A reconstructed Israelite house,
Monarchy period, 10th-7th BCE.
Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel.
In the
Bible, the
Israelites
(sometimes referred to as "The
Twelve Tribes")
were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch
Jacob. They were divided into
twelve
tribes, each descended from one of twelve sons or
grandsons of
Jacob.
The term Israelite is derived from
Israel (Hebrew: ישראל -
Standard: ;
Tiberian: ), the name given to Jacob
after the death of
Isaac. ( ). 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 local 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.
Terminology
The term
Israelite in
English was first used in the
King James translation of the
Bible to refer to those people who in the Hebrew are
referred to as
Bnei Yisrael (literally "Sons of Israel" or
"Children of Israel"). Similarly, the singular "Israelite" is an
adaptation of the adjective
Yisraeli that in Biblical
Hebrew refers to a member of the
Bnei Yisrael (e.g. ).
Other terms used to refer to the
Bnei Yisrael include
"House of Jacob", "House of Israel", or simply "Israel".
Mosaic of the 12 Tribes of
Israel.
From a synagogue wall in Jerusalem.
"Israelites" as used in the Bible refers to the descendants of
Jacob. Also, in orthodox religious services, the term is used to
distinguish
Levis. In contrast the term
Jew is used in
English (though not necessarily by a Jew for self-identification)
to refer to an individual of the
Jewish
faith, regardless of the historical period, ancestry or their
turning to other faiths.
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.
From the period of Mishna (but probably used before that period)
the term
Yisraeli acquired an additional narrower meaning
of Jews of legitimate birth other than Levites and Aaronite priests
(
kohan). In modern usage, the term
Yisrael ("an Israel") is used in a non-adjectival form to
refer to such a person.
In modern Hebrew, the term Yisraeli
is used to refer to a citizen of the modern State of Israel
, regardless
of religion or ethnicity and is translated into English as
"Israeli".
Another term sometimes used to refer to Jews is
Hebrews, which was a term first used to
refer to the Jews (and probably other peoples as well) by the
ancient Egyptians. The term continues to be used at times to refer
to Jews or things associated with them, such as "
Hebrew Bible" and "
Hebrew calendar".
It should be noted that these three names, "Israelites", "Hebrews",
and "Jews", are historically related and often used in modern
English as synonyms although there are substantial differences in
meaning when applied to earlier periods of history.
History
Origin
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. ( )
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:
- Joseph contains the tribes
- {| class="wikitable"
Camps following the exodus
Following
the Exodusfrom Egypt, the
Israelites were divided into thirteen camps (Hebrew:
machanot) according to importance 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. 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.
During this period, the Kenizzites (thought by some to be identical
to the Edomite clan of Kenaz ) are seen to form part of Judah. The
Kenites (the Midianite clan headed by Moses' father in law, Jethro)
also joined the Israelites.
Land apportionment
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 ( ). 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. The
Kenites also settled in the territory of Judah and their
descendants are subsequently included with that tribe. Because the
Levites, and
kohanim(descendants of Aaron) played a special
religious role of service at the
Tabernacleto the people they were not given their
own territories, but were instead assigned cities to live in within
the other territories.
Joshua had made a pact with the Canaanite inhabitants of
Gibeonwho instead of being conquered in battle became
a further division of the Jewish people called the
Nethinim, being given the role of maintenance of
the tabernacle and in later centuries the Temple.
Dan had originally been assigned territory lying between Ephraim
and Manasseh but during the period of the Judges they were
displaced by a war with the Amorites and subsequently settled in
territory to the north of Naphtali.
Israelite confederation
From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation
of the first
Kingdom of Israelin
c.
1050 BCE, the Israelite tribes formed a
loose confederation. No central government existed, and in times of
crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as
Judges. (see the
Book of Judges) With the growth of the threat
from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a
strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge. The first king
of this new entity was
Saul, who came from the
Tribe of Benjamin, ( ) which at the time was the smallest of the
tribes.
United monarchy
The Israelites united in about 1050 BCE to form the
united Kingdom of
Israelunder Saul. At this time the tribes of Reuben, Gad and
Manasseh in Gilead expanded their territory eastwards, conquering
and absorbing the
Hagrites(the people of
Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab who were an offshoot of the
Ishmaelites). Under Solomon the remaining
Canaanitesin the land became the division
known as the
Avdei Shlomo(Servants of Solomon) and were
counted as part of the
Nethinim.
