Hot answers tagged shevatim-12-tribes
12
Fascinating! I've always wondered about this myself.
BaMidbar Rabbah 2:7 has a list of each tribe and its flag, with the colour, stone, and symbol associated with it, which I believe is probably the original source (or one of the earliest that we'll find) for this. I'd be interested to see what other people come up with.
Interestingly, the list is a little ...
7
Chizkuni asks this and offers two answers:
The reason the Egyptians were circumcised was because of the hunger of the famine. Yosef however was rich and therefore the only reason he would circumcise himself would be if he was Jewish.
Although all the Egyptians were in fact circumcised, the brothers were not aware of this this and would recognize Yosef on ...
5
To the best of my knowledge, the promise that Ephraim and Menashe would become great is the following verse (Bereishis 48:19 from Chabad.org):
יט. וַיְמָאֵן אָבִיו וַיֹּאמֶר יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי גַּם הוּא יִהְיֶה לְעָם וְגַם הוּא יִגְדָּל וְאוּלָם אָחִיו הַקָּטֹן יִגְדַּל מִמֶּנּוּ וְזַרְעוֹ יִהְיֶה מְלֹא הַגּוֹיִם׃
19. But his father ...
5
The following is how Abarbanel parses the list:
והתחיל מראובן כי הוא היה הבכור גם הוא ראש דגל. ואחריו שמעון שנולד אחריו והוא ג״כ בדגלו. ולפי שלא הלך מרגל משבט לוי זכר אחריו יהודה כפי תולדותם ושהוא ראש דגל כמלך בגדוד ואחריו הנכבד מהחונים עמו בדגלו והוא יששכר ואחריו אפרים שהוא ראש דגל ואחריו הנכבד מהחונים בדגלו והוא בנימין. ואחריו זבולון כי הוא בן לאה והיה ...
4
As you note in the question, sometimes Levi is excluded (and Yosef split up) and sometimes Levi is included (as is Yosef). Thus, there are two divisions into twelve tribes each. Other examples — you mention the divvying up of the land and the tribal symbols — are the post-exodus desert travels (which was by tribe, with Yosef split and with Levi ...
4
Revach.net has a nice table of the tribes populations, flags, symbols, and camp locations.
Levi's symbol was the Urim V'tumim (High Preist's breastplate).
3
Unsourced, but it makes sense to me that the Bnei Efraim chaffed under Egyptian rule after having been princes themselves in Egypt. The fact that they tried to leave early, multiple times according to one pirush on Shemos Rabba 20:11, indicates that. So then I would assume that when 4/5ths of the Jews died during makkat chochesh that the Bnei Efraim were ...
2
Update on the stones of the hoshen / 12 Tribes, and their identification. This information is from my father's book "The Natural Bible: Judaism and the Environment", which will be published (be"h) by Berman House this spring.
Odem: clearly a red stone. Scholars suggest either red jasper, or carnelian sard (a type of quartz).
Piteda: some sort of ...
2
The Targum Yonasan on Chapter 2 of BaMidbar mentions the flags for each "super-tribe", i.e. cluster of three tribes that camped together:
(2:3) Camp Judah's flag had stripes corresponding to the member tribes' stones [on the breastplate], namely red, green, and "shiny"; it bore the names of the three tribes Judah Issachar and Zebulon, with the inscription ...
1
I cannot improve on the other excellent examples, but I can provide an additional source (and one older than the others mentioned so far):
עד שלא נבחר דוד היו כל ישראל כשרים למלכות. משנבחר דוד יצאו כל ישראל
שנאמר הלא לכם לדעת כי ה' אלהי ישראל נתן את הממלכה לדוד וגו
Until David was chosen, all Israel was suitable for the monarchy. Once
David was ...
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