Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Andrew C Smith wrote:

> [...]
> But in I Chronicles 2:3 through 7:40, they are discussed in this order:
>
> Judah, Simeon, Ruben, Gad, Manasseh, Levi, Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali,
> Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher.
>
> I can understand that Judah was pulled to the front of the list, but.
> other questions remain:
>
> Why wasn't Levi also pulled to the front of the list?
> Why is Manasseh discussed twice?
> What happened to Dan and Zebulun?

I can answer the second question: Manasseh is discussed twice because there 
were in
effect two Manasseh tribes, one living west of the Jordan in the northern 
Samarian
hills, and another living east of the Jordan in Gilead-Bashan. This eastern 
tribe is
also called "Machir" after an eponymous ancestor in other places (eg, 7:14). 
The
Manasseh tribe dealt with in conjunction with Reuben and Gad is the eastern 
tribe
because these three tribes were all in the same region (east of the Jordan). 
The other
Manasseh tribe is dealt with alongside Ephraim because those two tribes 
occupied the
central hill country.

With regards to Dan, it is more difficult to answer. Dan was the 
northern-most tribe,
so in the time of the Chronicler they were either insignificant, or absorbed 
into
surrounding peoples, and thus no longer extant during the author's time (Cf 
the 12
tribes in Revelation 7 -- Dan is missing there too). Zebulun is actually 
discussed in
6:77.

Best regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
Dept of Semitic Studies,
University of Sydney
- Email: gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au
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