During David's and Solomon's reigns, the Kingdom of Israel is
considered to have reached the limits of the borders of the
Land of Israelpromised to Abraham's,
Isaac's, and Jacob's descendants in
Genesis; however,
David and Solomon maintained actual government jurisdiction only
over the Israelite tribes, although they received tribute from the
vaster region defined by these borders.
Northern and southern kingdoms
The Kingdom of Israel split in c. 930 BCE to form the southern
Kingdom of Judahand the northern
Kingdom of Israel:
- The southern Kingdom of Judah comprised the tribes of Judah,
Simeon and Benjamin together with the Aaronite kohanim,
Levites and Nethinim who lived amongst them.
- The northern Kingdom of Israel comprised the tribes of Reuben,
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, both
divisions of Manasseh and the remainder of the Levites.
The territory of Simeon had from the start fallen within the
territory of Judah (see above) and with inclusion of Benjamin in
the southern kingdom the designation "Judah" came to include
Benjamin as well.
As the Levites and
kohanimdid not have their own
territories, the
Book of
Kingsdescribes the southern kingdom as consisting of one tribe
(i.e. Judah, but including Simeon and Benjamin) and the northern
kingdom as consisting of ten tribes (i.e. Reuben, Dan, Naphtali,
Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, (western) Manasseh and
(eastern) Manasseh in Gilead).
Later after Jeroboam attempted to establish rival centers of
worship to Jerusalem with lay priests, the Levites of the northern
kingdom abandoned the northern kingdom and came to Judah (2
Chronicles 11:14 ).
Falls
Northern kingdom
The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pilesar attacked the northern kingdom of
Israel, driving the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in Gilead
out of the desert outposts of Jetur, Naphish and Nodab and
conquering their territories. People from these tribes, including
the Reubenite leader, were taken captive and resettled in the
region of the Habor river system. Tiglath-Pilesar also captured the
territory of Naphtali and the city of Janoah in Ephraim, and an
Assyrian governor was placed over the region of Naphtali.
The remainder of the northern kingdom was conquered by
Sargon II, who captured the capital city Samaria
in the territory of Ephraim.
He took 27,290 people captive from the city
of Samaria resettling some with the Israelites in the Habor region
and the rest in the land of the Medes thus establishing Israelite
communities in Ecbatana
and Rages
.
The
Book of Tobitadditionally records
that Sargon had taken other captives from the northern kingdom to
the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, in particular Tobit from the town
of Thisbe in Naphtali.
In medieval Rabbinic stories, the concept of the ten tribes who
were taken away from the House of David (who continued the rule of
the southern kingdom of Judah) becomes confounded with accounts of
the Assyrian deportations, leading to the teaching of the "Ten Lost
Tribes". The recorded history differs from this teaching: No record
exists of the Assyrians having exiled people from Dan, Asher,
Issachar, Zebulun, or western Manasseh. Descriptions of the
deportation of people from Reuben, Gad, Manasseh in Gilead,
Ephraim, and Naphtali indicate that only a portion of these tribes
were deported, and the places to which they were deported are known
locations given in the accounts. The deported communities are
mentioned as still existing at the time of the composition of the
books of Kings and Chronicles and did not disappear by
assimilation. 2 Chr 30:1-11 explicitly mentions northern Israelites
who had been spared by the Assyrians, in particular the people of
Dan, Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, and Zebulun, and how members of the
latter three tribes returned to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem
during the reign of Hezekiah.
With the Kingdom of Judah remaining as the sole Israelite kingdom,
the term
Yehudi(Jew), originally the adjective of the name
Yehudah(Judah), came to include all the Israelite
people.
Southern kingdom
In
597 BCEthe Babylonian king
Nebuchanezzarsacked Jerusalem and exiled 3,023
Jews to Babylon (Jer 52:28). He additionally exiled many
(non-Jewish) workers, taking a total of around 10,000 people
captive (2 Ki 24:14).
In
586 BCEhe conquered the southern kingdom,
deposing the king, destroyed the Temple and left Jerusalem in
ruins. He took a further 832 Jews captive from Jerusalem (Jer
52:29). Although ending the kingdom he allowed Judah a measure of
self rule, appointing
Gedaliahas Jewish
governor of the region.
