Aligning closely with the blessings and outcomes described in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33, the Twelve Tribes of Israel come from the twelve sons of Jacob (later called Israel, see Genesis 32:28 NASB). Some tribes (Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh) produced many named leaders, while others are remembered more for collective roles than famous individual figures. Each son became the patriarch of a tribe. Jacob's sons were born to four different women: Leah had 6 sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; Rachel gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin; Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah had Gad and Asher.
After Israel's deliverance from Egypt in the Exodus, the tribes were organised into a covenant nation at Mount Sinai, and later received land allotments. The tribe of Levi was set apart for priestly service and as such, received no tribal land. To maintain the number twelve for land inheritance, Joseph's inheritance was divided between his sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
Initially, Saul, David, and Solomon ruled over all the tribes as a single, united nation; later the tribes were divided into two kingdoms, due to several interconnected reasons, ranging from spiritual issues to political and economic stress, in around 930 BC.
This split created the Northern Kingdom, called Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, called Judah. The Northern Kingdom included ten tribes (Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim) and had its capital in Samaria, but it eventually fell to the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC.
The Southern Kingdom was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with the Levite priests, and was governed from Jerusalem until the Babylonians conquered it in 586 BC.
While many of the tribes produced famous people, the most famous son of the tribe of Judah was Jesus Christ, the Messiah of christian faith, and "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Matthew 1; Revelation 5:5, NASB). Other significant people in this tribe are Judah, Caleb (a faithful spy and military leader, Boaz (the kinsman-redeemer in Ruth 2, King David - Israel's greatest king - and King Solomon, who was the builder of the First Temple.
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