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According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel from the time of the conquest of the territory by Joshua until they were conquered by the Babylonians in c.586 BCE and taken into exile. They were divided in twelve tribes, each claiming descent from one of twelve sons and grandsons of Jacob.
The term Israelite derives from Israel (Hebrew: ישראל (Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl)), the name given to the biblical patriarch Jacob after he struggled with God and man and prevailed( Genesis 32:28-29). His descendants are called the House of Jacob, the Children of Israel, the People of Israel, or the Israelites.
The Hebrew Bible is mainly concerned with the Israelites. According to it, the Land of Israel was promised to them by God. Jerusalem was their capital and the site of the temple at the center of their faith.
The Israelites became a major political power with the United Monarchy of Kings Saul, David and Solomon, from c. 1025 BCE. Zedekiah, king of Judah (597-586 BCE), is considered the last king from the house of David.
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Terminology
- See also: Hebrews and Who is a Jew?
The term Israelites is the English term, first adopted in the King James translation of the Bible, to describe the ancient people directly descended from the Biblical patriarch Jacob (who was renamed as Israel; Genesis 32:29). It is a translation of the Hebrew Bnei Yisrael (literally "Sons of Israel", also translated "Children of Israel"). The singular "Israelite" is typically a translation of the adjective Yisraeli which in Biblical Hebrew refers to a member of the Bnei Yisrael (e.g Leviticus 24:10). Other Biblical names for this patriarchal clan include "Daughters of Israel", "House of Jacob" or, following the death of Jacob, simply "Israel".
"Israelites" as used in the Bible includes both descendants of Jacob who followed the Jewish faith as well as apostates who turned to other gods. In contrast the term Jew is used in English for members of the Jewish faith, regardless of the historical period or ancestry.
In modern Hebrew Bnei Yisrael can denote the Jewish people at any time in history and is typically used to emphasize Jewish religious identity and thus does not include apostates. The adjective Yisraeli is used in modern Hebrew for any citizen of the modern State of Israel, regardless of religion or ethnicity and translated into English as "Israeli".
Another term is Hebrews which typically refers to the same people as the Israelites. They gave their name to Hebrew, the language of Israelites, Jews and the State of Israel. 1
It should be noted that these three words, Israelites, Hebrews and Jews, are historically related and often used (incorrectly) as synonyms. "Israelites" and "Hebrews" are occasionally used in English as synonyms for Jews.
Biblical Israel
Jacob's sons
Jacob's wives gave birth to twelve sons: Reuben (Genesis 29:32), Simeon (Genesis 29:33), Levi (Genesis 29:34), Judah (Genesis 29:35), Dan (Genesis 30:5), Naphtali (Genesis 30:7), Gad (Genesis 30:10), Asher (Genesis 30:12), Issachar (Genesis 30:17), Zebulun (Genesis 30:19), Joseph (Genesis 30:23), and Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).
| Children of Jacob by wife in order of birth (D = Daughter) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leah | Reuben (1) | Simeon (2) | Levi (3) | Judah (4) | Issachar (9) | Zebulun (10) | Dinah (D) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rachel | Joseph (11) | Benjamin (12) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bilhah (Rachel's servant) | Dan (5) | Naphtali (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zilpah (Leah's servant) | Gad (7) | Asher (8) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Twelve Tribes
 Tribes of Israel |
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The Israelites were divided along family lines, each called a shevet or mateh in Hebrew meaning literally a "staff" or "rod". The term is conventionally translated as "tribe" in English, although the divisions were not small isolated distinct ethnic groups in the modern sense of the term.
