I read recently an interesting theory on the twelve tribes.
Essentially, it says the original Israelite confederation consisted of the tribes descending from Leah - this would the be Judah, Simeon, Levi, Rueben and Zebulon. Napthali would also then be an original member for reasons I will explain later.
Later, certain tribes invaded Canaan and then joined this confederation. These would then be the tribes descended of Rachel - Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. This would then explain both the Exodus narrative as well as why there is so little evidence of dramatic destruction in Canaan at the time one would expect it. They would likely then have been Hebrew tribes that had spent some time in Egypt, likely during a period of Egyptian instability or in a semi-nomadic capacity.
Then at later times the other four tribes joined the confederation. This would be Dan and Issachar as the Denyen and Shekkelesh groups of the Sea peoples; as well as Asher and Gad from other Semetic groups.
The theory goes that the first group of tribes got the Matriach Leah and the Joseph group got Rachel. The last bunch were latecomers so the framers of the myth gave them handmaidens as mothers to show they weren't fully Israelite.
It gets complicated as the Biblical account says Issachar was a child of Leah, but there is some evidence of the switching around of Napthali and Issachar. The tribes are always listed in the same order except for these two where one or the other may be placed first. The theory goes that a scribal error caused the changing around of their status due to the mix up in listing.
When writing the Pentateuch, they then gave them all the same father to give them a blood relation to each other, but wove a narrative of different mothers to fit the historic makeup of the confederation. Later when the Pentateuch was redacted and the Exodus had become a national myth, it was rewritten that all the tribes had gone to Egypt.
It is interesting as the tribes all bear names clearly derived from Hebrew except for Asher and Gad (who appear to hold names of Canaanite gods) and Dan and Issachar (Issachar is etymologically the same as the Shekkelesh and Dan and Denyen are similar sounding and the Egyptian account says they were settled in Palestine).
Dan is also said to be on their ships in the Song of Deborah (arguably the oldest part of the Bible) which fits the Sea Peoples. Also if we take the name switching into account, Rachel's handmaiden would be the mother of the two sea peoples tribes, which would fit their also having soujourned in Egypt like the Rachel descended tribes.
Likewise Leah's handmaiden would be the mother of the tribes that had been Canaanites, fitting the fact that Leah descended tribes had arose in Palestine as well.
I realise this is quite contrived, completely speculative and unprovable, but I thought it a quite interesting theory.
Any thoughts?
Essentially, it says the original Israelite confederation consisted of the tribes descending from Leah - this would the be Judah, Simeon, Levi, Rueben and Zebulon. Napthali would also then be an original member for reasons I will explain later.
Later, certain tribes invaded Canaan and then joined this confederation. These would then be the tribes descended of Rachel - Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. This would then explain both the Exodus narrative as well as why there is so little evidence of dramatic destruction in Canaan at the time one would expect it. They would likely then have been Hebrew tribes that had spent some time in Egypt, likely during a period of Egyptian instability or in a semi-nomadic capacity.
Then at later times the other four tribes joined the confederation. This would be Dan and Issachar as the Denyen and Shekkelesh groups of the Sea peoples; as well as Asher and Gad from other Semetic groups.
The theory goes that the first group of tribes got the Matriach Leah and the Joseph group got Rachel. The last bunch were latecomers so the framers of the myth gave them handmaidens as mothers to show they weren't fully Israelite.
It gets complicated as the Biblical account says Issachar was a child of Leah, but there is some evidence of the switching around of Napthali and Issachar. The tribes are always listed in the same order except for these two where one or the other may be placed first. The theory goes that a scribal error caused the changing around of their status due to the mix up in listing.
When writing the Pentateuch, they then gave them all the same father to give them a blood relation to each other, but wove a narrative of different mothers to fit the historic makeup of the confederation. Later when the Pentateuch was redacted and the Exodus had become a national myth, it was rewritten that all the tribes had gone to Egypt.
It is interesting as the tribes all bear names clearly derived from Hebrew except for Asher and Gad (who appear to hold names of Canaanite gods) and Dan and Issachar (Issachar is etymologically the same as the Shekkelesh and Dan and Denyen are similar sounding and the Egyptian account says they were settled in Palestine).
Dan is also said to be on their ships in the Song of Deborah (arguably the oldest part of the Bible) which fits the Sea Peoples. Also if we take the name switching into account, Rachel's handmaiden would be the mother of the two sea peoples tribes, which would fit their also having soujourned in Egypt like the Rachel descended tribes.
Likewise Leah's handmaiden would be the mother of the tribes that had been Canaanites, fitting the fact that Leah descended tribes had arose in Palestine as well.
I realise this is quite contrived, completely speculative and unprovable, but I thought it a quite interesting theory.
Any thoughts?
