the Third Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Issachar
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or the name of two men in the Bible, and of the descendants of one of them, and the region inhabited by them.
1. The ninth son of Jacob and the fifth of Leah; the first born to Leah after the interval which occurred in the births of her children (Genesis 30:17; comp. 29:35). He was born in Padan-Aram early in B.C. 1914. In Genesis he is not mentioned after his birth, and the few verses in Chronicles devoted to the tribe contain merely a brief list of its chief men and heroes in the reign of David (1 Chronicles 7:1-5). At the descent into Egypt four sons are ascribed to him, who founded the four chief families of the tribe (Genesis 46:13; Numbers 20:23; Numbers 20:25; 1 Chronicles 7:1).
Form and Signification of the Name. — Both are peculiar. The form is יששכר [i.e. Yissaskar'; if pointed as would be regular, ישִּׂשְׂכִּר : such is the invariable spelling of the name in the Hebrew, the Samaritan Codex and Version, the Targums of Onkelos and PseudoJonathan, but the Masoretes have pointed it so as to supersede the second S, יַשָּׂשכָר, Yissa[s]kar'; Sept. Ι᾿σσάχαρ, N.T. Ι᾿σασχάρ , Josephus Ισσάχαρις (Ant. 5, 1, 22), referring to the tribal territory; Vulg. Isachar. (See Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 1331.)
As is the case with each of the sons of Jacob, the name is recorded as bestowed on account of a circumstance connected with the birth. But, as may be also noticed in more than one of the others, two explanations seem to be combined in the narrative, which even then is not in exact accordance with the requirements of the name. "God hath given me my hire (שָׂכָר , sakbr). and she called his name Issachar," is the recoid; but in 1 Chronicles 7:18 that "hire" is for the surrender of her maid to her husband, while in 1 Chronicles 7:14-17 it is for the discovery and bestowal of the mandrakes. Besides, as indicated above, the name in its original form-Isaskar-rebels against this interpretation, an interpretation which, to be consistent, requires the form subsequently imposed on the word, Is-sachar. The verbal allusion is not again brought forward, as it is with Dan, Asher, etc., in the blessings of Jacob and Moses. In the former only it is perhaps allowable to discern a faint echo of the sound of "Issachar" in the word shikmo "his shoulder" (Genesis 49:15). The words occur again almost identically in 2 Chronicles 15:7, and Jeremiah 31:16 : יֵשׁ שָׂכָר = "there is a reward for;" A.V. "shall be rewarded." An expansion of the story of the mandrakes, with curious details, will be found in the Testamentum suachar (Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigr. p. 620-623). They were ultimately deposited "in the house of the Lord" (according to the same legend), whatever that may mean. Tribe of Issachar. Issachar's place during the journey to Canaan was on the east of the tabernacle, with his brothers Judah and Zebulun (Numbers 2:5), the group moving foremost in the march (Numbers 10:15), and having a common standard, which, according to the Rabbinical tradition, was of the three colors of sardine, topaz, and carbuncle, inscribed with the names of the three tribes, and bearing the figure of a lion's whelp (see Targum Pseudo-Jon. on Numbers 2:3). At this time the captain of the tribe was Nethaneel ben-Zuar (Numbers 1:8; Numbers 2:5; Numbers 7:18; Numbers 10:15). He was succeeded by Igal ben-Joseph, who went as representative of his tribe among the spies (Numbers 13:7), and he again by Paltiel ben-Azzan, who assisted Joshua in apportioning the land of Canaan (Numbers 34:26). Issachar was one of the six tribes who were to stand on Mount Gerizim during the ceremony of blessing and cursing (Deuteronomy 27:12). He was still in company with Judah, Zebulun being opposite on Ebal. The number of the fighting men of Issachar when taken in the census at Sinai was 54,400. During the journey they seem to have steadily increased, and after the mortality at Peor they amounted to 64,300, being inferior to none but Judah and Dan-to the latter by 100 souls only. The numbers given in 1 Chronicles 7:2; 1 Chronicles 7:4-5, probably the census of Joab, amount in all to 145,600.
The Promised Land once reached, the connection between Issachar and Judah seems to have closed, to be renewed only on two brief occasions, which will be noticed in their turn. The intimate relation with Zebulun was, however, maintained. The two brother-tribes had their portions close together, and more than once they are mentioned in company. The allotment of Issachar lay above that of Manasseh. The specification of its boundaries and contents is contained in Joshua 19:17-23. But to the towns there named must be added Daberath (a Levitical city, 21:28: Jarmuth here is probably the Remeth of 19:21) and Ibleam (Joshua 17:11). The boundary, in the words of Josephus (Ant. 5, 22), "extended in length from Carmel to the Jordan, in breadth to Mount Tabor." In fact, it almost exactly consisted of the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel. The southern boundary we can trace by En-gannim, the modern Jenin, on the heights which form the southern enclosure to the plain; and then further westward by Taanach and Megiddo, the authentic fragments of which still stand on the same heights as they trend away to the hump of Carmel. On the north the territory nearly ceased with the plain, which is there bounded by Tabor, the outpost of the hills of Zebulun. East of Tabor, the hill-country continued so as to screen the tribe from the Sea of Galilee, while a detour on the S.E. included a part of the plain within the territory of Manasseh, near Bethshean and the upper part of the Jordan valley. In a central recess of the plain stood Jezreel, on a low swell, attended, just across the border, on the one hand by the eminence of Mount Gilboa. and on the other by that now called Ed-Duhy, or "Little Hermon," the latter having Shunem, Nain, and Endor on its slopes-names which recall some of the most interesting and important events in the history of Israel. (See TRIBE).
The following is a list of all the Biblical localities in the tribe, with their approved or conjectural identifications:
| Abez | Town | Ukneifis? |
| Anaharath | do. | [Meskatah]?? |
| Anem | do | See EN-GANNIM |
| Aphek | do. | [El-Fuleh]? |
| Beth-gan | do. | See EN-GANNIM |
| Beth-pazzez | do. | [Beit-Jenu]?? |
| Beth-shemesh | do | Kaukab-el-Hawa? |
| Chesulloth or Chisloth Tabor | do | Iksal |
| Dabareh or Daberath | do | Debureh |
| En-gannim | do | Jenin |
| En-haddah | do | [Ain Mahil]? |
| Gur | Ascent | [Mukeibileh]? |
| Hapharaim | Town | [El-Afuleh]? |
| Ibleam | do | [Jelameh]? |
| Ittah-kazin | do | [Kefr Kenna]? |
| Jarmuth | do | See RAAMOTH |
| Jezreel | Town | Zerin |
|
| Plain | Merj Ibn-Amer. |
|
| Fountain | Ain Meyiteh |
| Jokmeam or Jokneam | Town | El-Kaimon |
| Kedesh | do | Kashaneh? |
| Kibzaim | do | See JOKNEAM |
| Kishion | do | See KEDESH |
| Maralah | do | [Mujeidil]? |
| Meroz | do | Kefr Musr? |
| Nain | do | Nein |
| Nazareth | do | En-Nasirah |
| Rabbith | do | [Sunurieh]? |
| Ramoth or Remeth | do | [Tell between Sundeoa and Mukeibileh]? |
| Shahazimah | do | [Shara]? |
| Shihon | do | [Esh-Shijrah]? |
| Shunem | do | Solam |
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
