The Twelve Tribes of Israel Trivia Quiz

Answer:

While all twelve sons had the same father, Jacob/Israel, they had different mothers. The sons of Leah, Jacob's first wife, were Reuben (the eldest), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Dan and Naphthali were born of Leah's handmaid Bilhah. The sons of Israel's second and favored wife were Joseph and Benjamin (the youngest), while Gad and Asher were born of Rachel's handmaid Zilpah.

Joseph is the son who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous older brothers, but through prophecy he impressed the Pharaoh and became Vizier of Egypt. Joseph eventually reconciled and reunited with his family, who relocated to Egypt during a famine.

Esau was Israel's brother and Joseph's (and Benjamin's and Judah's, etc.) uncle. Abraham was Esau and Israel's father. Joshua (who fought the battle of Jericho), Jonah (who was swallowed by a great fish), and Isaiah (who foretold the coming of a Messiah) were much later figures in Old Testament/Tanakh. Jude wrote an epistle in the New Testament; Catholics believe him to be same as Jude the Apostle and regard him as the patron saint of lost causes.

Sometimes the "Twelve Tribes" refers to a slightly different set. In the Book of Joshua, the Levites (the people the Tribe of Levi) did not receive a land allotment in Canaan, and the descendants of two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, are elevated to full tribes and receive allotments to make 12 again.

It is from the name of Judah that we get the terms Jewish and Judaism. There are those who believe that in the 10th century B.C., a once united kingdom of Israel became divided into a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah, with its capital at Jerusalem. The prophet Isaiah stated that the Messiah would descend from the House of Judah, which is why Christians refer to Jesus Christ as the Lion of Judah.