All about the ancient tribes
Manasseh, one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel. The tribe was named after a younger son of Joseph, himself a son of Jacob. The tribe of Manasseh settled in central Palestine—some to the east, some to the west of the Jordan River.
They were named Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun—all sons or grandsons of Jacob. In 930 bc the 10 tribes formed the independent Kingdom of Israel in the north and the two other tribes, Judah and Benjamin, set up the Kingdom of Judah in the south.
Hezekiah, Manasseh and Amon are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. After a reign of 55 years, the longest in the history of Judah, he died in c.
Conquered by the Assyrian King Shalmaneser V, they were exiled to upper Mesopotamia and Medes, today modern Syria and Iraq. The Ten Tribes of Israel have never been seen since.
Responding to a growing threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes formed a strong, centralised monarchy during the eleventh century BC. The first king of this new entity was Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin (1 Samuel 9:1–2), which at the time was the smallest of the tribes.
When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners, because “the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them” (Book of Joshua, Joshua 13:33).
The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes of Israel in biblical tradition. The territory of Joseph was thus one of the most valuable parts of the country, and the House of Joseph became the most dominant group in the Kingdom of Israel.
Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiezrite clan in the tribe of Manasseh and lived in Ephra (Ophrah). As a leader of the Israelites, he won a decisive victory over a Midianite army despite a vast numerical disadvantage, leading a troop of 300 ‘valiant’ men.
When Solomon’s successor, Rehoboam, dealt tactlessly with economic complaints of the northern tribes, in about 930 BCE (there are differences of opinion as to the actual year) the Kingdom of Israel and Judah split into two kingdoms: the northern Kingdom of Israel, which included the cities of Shechem and Samaria, and
The tribe of Judah settled in the region south of Jerusalem and in time became the most powerful and most important tribe.
Ephraim, one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after one of the younger sons of Joseph, himself a son of Jacob. Members of his tribe settled in the fertile, hilly region of central Palestine.
Jacob, Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Arabic Yaʿqūb, also called Israel, Hebrew Yisraʾel, Arabic Isrāʾīl, Hebrew patriarch who was the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the traditional ancestor of the people of Israel. Stories about Jacob in the Bible begin at Genesis 25:19.
Manasseh promoted idolatry throughout his kingdom, built pagan temples and even sacrificed one of his sons in the fires of Moloch worship. There is an old tradition in Judaism that Manasseh executed the prophet Isaiah.
Jacob is said to have had twelve sons by four women, his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah, who were, in order of their birth, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, all of whom became the heads of their own family groups, later known