Issachar and Zebulun
Among Jacob's sons from Leah, Issachar was the fifth and Zebulun the sixth (Genesis 30:18-20). 18Then Leah said, "God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband." So she named him Issachar. 19Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. (Gen. 30:18-20).
One might expect all Scriptural passages referring to the twelve tribes to follow their chronological birth order. However, in four notable exceptions, Zebulun precedes Issachar:
a) The Testament of Jacob reads: "Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore; he shall be a haven for ships, and his flank shall rest on Sidon. Issachar is a strong-boned ass, crouching among the sheepfolds. When he saw how good was security and how pleasant was the country, he bent his shoulder to the burden and became a toiling serf (49:13-15)."
b) The Blessing of Moses reads: "Rejoice, O Zebulun, on your journeys; and Issachar, in your tents (Deuteronomy 33:18)."In the list of tribal chieftains assigned to apportion the Land of Canaan together with Eleazar and Joshua, Elizaphan ben Parnach of Zebulun is mentioned before Paltiel ben Azzan of Issachar – "In the lottery for the seven tribes yet to receive 25 "because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb. 26 Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers." (Numbers 34:25-26).
c) In their allotment of land, the third lot fell to Zebulun and the fourth to Issachar (See - Joshua 19:10-17).
Israelite period: Zebulun was an aggressive tribe on the ascendancy, but Issachar was comparatively weak. Scholars suggest that documented examples of Zebulun's preference over Issachar reflect the historical reality of the father suggest that documented examples of settlement. In the Song of Deborah, Zebulun is the only tribe mentioned twice. Poetically describing the tribe's martial ferocity, Deborah says, "Zebulun is a people that mocked at death (Judges 5:18)." By contrast, Issachar is not mentioned in the inventory of conquests recorded in Judges' first Chapter, a strong indication that the tribe played only a marginal role in the Israelites' dispossession of the Canaanites.
Read plainly, the Testament of Jacob speaks disparagingly of Issachar. Despite possessing physical strength, the people of Issachar crouched among the sheepfolds rather than fight for national independence. They chose political tranquility, preferring the tranquility it afforded them to reap the bounty of their fertile plateau in the Lower Galilee, even though it meant shouldering the burdens of taxation and tribute paid to non-Israelite regional powerbrokers. Issachar was named for Leah's act of obtaining Jacob's marital company for the evening by giving mandrakes to Rachel. In keeping with the origin of that tribal name, the Issacharites hired themselves out to their heathen neighbors. Regarding the phrase in (Genesis 49:15), "When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor." Nahum Sarna observed: "Until the final overthrow of the Canaanite city-states in the time of Deborah, Issachar had been content to perform corvee labor (a day's unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.) for the local overlords in return for a quiet existence."
The sages read Genesis 49:13-15 very differently. They glorified Issachar while explaining away Zebulun's calm superiority in a way that does not denigrate Issachar.
The masters of the Aggadah (ancient Jewish lore forming especially the nonlegal part of the Talmud) developed the idea that the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun were partners. Zebulun toiled in this-worldly affairs, profiting from maritime trade on the Mediterranean Sea. Issachar excelled in other-worldliness, toiling in the tents of Torah study. Zebulun provided Issachar with earthly sustenance, thereby increasing Torah study among the people of Israel. Scriptural support for the notion that Zebulun was active in mercantile affairs, specifically in seafaring ventures, is found in the Testament of Jacob (Genesis 49:13) and the Blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:19). The latter states: "They invite their kin to the Mountain, where they offer sacrifices of success. For they draw the riches of the sea and the hidden hoards of the sand."
