The 12 tribes of Israel, named after Jacob's sons, are central to the Hebrew Bible narrative. Scholars question the ...

Jacob was renamed Israel when God appeared to him when he was leaving Padn-Aram and blessed him. Jacob produced twelve sons, each of whom became the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

To understand these anomalies in later lists, we must ask: How were the twelve tribes of Israel formed? Clarity on that issue will guide us in recognizing differences in later lists that claim to ...