In Egypt the house of Joseph was divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, by virtue of Jacob's blessing. (Genesis 48:8-21)
Some English speaking Jewish groups view the pronunciation, English transcription and Hebrew spelling of the tribal names to be extremely important. The transcriptions and spellings are as follows:
- Reuben: ראובן, Standard Rəʾuven, Tiberian Rəʾûḇēn
- Simeon: שמעון, Standard Šimʿon, Tiberian Šimʿôn
- Levi: לוי, Standard Levi, Tiberian Lēwî (which did not share in the apportionment of the Land)
- Judah: יהודה, Standard Yəhuda, Tiberian Yəhûḏāh
- Dan: דן, Standard Dan, Tiberian Dān
- Naphtali: נפתלי, Standard Naftali, Tiberian Nap̄tālî
- Gad: גד, Standard Gad, Tiberian Gāḏ
- Asher: אשר, Standard Ašer, Tiberian ʾĀšēr
- Issachar: יששכר, Standard Yissaḫar, Tiberian Yiśśâḵār
- Zebulun: זבולן, Standard Zəvúlun, Tiberian Zəḇûlun
- Joseph: יוסף, Standard Yosef, Tiberian Yôsēp̄, containing the tribes:
- Benjamin: בנימין, Standard Binyamin, Tiberian Binyāmîn
Camps following the exodus
Following the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were divided into thirteen camps (Hebrew: machanot) according to importance 2 with Levi in the center of the encampment around the Tabernacle and its furnishings surrounded by other tribes arranged in four groups: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; Reuben, Simeon and Gad; Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; Dan, Asher and Naphtali.3 Thus additionally Aaron and his descendants although descended from Levi were appointed as priests (kohanim) and came to be considered a separate division to the Levites.
The division of the land
The tribes were assigned territories following the conquests of land under Moses and Joshua. Moses assigned territories to Reuben, Gad and a portion of Manasseh on land east of the Jordan which they had requested (Numbers 32:5). Joshua assigned territories to Judah, Ephraim and the rest of Manasseh on land west of the Jordan which they had conquered. The tribe of Manasseh thus came to be divided into two parts by the Jordan each part referred to as a half-tribe (chatzi-shevet) of Manasseh, the part lying east of the Jordan being referred to as the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead. Following the conquest of the remainder of Canaan, Joshua assigned territories to Asher, Benjamin, Dan, Issacher, Naphtali, Simeon and Zebulun. The land of Judah was considered too large for that tribe alone and Simeon was assigned a portion within the land of Judah instead of its own territory in the newly conquered land. Because the Levites, and kohanim (descendants of Aaron) priests played a special religious role of service at the Tabernacle to the people they were not given their own territories, but were instead assigned cities to live in within the other territories. Dan was assigned territory lying between Ephraim and Manasseh but was later displaced and subsequently settled in territory to the north of Naphtali.
Israelite kingdoms
The Kingdom of Judah consisted of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, and the parts of Levi within those lands, while the Kingdom of Israel contained Reuben, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, Ephraim, and the remainder of Levi.
The Israelites became a major political power with the United Monarchy of Kings Saul, David and Solomon, from c. 1025 BCE.
The Kingdom of Israel was conquered in the 720s BC, by the Assyrians under Shalmaneser V and then under Sargon II, who, after conquering the land, destroyed Samaria, its capital, and, deported most of the occupants into exile, with the southernmost tribe - Benjamin - managing to survive by joining the Kingdom of Judah; Assyrian chronicles of the time report that only a small number of people were deported. Assyrian policy was for the deportees to be scattered, and assimilated into the Assyrian empire, and, as a result of this policy, the deported tribes lost their cultural identity, becoming traditionally known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Other defeated peoples of the Empire were in turn settled in the land.
Zedekiah, king of Judah (597-586 BCE), is considered the last king from the house of David. In 586 BC, he was toppled by Babylon, who ransacked Jerusalem, killed his heirs before his eyes, gouged out the king's eyes ensuring that would be the last thing he saw, and then deported the population into the Babylonian Captivity. Even after the elite was allowed to return from exile after some fifty years, the country was to remain a part of the Persian Empire as long as it existed.
Dispersal of Israelites
The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to the Israelite tribes that disappeared from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria.4
Genetic evidence of common descent
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Patrilineal descent can be documented by analysis of the Y-chromosome, passed from father to son. Of the many variants, or haplogroups, of the Y-chromosome, haplogroups J1 and J2, both originating from the Middle East, are the most common among Jewish men.
