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Bible Dictionaries
Issachar
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or ISSACHAR . The fifth son of Leah, born after Gad and Asher, the sons of Zilpah, and the ninth of Jacob’s sons ( Genesis 30:18 [E [Note: Elohist.] ], cf. 35:22b ff. [P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ]). The name (in Heb. Yiss-askar ) is peculiar in form, and of uncertain signification; but it is quite probable that it has arisen from a corruption of ’ish-sakhar as Wellhausen ( Sam . 95) suggests, and further, that the latter element is the name of a deity. Ball ( SBOT [Note: BOT Sacred Books of Old Testament.] , ad loc .) suggests the Egyptian Memphite god Sokar . The name would then correspond to the name ’ish-Gad by which the Moabites knew the Gadites. J [Note: Jahwist.] and E [Note: Elohist.] , however, both connect it with the root sâkhar , ‘to hire’: J [Note: Jahwist.] , because Leah ‘hired’ Jacob from Rachel with Reuben’s mandrakes; E [Note: Elohist.] , because she gave Zilpah to Jacob. The difference shows that the traditions are of little value as linguistic guides. Genesis 49:14-15 also appears to play upon the root sâkhar in its description of Issachar as ‘a servant under task work.’ This would harmonize with the interpretation ‘hired man’ or ‘labourer.’ It has, however, little to commend it.
P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s census at Sinai gives the tribe 54,400 (Numbers 1:29 ), and at Moab 64,300 (26:25); cf. 1 Chronicles 7:5 . For the clans see Genesis 46:13 and 1 Chronicles 7:1 ff..
The original seat of the tribe appears to have been S. of Naphtali and S.E. of Zebulun, ‘probably in the hills between the two valleys which descend from the Great Plain to the Jordan ( Wady el-Bireh and Nahr Galud )’ (Moore, Judges , 151). On the N.W. it touched upon Mt. Tabor, on the S. upon Mt. Gilboa. Eastward it reached to the Jordan. P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s lot ( Joshua 19:17-23 ) assigns to the tribe sixteen cities and their villages, scattered throughout the eastern end of the rich Plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel. The tribe participated in the war against Sisera ( Judges 5:15 ), and Deborah perhaps belonged to it. The ‘with’ before Deborah might be read ‘people of’; but the verse is evidently corrupt. Baasha, the son of Ahijah, who succeeded Nadab, was ‘of the house of Issachar’; and, possibly, also Omri, who gave his name to the Northern Kingdom. The references in the Blessing of Jacob ( Genesis 49:1-33 ) would indicate that during the early monarchy Issachar lost both its martial valour and its independence. On the other hand, in the Blessing of Moses ( Deuteronomy 33:18-19 ) great commercial prosperity is indicated, and the maintenance of a sanctuary to which ‘the peoples’ flock to the sacrificial worship. Tola the judge, the grandson of Dodo, was a man of Issachar ( Judges 10:1 ). This name Dodo , occurring on the Mesha stele as that of a divinity, has led to the suggestion that he may have been worshipped in early times by the tribe. According to the Talmud, the Sanhedrin drew from Issachar its most intellectually prominent members. See also Tribes of Israel.
James A. Craig.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Issachar'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/i/issachar.html. 1909.
