Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>]

Dear Lloyd,
This is not meant as a comprehensive question to the question you
presented, but note the following:
The Song of Deborah (Judges 5) lists the Tribes of Israel, praising
those that participated in the war and censuring those that did not.
Aside from the fact that the appellation of some tribes is different
from the standardized form, notice that several tribes are not even
mentioned: Judah, Simeon, Levi and Gad. Gad can be subsumed under Gilead
or some such, and Levi at the time was not a tribe but a professional
designation. But the absence of the two southern tribes Judah and Simeon
demonstrates that they did not even come into the purview of the
author(ess) of the poem, not being considered Israelite at all.
Secondly,, the name of the tribe of Benjamin, geographically located to
the north of Judah, means "Southerner" (cf. Mari DUMU.ME$ Yamina as
opposed to DUMU.ME$ Sim(h)al - Southerners and Northerners), meaning
that Benjamin was, at the time it received its designation, the
southernmost of the Israelite tribes.
Thirdly, in Judges 1, the tribes of Judah and Simeon infiltrate and
settle Canaan together, without reference to the Joseph tribes or any
other tribes.
Fourthly, in the Samson story cycle, Samson fears that the Judahites
will deliver him up into the hands of the Philistines, which can be
construed as implying that there was no feeling of national solidarity
between Judah and Dan.
Fifthly, from what little I know of archeology, the Judahite settlement
occurred later than that of the central, and Trans-Jordanian tribes. At
least that's the evidence from those pre monarchy Judaean sites that
have been excavated (Tell Miqneh?).
So there was never any strong bond holding the northern and southern
tribes together, except for the Philistine threat at the time of Saul,
David's strong hand (and even he had to face a northern rebellion), and
the force of inertia plus material prosperity in Solomon's time.
Those that deny the historicity of the Biblical traditions before the
Neo-Assyrian mention of Israelite and Judaean kings will probably give
you a different answer.
Yours,
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office 44905
Israel