges 19 and Ezra 9.

Judah

Judah has a dramatic change in character in Genesis 44 and was blessed to become the kingly tribe from which David and all his descendants came (Genesis 49:10). Most significantly, our Savior Jesus’ human lineage was from the tribe of Judah. But until the coming of Jesus, the overall moral decline of Judah started during David’s lifetime (2 Samuel 11). It got progressively worse and reached a climax with King Manasseh. His idolatry and bloodshed were the ultimate causes of God removing the people from the land (2 Kings 21:10-15).

The point of this brief study is not to shake our heads or to point our fingers at these patriarchs and their descendants. Instead, we should acknowledge that God chose Jacob and his descendants, not for anything good in him but because of God’s own plan of election (Romans 9:10-11). Likewise, God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (2 Timothy 1:9).” This should be a great comfort to us and cause us to respond in humility to His unmerited favor.

Let us worship God with the words of Paul in Romans 11:33:

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”