However, the notion that Issachar was a tribe of Talmud scholars is not explicitly found anywhere in Scripture. The sages found an obscure verse -- in a passage listing the contributions of the various tribes to David's army – that, with the help of a homiletic flourish, served as the Scriptural hook for the re-imagining of Issachar as a tribe of Talmidei Chachamim. "Of the Issacharites, men who knew how to interpret the signs of the times, to determine how Israel should act: their chiefs were two hundred, and all their kinsmen followed them (I Chronicles 12:33)." The verse can be interpreted politically in that the Issacharites cannily advised David on the timing of his moves based on their assessment of Israelite public sentiment. Alternatively, interpreting "the signs of the times" can be understood as implicating astrology or astronomy, in that the Issacharites knew when it was auspicious for David's forces to advance.
The Midrash interprets "the signs of the times" to mean that the men of Issachar were among those who interpolated the years and sanctified the months. Their astronomical expertise made them authorities in fixing the Israelite calendar. The Midrash claims that two hundred Issacharites served as chiefs of the Sanhedrin. They issued halakhic – "halakhic" refers to the collective body of Jewish religious laws derived from the Written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments (mitzvot), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions compiled in the many books such as the Shulchan Aruch. Halakha is often translated as "Jewish law," although a more literal translation of it might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking." The word is derived from the root, which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). Halakha guides not only religious practices and beliefs but also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. "Halakhic" pronouncements were readily accepted by the other tribes as though those rulings had emanated from Moses on Mount Sinai. "Crouching among the sheepfolds" is read as a metaphor for two rows of disciples who sat before the Issacharite scholars in the Academy. "When he saw how good is security" is understood as a reference to Torah – the ultimate good in the rabbinic tradition -- and the tribe's affinity for religious studies. So great was the tribe of Issachar that they were worthy of having the Temple built in their territory.
In the rabbinic tradition, Scriptural references to "tents" are often outmodedly interpreted as tents of Torah study. Additional Scriptural support for the idea of a studious tribe of Issachar is assembled from the phrase "Issachar in your tents" in the Blessing of Moses. However, in this instance, the text's plain meaning suggests the primitive herdsman's dwellings for those who "crouch among the sheepfolds."
The Talmud puts the tribe of Issachar on a lofty intellectual pedestal. Moses wanted to appoint "men who are wise, discerning and experienced (Deuteronomy 1:13)" to help him bear the burdens of leadership. He was able to find only "wise and experienced men (1:15)." In Moses' generation, there were no sure men of discernment. However, somehow among the Issacharites of a later generation, such brilliant minds were everywhere to be found. Another Talmudic passage exaggeratedly claims that rabbinical scholars capable of rendering halakhic rulings will descend only from the tribes of Levi or Issachar. Because jackasses are associated with stupidity, the Targumim, seeking consistency with the Aggadic re-branding of Issachar, interpreted wise and experienced men (1:15) to mean not "strong-boned ass" but "rich in possessions" (Onkelos) and "laden with the law" (Pseudo-Jonathan).
What motivated the sages to glorify Issachar and theorize a material-spiritual partnership between Zebulun and Issachar? One possible answer is that the sages wished to bolster a vitally important aspect of their ethnic economy by finding precedent for it in the Biblical period. While it is true that some of the Tannaim earned their livelihoods as skilled craftsmen and artisans, and others (like Rabbis Tarfon and Elazar ben Azariah) were wealthy landowners, it is equally valid that many yeshiva students and Torah scholars of the Talmudic period were heavily reliant upon non-scholar benefactors.
The Talmud repeatedly and emphatically extols the practice of underwriting the scholarly elite. From the story of Elisha and the Shunamite woman, the Talmud derived the principle that one who hosts a Torah scholar and allows him to benefit from one's assets is regarded as if one had personally brought the daily Tamid sacrifice. Moses proclaimed, "You who held fast to the Lord your God, are all alive today (Deuteronomy 4:4)." Considering that God is a "consuming fire" (4:24), how does one hold fast to Him? Answer: By marrying one's daughter to a Torah scholar, setting up a scholar in business, or letting him benefit from your assets (Ketubot 111b). If Obed Edom the Gittite was blessed (II Samuel 6:11) for hosting the Ark of the Covenant – an inanimate object that did not need to be provided with food and drink and merely had to be swept of dust – all the more so will a person who provides room and board to Torah scholars be supremely blessed. In the other direction: Rabbi Elazar warned that he who does not offer material support to Torah scholars would never see a sign of Blessing in his assets.
