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According to theHebrew Bible, theTribe of Ephraim (Hebrew:אֶפְרַיִם,ʾEp̄rayim, inpausa:אֶפְרָיִם,ʾEp̄rāyim) was one of theTwelve Tribes of Israel. TheTribe of Manasseh, together with Ephraim, formed theTribe of Joseph. It is one of theTen Lost Tribes. The etymology of the name is disputed.[1]
According to the Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim is descended from a man named Ephraim, who is recorded as the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob, andAsenath, the daughter ofPotiphera.[2][3] The descendants ofJoseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas the other sons of Jacob were the founders of one tribe each.
The Bible records that the Tribe of Ephraim entered the land ofCanaan during its conquest byJoshua, a descendant of Ephraim himself.[4] However, many archeologists have abandoned the idea that Joshua carried out a conquest of Canaan similar to that described in the Book of Joshua, seeing Jews instead as indigenous Canaanites who developed a monotheistic religion over time.[5]: 4 [6]
From Joshua to the formation of the firstKingdom of Israel, the Tribe of Ephraim was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known asthe Judges, orshofeṭim, which are known from related societies fromCanaan and their colonies inCarthage
With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge. The Tribe of Ephraim joined the new kingdom withSaul as the first king. The widely accepted date for Saul's reign is approximately 1025–1005 BCE. Some scholars dispute this date range and place Saul later, perhaps as late as "the second half of the tenth century B.C.E."[7]
After the death of Saul, the Bible records that all the tribes except Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul. After the death ofIsh-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Ephraim joined the other northern Israelite tribes in makingDavid, who was then the king of Judah, the king of a reunited kingdom. According to archaeologistIsrael Finkelstein, there is doubt about whether the biblical ordering of the reigns of the early monarchs is reliable, and that the sequence preserved in the Bible, in which David follows Saul as king of Israel, may not be historically accurate.[8]
However, on the accession ofRehoboam, David's grandson, in c. 930 BCE, the northern tribes split from theHouse of David to form theNorthern Kingdom, known as both "Israel" and "Samaria". The first northern king of Israel was an Ephraimite,Jeroboam, who likely ruled in 931–909.[9][10]
The accents of the tribes were distinctive enough even at the time of the confederacy so that when the Israelites ofGilead, under the leadership ofJephthah, fought the Tribe of Ephraim, their pronunciation ofshibboleth assibboleth was considered sufficient evidence to single out individuals from Ephraim, so that they could be subjected to immediate death by the Israelites of Gilead.
Ephraim was a member of the Northern Kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by theNeo-Assyrian Empire in c. 723 BCE and the population deported, an event known as theAssyrian captivity. From that time, the Tribe of Ephraim has been counted as one of theTen Lost Tribes.
Ephraim is often seen asthe tribe that embodies the entire northern kingdom and theHouse of Omri resided in the tribe's territory just asJudah is the tribe that embodies theKingdom of Judah and provided its royal family.
In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest ofCanaan byJoshua allocated the land among the Twelve Tribes.Kenneth Kitchen, a well-knownBiblical maximalist, dated this event to slightly after 1200 BC.[11] However, the consensus of modern scholars is that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred.[12][13][14]
As recorded in theBook of Joshua, the territory allocated to the Tribe of Ephraim was at the center of Canaan, west of theJordan, south of the territory of Manasseh, and north of theTribe of Benjamin. The region later named Samaria, which was distinct fromJudea andGalilee, consisted mostly of Ephraim's territory. The area was mountainous, giving it protection, and also highly fertile, giving prosperity,[15][16][17][18]
The territory of Ephraim contained the early centers of Israelite religion:Shechem andShiloh.[19] These factors contributed to making Ephraim the dominant tribe in the United Kingdom of Israel, and led toEphraim becoming a synonym for the entire kingdom.[19]Joshua 16:1-4[20] outlines the borders of the lands allocated to the "children of Joseph", i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh combined, and Joshua 16:5-8[21] defines the borders of the land allocated to the tribe of Ephraim in more detail.
