Issachar

"Hired." A Hebrew patriarch, the fifth son of Leah, and ninth son of Jacob. And Leah said, "God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar."1 He was born in Padan-aram.2 Issachar had four sons at the going down into Egypt.3

The Tribe of Issachar, during the journey through the wilderness, along with Judah and Zebulun,4 marched on the east of the tabernacle. This tribe contained 54,400 fighting men when the census was taken at Sinai. After the entrance into the Promised Land, this tribe was one of the six which stood on Gerizim during the ceremony of the blessing and cursing.5 The allotment of Issachar is described in Josh. 19:17-23. It included the plain of Esdraelon (Jezreel), a large fertile plain south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel.6

The prophetic blessing pronounced by Jacob on Issachar corresponds with that of Moses.7

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References

Notes

  1. Gen. 30:18.
  2. comp. 28:2.
  3. 46:13; Num. 26:23, 25.
  4. Num. 2:5.
  5. Deut. 27:12.
  6. Deut. 33:18, 19; 1 Chr. 12:40.
  7. Gen. 49:14, 15; comp. Deut. 33:18, 19.

Source

  • Easton, M.G. (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.

This article incorporates text from Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) by M.G. Easton, which is in the public domain.