- J2 is found in 23% of Ashkenazi Jews and 29% of Sephardi Jews. It is equally common among Muslim Kurds, Northern Iraqis, Modern Turks, Greeks, Italians, and Lebanese. J2 is thought to have originated in the Northern Levant.
- J1 is found in 19.0% of Ashkenazim and 11.9% of Sephardim. It is more common among Arab populations, especially Arab Bedouins. J1 is believed to originate from the Southern Levant or Egypt approximately 10,000 - 15,000 years ago. 5
- A variant of J1 and J2, called the Cohen Modal Haplotype, is found in a high proportion (about 65%) of Jewish males with the surname Kohen or its variants, less frequently among other Jews (25%) and other Middle-Eastern people (22% or less)6. Kohanim claim descent from Aaron, brother of Moses and the first priest of the temple. Aaron was from the house of Levi, the third son of Jacob.
Thus, genetic evidences support a levantine patrilineal descent for a small portion of Jews, which may represents descent from one of the Israelite tribes. The discovery of the Cohen Modal Haplotype gives more weight to the Biblical and priestly claim of descent from a unique ancestor, namely Aaron 7, and also provides an objective test of claims of Israelite origin, as for example with the Lemba people. 8
Note, however, that several Kohen families carry other Y-chromosome variants.9 Note also that the CMH gene pattern is found in populations not know to be related to Israelites 10.
The archaeological record
The name Israel first appears in the archaelogical record as a personal name from Ebla and Ugarit (c.2,500 BCE). It appears on the Merneptah stele (c. 1200 BCE) as a people located in the hill country of the southern Levant. A group of eight records dated between c.850-722 BCE mention a kingdom in the same area called variously Israel or, and more frequently, Bit Omri/Humri (House of Omri), or Samaria, the three clearly applying to the same political entity. One of these makes reference to "Ahab the Israelite", the only occurrence of this form of the word in the ancient epigraphy. The name is found again on 1st and 2nd century CE coins from the Jewish revolts against the Romans.
Archaeologists have linked a number of elements of material culture to the Israelites, notably a certain type of collar-necked pottery and a type of house, both of which appear in the archaeological record in highlands contexts around the 12th century BCE.
Other groups claiming descent
Samaritans
Samaritans, once a comparatively large, but now a very small ethnic and religious group, consisting of not more than about 700 people11 living in Israel and the West Bank. They regard themselves as descendants of the tribes of Ephraim (named by them as Aphrime) and Manasseh (named by them as Manatch). Samaritans adhere to a version of the Torah, known as the Samaritan Pentateuch, which differs in some respects from the Masoretic text, sometimes in important ways, and less so from the Septuagint. Samaritans do not regard the Tanakh as an accurate or truthful history. They regard only Moses as a prophet, have their own version of Hebrew, and do not regard themselves as part of Judaism.
Since 539 BCE, when Jews began returning from Babylonian captivity, many Jews have rejected the Samaritan claim of descent from the Israelite tribes, though some regard them as a sect of Judaism.
Karaites
Mainstream Judaism regards both the Tanakh and an Oral Law (codified and recorded in the Mishnah and Talmuds) as the foundation of their religion, morality, and other laws. Karaite Judaism regards the Tanakh as scripture, but reject the Oral Law.
There are approximately 50,000 adherents of Karaite Judaism, most of whom live in Israel, but exact numbers are not known, as most Karaites have not participated in any religious censuses. The differences between Karaite and mainstream Judaism goes back many hundreds of years.
Beta Israel
The Beta Israel or Falasha is a group formerly living in Ethiopia that has a tradition of descent from the lost tribe of Dan. They have a long history of practicing such Jewish traditions as kashrut, Sabbath and Passover and for this reason their Jewishness was accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Israeli government in 1975. They emigrated to Israel en masse during the 1980s and 1990s, as Jews, under the Law of Return. Some who claim to be Beta Israel still live in Ethiopia. Their claims were formally accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and are accordingly generally regarded as Jews.