The commentators explained Zebulun's precedence over Issachar by asserting that Issachar's greatness in Torah studies would have been impossible were it not for the financial assistance offered by Zebulun. This interpretation, though, has drawbacks. One might get the impression from that place that, as between a lifetime of Torah study or a lifetime of commercial success combined with the philanthropic support of yeshivot, the latter was more praiseworthy. The sages did not want to give that impression. Hence, Rabbi Yohanan commented that, while the glorious future promised by the prophets is, indeed, the destiny of those offering financial support to scholars, no human eye has beheld the unmatched splendor of what will be the scholars' portion in the World to Come.
In our times, the most visible example of Zebulun's being put in front of Issachar occurred when Mr. Jay Schottenstein was invited to recite the Kaddish D'itchadeta at the Siyum Hashas. With 80,000 fellow Jews on hand at MetLife Stadium, this great benefactor of Artscroll's elucidation of the Babylonian Talmud was given the honor he rightly deserved.
May the Almighty bless our people in business with continued success so that they can financially support students of the Torah. Furthermore, may those toiling in the vineyards of Torah study find illumination in the timeless wisdom of our religious heritage.
The Blessing OF Zebulun and Issachar.
"About Zebulun, he said: "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you, Issachar, in your tents. They will summon peoples to the Mountain and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand." (Deuteronomy 33:18-19)
Moreover, of Zebulun, he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and Issachar, in thy tents.
"They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall feast of the abundance of the seas and treasures hidden in the sand."
THE Chapter contains the Blessing wherewith Moses the Man of God, blessed the Children of Israel before his death. He had been a Father to them, even as if he had begotten and conceived them; He had carried them as in his bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, towards the land which God had sworn unto their fathers to give them: And now like Jacob, their natural Father, he dies, as he had lived, loving them, caring for them, praying for and Blessing of them. He had been their Governour and Commander in chief, and having had a Princely Education in the Court of Egypt and being highly accomplished by the spirit of wisdom, meekness, and courage for the Government of Israel, he was by the Divine Election constituted King in Jeshurun; as our Context has it: And now like another David he dies praying for and blessing the Inheritance of the Lord over whom he had been ruling. Again, He had been a Prophet of the Lord unto and among his People; Moses the Man of God, and an Eminent Type of the Great Prophet and King of the Church; and now, like the Ascending JESUS, being about to leave his People, he lifts up his hands in prayer and blesses them. Yea, his Blessing of the Tribes, like that of Jacob is to his Sons, is a very famous Prophecy, wherein he foretells the Lot of the Tribes, their Genius, Situation, Employments, Honours, and Services; what should befall them hereafter; And the Event answered his words, and showed that he spake by Inspiration and the Spirit of Prophecy.
The particular part of the Prophecy and the Blessing now before us is that which respects Zebulun and Issachar, who are here put together because of their Consanguinity & Neighborhood, being the Sons of one Mother their lots joyning together, which Moses in Spirit foresees and foretells. Now the Prediction and benediction, in common in both respects
• 1. Their situation, business, and employment.
• 2. Their felicity & prosperity in their respective station and business.
• 3. Their Religion and devotion toward God are the best of all.
Zebulun is one of Israel's twelve tribes. The tribes were named for Jacob's children (or grandchildren, in the cases of Ephraim and Manasseh). In the time of Moses, Zebulun was divided into three clans: the Seredites, the Elonites, and the Jahleelites, named after Zebulun's sons (Numbers 26:26).
Zebulun means "dwelling" or "honor." Jacob's tenth son, Zebulun, was the youngest of six sons borne by Leah. When Zebulun was born, Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor because I have borne him six sons" (Genesis 30:20).