Gedaliah was later assassinated by members of the royal family who
saw him as a usurper, which resulted in punitive action by
Nebuchadnezzar in which a further 745 Jews were exiled to Babylon.
In total 4600 Jews had been exiled to Babylon (Jer 52:30).
Towns in Judah from which people had fled or been taken captive
during the invasions of the Babylonians were resettled by Jews from
the former northern kingdom of Israel, as well as Levites, Aaronite
kohanimand
Nethinim(1 Chr 9:2). Jerusalem was
resettled by members of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and
Manasseh (1 Chr 9:3).
Second Temple period
The exiles were allowed to return in
538
BCE, after the fall of Babylon to the Persians and Medes.
Substantial returns of descendants of exiles took place in 444 BCE
under
Nehemiahand in c. 400 BCE under
Ezra.
Genealogy after the exile
As a result of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions most
Israelites lost written records tracing their ancestry. Those who
could still prove their ancestry included Levites, Aaronite
kohanim,
Nethinimincluding
Avdei
Shlomoand members of clans that had been part of the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin. With time, knowledge of descent from these
clans of Judah and Benjamin was also lost although there are
descendants of the royal House of David (part of Judah) who have
maintained knowledge of their ancestry to modern times.
The Jewish community following the Babylonian captivity was divided
into ten lineages and Ezra established strict rules concerning
permissible marriages between the lineages:
Kohanim, Levites and Israelites were allowed to
intermarry. Levites, Israelites,
chalalim, proselytes and
freedmen were allowed to intermarry.
Mamzerim,
Nethinim,
shetukimand foundlings were allowed to
intermarry. In the case of intermarriage between
kohanim,
Levites and Israelites, the children took the father's lineage,
more complex rules governed the lineage of other intermarriages.
With time some of these lineages disappeared: for example the
descendants of the original freedmen became part of the other
lineages according to the rules of intermarriage; the
Nethinimare no longer found after the persecutions and
massacres carried out by the Seleucid king
Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Loss of proof of descent also affected neighbouring peoples, such
as the
Moabitesand
Ammonites, and resulted in renunciation of the ancient
prohibitions on the conversions of these people to Judaism as well
as of the
Edomites. Under the
Hasmoneandynasty all were forcibly converted to
Judaism. Arabian (Nabatean) groups, such as the Zabadeans and
Itureans, were also conquered and forcefully converted, as were the
mixed peoples of the former Philistine cities. Under the
Hasmoneankings, the Israelites were reunited with
their closest relatives, the remnants of the Moabites, Ammonites
and Edomites after thousands of years of separation.
The large proselyte groups were assimilated into the Israelite
lineage by the second half of the second century CE. The
chalalim,
mamzerim,
shetukim, and
foundlings were by their nature small groups of people. The major
divisions thus became:
- Kohanim
- Levites
- Israelites
This threefold division of the Jewish people persists to this day.
To avoid confusion with the broader use of the term Israelite or
the modern term Israeli, a member of the Israelite, as opposed to
Levite or Aaronite, lineage is usually referred to as a
Yisrael(an Israel) and not a
Yisraeli(which could
mean Israelite in the broader sense or in modern Hebrew, an
Israeli).
Archeological record
Archeological record of Israelites is usually sought in the hill
country of Israel/Palestine, in strata corresponding to the
Iron AgeI (Judges, 1200 - 1000 BCE), Iron
Age IIA (United Monarchy, 1000-925 BCE) and Iron Age IIB-C (Divided
Monarchy, 925-586 BCE).
See Archeology of Israel
The first
appearance of the name Israel in archeological records as a
personal name is in Ebla
and Ugarit
(c.2500 BCE). It appears on the
Merneptah stele(c. 1200 BCE). A group of
eight records dated between c. 850-722 BCE mentions a kingdom in
the same area called variously Israel or, and more frequently,
either Beit Omri or Humri ("
House of
Omri") or Samaria, the three clearly referring 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.
A number of elements of material culture has been linked to the
Israelites, notably a type of collar-rimmed storage jar (
pithos), the
four room
house, the absence of pig bones and the use of the Hebrew
language.