Bnei Menashe
The Bnei Menashe is a group in India claiming to be descendants of the half-tribe of Menashe. Members who have studied Hebrew and who observe the Sabbath and other Jewish laws received in 2005 the support of the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel in arranging formal conversion to Judaism. Some have converted and emigrated to Israel under the Law of Return.
Hebrew Israelites
The Hebrew Israelites, or Black Hebrews, believe that the biblical Israelites were actually of a dark skin, and that they are their ethnic descendants. They also believe that modern Jews are actually descendants of the Kazars. The Hebrew Israelites claim that the word "Jewish" merely pertains to Judah and that the use of the term is as a result of a mistranslation in the King James Bible for Judah.
The belief that the Israelites were black is based on the afro-centric view of Egyptian culture. It is based on the premise that ancient Egyptians were a dark skinned people, and asserts that Moses and Joseph must have been dark-skinned because they were mistaken for Egyptians. Commentators have noted, however, that contemporary ancient Egyptian iconography (for example, the images on the thrones of Tutankhamen and grave images) shows a people of olive brown complexions and Hamito-Semitic features.
Ancient historians indicated an Ethiopian origin of the Israelites. The ancient Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote that “many, again, say that they [the Israelites] were a race of Ethiopian origin” (Histories (Tacitus), Book 5, Paragraphs 2 & 3).12
Rastafari
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Some Rastas believe that the black races are the lost Israelites – literally or spiritually 13. They interpret the Bible as implying that Haile Selassie was the returned Messiah, who would lead the world's peoples of African descent into a promised land of full emancipation and divine justice. There are some Rastafarians that believe they are Jews by descent through Ras Tafari, Ras Tafari being a descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba via Menelik I. One Rastafari order named The Twelve Tribes of Israel, imposes a metaphysical astrology whereby Aries is Reuben, Aquarius is Joseph, etc. The Twelve Tribes of Israel differ from most Rastafari Mansions (sects) because they believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, while other Mansions claim that Haile Selassie I is the true God. With his famous early reggae song The Israelites Desmond Dekker immortalised the Rastafari concept of themselves as the Lost Children of Israel. However, sometimes peoples native to Africa are identified with descendants of Ham, whereas the Old Testament of the Bible states that Abraham is descended from Shem.
Latter-day Saints
- See also: Mormonism and Judaism
The Latter Day Saint movement (commonly termed Mormons), believe that through baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, they become "regathered" as Israelites, either as recovered from the scattered tribes of Israel, or as Gentiles adopted and grafted into Israel, and thus becoming part of the chosen people of God14. These religious denominations derive from a movement started by Joseph Smith, Jr., and almost half of all members live in the United States; the movement does not strictly believe that they are ethnic Jews as such, but rather that Israelites can refer to many different cultures, on occasion including Jews15. They believe that certain Old Testament passages16 are prophecies implying that the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) will take a prominent role in the spread of the gospel to all of scattered Israelites in the last days, and that the tribe of Judah (ie. Judah) also has a prominent role in the last days and during the Millennium17.
Christian Identity
The Christian Identity movement comprises a number of groups with a racialized theology which claim to be the only true Israelites on the basis that white Europeans are, in their belief, the literal descendants of the Israelites through the ten tribes, and who are accordingly still God's Chosen People. These groups generally deny that present-day Jews are descended from the Israelites nor Hebrews (who were in Egypt and were in the Exodus) but are instead descended from Turco-Mongolian blood, or Khazars, and of the Biblical Esau (who was also called Edom) who traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. (Genesis 25:29-34)[3]
Children of Israel
In Christianity
Based on the New Testament, some Christians believe that Christians are the "new Israel" that replaced the "Children of Israel" since the Jews rejected Jesus. This view is called Supersessionism. Many European settlers in the New World saw themselves as the heirs of those ancient tribes, hence one finds that they named their children and many towns they settled in with names connected to the figures in the Bible. However, other Christians believe that the Jews are still the original children of Israel, and that Christians are adopted children of God but are not the new Israel. This view is a part of dispensationalism.
