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b-hebrew - Re: twelve tribes in I Chronicles, chapters 2 through 7

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>
  • To: Andrew C Smith <a.c.smith AT juno.com>
  • Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: twelve tribes in I Chronicles, chapters 2 through 7
  • Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 08:14:55 +1100


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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