The
Hebrew Bibleis largely regarded as
reflecting the actual history of the Israelites, albeit from the
perspective of religious writers (the
Biblical maximalistview). A minority of
scholars known as
Biblical
minimalistsreject its usage as an historical document when not
corroborated by archaelogical evidence.
See The Bible and history
Jews
Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים, Yehudim), also known as the Jewish
people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites
or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity,
nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is
the traditional faith of the Jewish nation. Converts to Judaism,
whose status as Jews within the Jewish ethnos is equal to those
born into it, have been absorbed into the Jewish people throughout
the millennia. There are distinct ethnic divisions among Jews, most
of which are primarily the result of geographic branching from an
originating Israelite population, and subsequent independent
evolutions.
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazim are the descendants of Jews who migrated into northern
France and Germany around 800-1000 AD, and later into Eastern
Europe. Ashkenazim comprise the overwhelming majority of Jews, with
approximately 80 percent of the Jewish total (prior to the
Holocaust, they were an even greater percentage of world
Jewry).
Sephardic Jews
Sephardim are Jews whose ancestors lived in Spain or Portugal,
where they lived for possibly as much as two millennia before being
expelled in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs (see Alhambra decree);
they subsequently migrated to the Islamic North African Maghreb and
Ottoman Empire (both at the time considered safe havens for Jews).
In the Ottoman Empire the Sephardim mostly settled in the European
portion of the Empire, and mainly in the major cities such as:
Constantinople, Thessaloniki and Bursa. Thessaloniki, which today
is to be found in modern-day Greece, had a large and flourishing
Sephardic community as was the community of Maltese Jews in Malta.
Others settled in Italy and the Netherlands, and Latin America.
Among those who settled in the Netherlands, some would again
relocate to the United States, establishing the countries first
organized community of Jews and erecting the United States' first
synagogue. Other Sephardim remained in Spain and Portugal as anusim
(forced converts to Catholicism), which would also be the fate for
those who had migrated to Spanish and Portuguese ruled Latin
America.
Mizrachi Jews
Mizrahim are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the
Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The term Mizrahi is
used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social
scientists for Jews from the Arab world and adjacent, primarily
Muslim-majority countries. This includes Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews,
Lebanese Jews, Yemenite Jews, Persian Jews, Afghan Jews, Bukharian
Jews, Maghrebi Jews, Berber Jews, Kurdish Jews, Mountain Jews,
Georgian Jews and Ethiopian Jews.
Yemenite Jews
Temanim are Oriental Jews whose geographic and social isolation
from the rest of the Jewish community allowed them to develop a
liturgy and set of practices that are significantly distinct from
other Oriental Jewish groups; they themselves comprise three
distinctly different groups, though the distinction is one of
religious law and liturgy rather than of ethnicity.
Karaite Jews
Karaim are Jews living mostly in Egypt, Iraq, Crimea and Israel.
They are distinguished by the form of Judaism they observe.
Rabbinic Jewsof varying ethnicities
have affiliated with the Karaite community throughout the
millennia. As such, Karaite Jews are less a Jewish ethnic division,
than they are members of a particular branch of Judaism.
Karaite Judaismrecognizes the
Tanakhas the single religious authority of the Jewish
people. Linguistic principles and contextual exegesis are used in
arriving at the correct meaning of the Torah. Karaite Jews strive
to adhere to the plain or most obvious understanding of the text
when interpreting the Tanakh. By contrast,
Rabbinical Judaismregards an
Oral Law(codified and recorded in the
Mishnahand
Talmuds) as being
equally binding on Jews, and mandated by
God. In
Rabbinical Judaism, the Oral Law forms the basis of religion,
morality, and Jewish life. Karaite Jews rely on the use of sound
reasoning and the application of linguistic tools to determine the
correct meaning of the Tanakh; while Rabbinical Judaism looks
toward the Oral law codified in the Talmud, to provide the Jewish
community with an acurate understanding of the Hebrew
Scriptures.
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 Rabbinic Judaism go back more than
a thousand years. Rabbinical Judaism originates from the
Phariseesof the Second Temple period. Karaite
Judaism may have its origins in the
Sadduceesof the same era. Unlike the Sadducees who
recognized only the Torah as binding, Karaite Jews hold the entire
Hebrew Bible to be a religious authority. As such, the vast
majority of Karaites believe in the
resurrection of the dead. Karaite
Jews are widely regarded as being halachically Jewish by the
Orthodox Rabbinate. Similarly, members of the rabbinic community
are considered to be Jews by the Moetzet Hakhamim, if they are
patrilineally Jewish.
