the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Issachar, Tribe of
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or —Biblical Data:
A tribe of Israel, descended from Issachar. The numbers accredited to Issachar are: 54,400 in Numbers 1:29; 64,300 in Numbers 26:25; and 145,600 in 1 Chronicles 7:1-5. The territory occupied by the tribe was the fourth lot specified in Joshua 19:17-23, immediately north of the half-tribe of Manasseh, west of the Jordan, and south of Zebulun and Naphtali; and-it probably extended from the Jordan on the east to the Mediterranean Sea (comp. Deuteronomy 33:18) on the west. It embraced sixteen cities and the fertile plain of Esdraelon.
The first important event in which Issachar figures is the battle of Deborah and Barak with Sisera in the plain of Esdraelon. In Judges 5:15 (R. V.) it is said: "And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; as was Issachar, so was Barak." It may be, though it is by no means certain, that both Deborah and Barak belonged to this tribe, in whose territory the battle was fought and won.
The judge Tola, son of Puah, son of Dodo, was also a man of Issachar (Judges 10:1). Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, was one of Solomon's commissary officials (1 Kings 4:17). The second dynasty of the Northern Kingdom belonged to Issachar: "And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar." slew Nadab, son of Jeroboam I., and reigned in his stead (1 Kings 15:27-28). There are no other specific references to descendants of Issachar who occupied prominent places in Israel's history; but, according to the genealogical tables of the chronicler, some further importance is attached to the tribe.
—In Rabbinical Literature:
The tribe of Issachar is particularly represented as one which consisted mostly of scholars, to which there is said to be an allusion in 1 Chronicles 12:32. According to Raba, there was not to be found a Jewish student that was not a descendant either of Levi or of Issachar (Yoma 26a). The passage of Jacob's blessing referring to Issachar (Genesis 49:14-15) is interpreted as an allusion to the study of the Law, with which the people of that tribe occupied themselves (Gen. R. 98:17; comp. also pseudo-Jonathan and Rashi ad loc.). The tribe of Issachar is also said to have been most influential in making proselytes (Gen. R. 98:12; comp. Sifre, Deut. 364).
Although Issachar was the ninth son of Jacob, yet the prince of his tribe was the second to bring the offering for the dedication of the altar (Numbers 7:18-23), because the tribe was well versed in the Law (Gen. R. 72:4). The Midrash finds in the details of the offering various allusions to the Torah (Num. R. 13:15). The tribe of Issachar advised the others to bring six covered wagons and twelve oxen (Numbers 7:3) on which to load the parts of the Tabernacle (Num. R. 12:19). The 200 chiefs of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32) were leaders of the Sanhedrin, whose decisions were implicitly accepted by their brethren (Gen. R. 72:5, 98:17). The wise men consulted by Ahasuerus (Esther 1:13) were people of Issachar (Esth. R. ). The tribe is also represented as having been rich (comp. Targ. OnḲ. to Genesis 49:14); and its members figure as persons who united wealth and learning (B. Ḳ. 17a). It was because they studied the Torah under favorableconditions that they produced only 200 chiefs of the Sanhedrin, while the people of Naphtali, who studied it under difficulties, produced 1,000 (Cant. R. 8:14).
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Issachar, Tribe of'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/i/issachar-tribe-of.html. 1901.