Zebulun was one of six tribes chosen to stand on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses (Deuteronomy 27:13). Using these curses, the people promised God they would refrain from certain behaviors. For example, one curse says, "Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol – a thing detestable to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 27:15). Another asserts, "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow" (Deuteronomy 27:19). Still another: "Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out" (Deuteronomy 27:26). Zebulun helped deliver twelve admonishments of this sort (Deuteronomy 27:15-26).
Upon entering the Promised Land, Zebulun failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron and Nahalol, although Zebulun did subject them to forced labor (Judges 1:30). This was in complete obedience to God's clear command to drive out all the inhabitants of the land (Numbers 33:52). Not responding fully to God's Word, as Zebulun demonstrated, is a trait to which we all can relate. How often do we choose to follow our paths for various reasons, many of which may not be in concert with God's wishes?
Later, Zebulun returned to God and followed His commands. They participated in the battles led by Deborah and Barak, and they fought valiantly (Judges 4:6; 5:18). Judge Elon was a Zebulunite (Judges 12:11). Zebulun joined David at Hebron to transfer Saul's kingdom to David (1 Chronicles 12:23, 33, 40). This, too, provides insight into our behavior. While we turn away from God at times, His love for us, and ours for Him, draws us back into communion with Him and compliance with His will.
Zebulun's territory was located in what was later known as Galilee, in Northern Israel. Moses' Blessing on the tribe was that they would prosper in their overseas dealings with Gentile nations (Deuteronomy 33:18-19). Isaiah prophesied, "In the past [God] humbled the land of Zebulun . . . but in the future, he will honor Galilee" (Isaiah 9:1). Isaiah's Prediction is Messianic: Galilee (including Zebulun) would be honored as the first to hear Christ's preaching. This would more than compensate for their humiliation at the hands of the Assyrians centuries before.
Numerous verses in the Bible, especially in the Psalms, extol God for His unfailing patience, love, and faithfulness. Indirectly, Zebulun's history reminds us that God is always present when we return to Him. No matter how battered or bruised we may be, or how ashamed we may feel about past transgressions, God can still use us.
Issachar and Zebulun Facts
• She names him "Issachar," meaning either "my reward" or "my hire."
• She thinks, "God has paid me" for giving her handmaiden to Jacob.
• On his deathbed, Jacob prophesies: "Issachar is a rawboned donkey, lying down between two burdens; He saw that rest was good, and that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a band of slaves."
• A "rawboned" donkey is generally thought to be a strong donkey.
• A donkey lying between its burdens is resting.
• It suggests that the Tribe of Issachar will have a prosperous life.
• Issachar has four sons.
• They gain over 10,000 men during the wilderness.
• They are given a small allotment of land just north of Manasseh and west of the Jordan that includes the town of Shunem.
• Though small, there are some of the most fruitful lands in Canaan.
• They are loyal to David during his difficulty with Saul.
• They "understood the times and knew what Israel should do."
• Either they are politically astute or learned in science and religion.
• The Tribe of Issachar is part of the northern kingdom.
• The Assyrians conquer them in 722 BCE. The tribe is exiled or assimilated.
• Shortly after the birth of Issachar, Leah gives birth to Zebulun.
• She says, "God has bestowed a great gift upon me."
• Another meaning for the name, Zebulun, is "honor or exalt me."
• On his deathbed, Jacob states, "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border shall be upon Sidon."
• However, Zebulun's territory is not along the sea but in the area that becomes known as Galilee, in Northern Israel.
• Some scholars believe that the Tribes of Zebulun and Issachar operate symbiotically.
• Issachar has many scholars; Zebulun financially supports them.
• Zebulun has three sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
• They gain roughly 3,000 men during the wilderness.
• In the Song of Deborah, they are praised for their army and willingness to fight.
• The Assyrians conquer them in 722 BCE.
• Their leaders are exiled, and their tribe is lost.