Other groups claiming Israelite descent
Samaritans
The
Samaritans, who were once a comparatively
large group but are now a very small ethnic and religious group of
not more than about 700 people who live in Israel and the
West
Bank
, 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
Tanakhas an
accurate or truthful history, and regard only
Mosesas a prophet. They have their own version of
Hebrew and
their own scriptfor
writing Hebrew, which, in actuality, is descended directly from the
Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, unlike
the Jewish script for writing Hebrew which is a stylized form of
the Aramaic alphabet the Jews adopted during their captivity in
Babylonia (prior to this, the Jewish Torah was written in the same
script as the Samaritan Torah).
The Samaritans consider themselves
Bnei Yisrael("Children
of Israel" or "Israelites"), but do not regard themselves to be
Yehudim(Jews). They view this term "Jews" as a designation
for followers of
Judaism, which they assert
is a related but altered and amended religion brought back by the
exiled Israelite returnees which is not the true religion of the
ancient Israelites, which according to them,
Samaritanismis.
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.
Beta Israel
The
Beta Israel, otherwise known as the
Falasha, is a group from Ethiopia
, most of
whom now live in Israel.They have a tradition of descent
from the lost
tribe of Dan. They have a
long history of practicing such Jewish traditions as kashrut,
Shabbatand
Passover.
For this reason, their Jewishness was accepted by the
Chief Rabbinateof 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.
Bnei Menashe
The
Bnei Menashe is a group of people in
India
who claim to be descendants of the half-tribe of
Menashe.As of 2005, members who have
studied Hebrew, observe the Sabbath, and adhere to other Jewish
laws, received the support of the
SephardicChief Rabbi of Israelin 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
Jewsare actually
descendants of both the Edomites and
Khazariansintermarriages. The Hebrew Israelites
claim that the word "Jewish" merely pertains to Judah and that the
use of the term is the result of a mistranslation of "
Judah" in the
King James
Bible.
The presumption that the Israelites were black is based on a
historical ethnic view of Egyptians. 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
Tutankhamenand grave
images) shows a people of olive brown complexions and
Hamito-Semiticfeatures.
Ancient historians disputed the origin of the Israelites. The
ancient Roman historian,
Tacitus, wrote in
Book 5 of his
Histories, "Some say that the Jews were
fugitives from the island of Crete, who settled on the nearest
coast of Africa.... There is a famous mountain in Crete called Ida;
the neighboring tribe, the Idaei, came to be called Judeaia by a
... lengthening of the name. Others assert that the overflowing
population of Egypt ... discharged itself into the neighboring
countries.... Many, again, say that [the Israelites] were a race of
Ethiopian origin.... Others describe them as an Assyrian horde who,
not having sufficient territory, took possession of part of Egypt
and founded cities of their own ... on the borders of Syria....
Others, again, [allege] that they were the Solymi, a nation
celebrated in the poems of Homer, who called the city which they
founded Hierosolyma after their own name.” (
Histories , Book 5, Paragraph 2).
Rastafari
Some
Rastasbelieve that the black
races are the lost Israelites – literally or spiritually. They
interpret the
Bibleas implying that
Haile Selassiewas the returned
Messiah, who would lead the
world's peoples of African descentinto a
promised land of full
emancipationand
divinejustice. There are
some Rastafarians that believe they are Jews by descent through
Ras Tafari, Ras Tafari being a
descendant of
King Solomonand the
Queen of Shebavia
Menelik I. One Rastafari order named
The Twelve Tribes of
Israel, imposes a
metaphysicalastrologywhereby
Ariesis Reuben,
Aquariusis 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
reggaesong
The
Israelites,
Desmond
Dekkerimmortalised the Rastafari concept of themselves as the
Lost Children of Israel. However, sometimes people native to Africa
are identified with descendants of
Ham, whereas the Old Testament of the Bible
states that Abraham is descended from
Shem.