In Islam
In the Qur'an there are forty-three specific references to "Banū Isrāʾīl" (meaning the Children of Israel).18 There is a Surah (chapter) in the Qur'an titled Bani Israel (Arabic: بني اسرائيل, "The Children of Israel"), alternatively known as ِAl-Isra (Arabic: سورة الإسراء, "The Night Journey"). This Surah was revealed in the last year before Hijrah and takes its name from Qur'an 17:4. See Bani Israel (Quran sura). Also starting from verse 40 in Sura Al-Baqara (سورة البقرة "The Cow") is the story of "Bani Israel".
Others
There is an ethnic-religious group in Pakistan and Afghanistan which refers to itself as the Bnai Israel, or House of Israel, or Beit Israel. This group is referred to in English as the Pashtuns. Some Pashtuns claim to be the patriarchal historical descendants of the "ten lost tribes" of the northern Kingdom of Israel which were taken into captivity by Assyria.
Certain groups of Jews in other parts of South Asia are sometimes referred to as Benai Israel.
See also
- Archaeology of Israel
- Biblical archeology
- The Bible and history
- Who is a Jew?
- Groups claiming an affiliation with the ancient Israelites
- Shavei Israel
- Kingdom of Israel
- Kingdom of Judah
- Noahides
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- House of Israel (Ghana)
- Gentile
- British Israelism
- Bible and The Bible and history.
- Israelis
- Anusim
- Half Jewish
References and notes
- ^ entry in thefreedictionary.com
- ^ http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/bamidbar/coh.html "How Fair Are Your Tents, O Jacob", Dr. Gabriel H. Cohen, Bar-Ilan University
- ^ Numbers 10:12-28
- ^ Lost Tribes of Israel program on NOVA, Original broadcast date: 02/22/2000
- ^ https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html; Semino, et al, “Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area.” Am J Hum Genet. 2004 May; 74(5).
- ^ Ekins, JE; E.N. Tinah, N.M. Myres, K.H. Ritchie, U.A. Perego, J.B. Ekins, L.A.D. Hutchison, L. Layton, M.L. Lunt, S.S. Masek, A.A. Nelson, M.E. Nelson, K.L. Pennington, J.L. Peterson, T. Tolley, S.R. Woodward (2005). "An Updated World-Wide Characterization of the Cohen Modal Haplotype" (PDF). ASHG meeting October 2005, http://www.smgf.org/resources/papers/ASHG2005_Jayne.pdf.
- ^ Kleiman, Yaakov (2000-01-13). "The fascinating story of how DNA studies confirm an ancient biblical tradition". aish.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-26.
- ^ Y Chromosomes Traveling South: The Cohen Modal Haplotype and the Origins of the Lemba—the “Black Jews of Southern Africa”, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1288118, retrieved on 15 June 2008
- ^ Behar, DM; Thomas MG, Skorecki K, Hammer MF, Bulygina E, Rosengarten D, Jones AL, Held K, Moses V, Goldstein D, Bradman N, Weale ME (2003). "Multiple Origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y Chromosome Evidence for Both Near Eastern and European Ancestries". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 73: 768–779.
- ^ An Updated World-Wide Characterization of the Cohen Modal Haplotype, Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), Salt Lake City, UT, USA; [1]
- ^ As of 2006
- ^ Tacitus: History: Book 5 [1]
- ^ Article Twelve Tribes on website Words of Wisdom [2]
- ^ Guide to LDS scriptural references on Israel
- ^ ibid
- ^ Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:10-13
- ^ ibid
- ^ Yahud, Encyclopedia of Islam
External links
- The Israelite census, of the book of numbers, in isolation, at wikisource
- PROLADES study of the Asociación Evangélica de la Misión Israelita
- The Song of Deborah-Why Some Tribes Answered the Call and Others Did Not Biblical Archaeology Review
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