Bnai Israel
There is
an ethnic-religious group in Pakistan
and Afghanistan
which refers to itself as the Bnai Israel, House of
Israel, or Beit
Israel.In English, the group is called the
Pashtuns. Some Pashtuns claim to be the
patriarchal historical descendants of the "ten lost tribes" of the
northern
Kingdom of Israelwhich
were taken into captivity by
Assyria.
Additionally, certain groups of
Jewsin other
parts of South Asia are sometimes referred to as
Benai Israel.
Christian theology
Latter-day Saints
The
Latter Day Saint
movement(commonly termed
Mormons), believe that through
baptismand receiving the Gift of the
Holy Ghost, they become "regathered" as
Israelites, either as recovered from the scattered tribes of
Israel, or as
Gentilesadoptedand
graftedinto
Israel, thus becoming part of the
chosen
peopleof God.
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 Jews.They believe that certain
Old Testamentpassages are prophecies implying
that the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) will take a
prominent role in the spread of the gospel to all 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
Millennium.
Christian Identity
The
Christian Identitymovement
comprises a number of groups with a racialized theology. They 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
claim that present-day Jews are not descended from the Israelites
nor from the
Hebrews(who were in Egypt and
the Exodus), but are instead descended
from Turco-Mongolian blood, or
Khazars, and
of the Biblical
Esau. Esau was also referred to
as
Edom, who traded his birthright for a bowl
of lentil soup.( )
[8484]
New Israel
Based on passages in the
New
Testament, some Christians believe that Christians are the "new
Israel" that replaced the "Children of Israel" after the Jews
rejected
Jesus. This view is called
Supersessionism. Many
Europeansettlers in the
New
Worldsaw themselves as the heirs of those ancient tribes, hence
the reason why they named their children and many towns they
settled with names connected to the figures in the Bible.
On the other hand, 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
dispensationalisttheology.
Islamic theology
In the
Qur'anthere are forty-three references
to "Banū Isrā īl", the Islamic term for the Israelites, which means
"Children of Israel". There is a
Surah(chapter) in the Qur'an titled
Bani Israel(
Arabic: بني اسرائيل, "The Children of
Israel"), which is also known as
Al-Isra(
Arabic:
سورة الإسراء, "The Night Journey"). This Surah was revealed in the
year before
Hijrahand takes its name
from Surah 17:4. Also, starting from verse 40 in Surah
Al-Baqara(
Arabic: سورة البقرة, "The Cow") is the story
of Bani Israel. Finally, there is a Qur'an, verse in which
Mosesaddresses his followers as "
Muslims" (
Arabic:
مُّسۡلِمِينَ Muslimïn) meaning, in English, "those who submit to
God".
In Surah Al-Araf Verses 158 and 159, there was also mention of the
twelve tribes: (158) "And of Moses' folk there is a community who
lead with truth and establish justice therewith." (159) "We divided
them into twelve tribes, nations; and We inspired Moses, when his
people asked him for water, saying: Smite with thy staff the rock!
And there gushed forth therefrom twelve springs, so that each tribe
knew their drinking-place. And we caused the white cloud to
overshadow them and sent down for them the manna and the quails
(saying): Eat of the good things wherewith we have provided you.
They wronged Us not, but they were wont to wrong themselves."
See also
References and notes
External links
|
| English |
| Hebrew |
| Standard Hebrew |
| Tiberian Hebrew |
| Samaritan |
| Annotation |
|
| Manasseh |
| מנשה |
| Mənašše |
| Mənaššeh |
| Manatch |
|
|
| Ephraim |
| אפרים |
| Efráyim |
| / |
| Afrime |
|
|
| People |
| Desciption |
|
| Kohanim |
| the descendants of Aaron who formed the priesthood |
|
| Levites |
| the tribe of Levi (other than the Aaronite priests) |
|
| Israelites |
| used here in a narrower sense to mean the Israelite tribes
other than the Levites and kohanim |
|
| Chalalim |
| children of a kohen and woman that a kohen
was forbidden to marry |
|
| Proselytes |
| converts to Judaism |
|
| Freedmen |
| bondmen of Jews who had been freed |
|
| Mamzerim |
| descendants of forbidden marriages other than
Chalalim |
|
| Nethinim |
| descendants of the Canaanites who were the Temple servants |
|
| Shetukim |
| those whose mother was known but whose father was unknown |
|
| Foundlings |
| those whose parents were unknown |
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