Bethel was allocated by Joshua to the Tribe of Benjamin.[22] However, even by the time of the prophetessDeborah, Bethel is described as being in the land of the Tribe of Ephraim.[23] Some twenty years after the breakup of the United Monarchy, KingAbijah of Judah, the second king of theKingdom of Judah, defeatedJeroboam, king of Israel-Samaria, and took back Bethel,Jeshanah andEphron with their surrounding villages.[24] Ephron is believed to be theOphrah that was also allocated to the Tribe of Benjamin by Joshua.[25]
Thewadi Qānā (Hebrew:נַ֨חַל קָנָ֜ה,romanized: naḥal Qānā) ofJoshua 17:9 divided Ephraim's territory to the south and Manasseh's territory to the north. Theillegal Israeli settlement ofKarnei Shomron is built near this gulch, which runs in an easterly-westerly direction.[26]
The border of Ephraim extended from the Jordan in the east to theMediterranean Sea in the west. It incorporated within it the cities of Bethel (nowBeitin[27]), ʻAtarot,Lower Beth-Ḥoron (nowLower Bayt ʻUr), extending as far asGezer (nowAbu Shusha, formerly known as "Tell el Jezer") and theMediterranean Sea.[28] Gezer was said to have been inhabited by Canaanites long after Joshua had either killed or expelled the other Canaanites.[29] According to French archaeologist,Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, who identified the site in 1871 and later carried out excavations there, Gezer marked the extreme western point of the territory of Ephraim, and was "situated at the actual intersection of the boundaries of Ephraim, Dan and Judah."[30] This view, however, does not seem to be supported by the Scriptures themselves which place the extent of Ephraim's border at the sea.Josephus noted, "The tribe of Ephraim had by lot the land that extended in length from the river Jordan toGezer; but in breadth as far as from Bethel, till it ended at the Great Plain."[31]
The travellerBenjamin of Tudela, aJew from theKingdom of Navarre, wrote that the southernmost bounds of the territory of Ephraim extended in a southwesterly direction as far as thetown of Ibelin (now Yibna).[32]
According to theTorah, the tribe consisted of descendants ofEphraim a son ofJoseph, from whom it took its name;[33] however somecritical scholars view this also as postdiction, aneponymousmetaphor providing anaetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.[34] In the Biblical account, Joseph is one of the two children ofRachel andJacob, a brother toBenjamin, and father to both Ephraim, and his first son,Manasseh; although Manasseh was the eldest, Jacob foresaw that Ephraim's descendants would be greater than his brother's.[35]
Though the biblical descriptions of the geographic boundary of the House of Joseph are fairly consistent, the descriptions of the boundaries between Manasseh and Ephraim are not, and each is portrayed as havingexclaves within the territory of the other.[19] Furthermore, in theBlessing of Jacob, and elsewhere ascribed bytextual scholars to a similar or earlier time period,[36] Ephraim and Manasseh are treated as a single tribe, withJoseph appearing in their place. From this it is regarded as probable that originally Ephraim and Manasseh were considered one tribe — that of Joseph.[19] According to severalbiblical scholars, Benjamin was also originally part of theHouse of Joseph, but the biblical account of this became lost;[19][34] Benjamin being differentiated by being that part of Ephraim (House of Joseph) which joined theKingdom of Judah rather thanthat of Israel.
A number of biblical scholars suspect that theJoseph tribes (including Benjamin) represent a second migration of Israelites to Israel, later than the main tribes,[34] specifically that it was only theJoseph tribes which went to Egyptand returned, while the main Israelite tribes simply emerged as a subculture from the Canaanites and had remained in Canaan throughout;[34] in the narrative in theBook of Joshua, which concerns the arrival in (and conquest of) Canaan by the Israelites from Egypt, the leader isJoshua, who was a member of the Ephraim tribe. According to this view, the story of Jacob's visit toLaban to obtain a wife began as a metaphor for the second migration, with Jacob's new family, possessions, and livestock, obtained from Laban, being representations of the new wave of migrants;[34]
Professor David Frankel believes that ancient traditions regarding pre-conquest Ephraimite settlement in Canaan were unintentionally preserved in biblical passages such as 1 Chronicles 7:20-24.[37] In 1 Chronicles 7:20-24, Ephraim's descendants, Ezer and Elead, were Canaanite residents who were killed by the Philistines, which was mourned by Ephraim and his brethren. This Ephraim was believed to be different from the more famous Ephraim[38] and his brethren were believed to be the heads of other Israelite tribes.[39] Professor Nili Wazana connects this with Prime MinisterDavid Ben-Gurion's argument for why the Jews were indigenous to Canaan, which was affirmed in theIsraeli Declaration of Independence. Ben-Gurion argued that Abraham's migration to Canaan was a "renuion with indigenous Hebrews who shared his theological belief" and that not all Hebrews joined Jacob's family when they migrated to Egypt.[40]
In the account of thedeuteronomic history, Ephraim is portrayed as domineering, haughty, discontented, and jealous, but inclassical rabbinical literature, the biblical founder of the tribe is described as being modest and not selfish.[19] These rabbinical sources allege that it was on account of modesty and selflessness, and aprophetic vision of Joshua, that Jacob gave Ephraim precedence over Manasseh, the elder of the two;[19] in these sources, Jacob is regarded as sufficiently just that God upholds the blessing in his honour, and makes Ephraim the leading tribe.[19] Nevertheless, other classical rabbinical texts mock the tribe for the character it has in the deuteronomic history, claiming that Ephraim, being headstrong, left Egypt 30 years prior tothe Exodus, and on arrival in Canaan was subjected to a disastrous battle with thePhilistines;[19] in theMidrashic Jasher this is portrayed as a rebellion of Ephraim against God, resulting in the slaying of all but 10, and the bleached bones of the slaughtered being strewn across the roads, so much so that the circuitous route of the Exodus was simply an attempt by God to prevent the Israelites from having to suffer the sight of the remains.[19]
Though from the point of view of an increasing majority of archaeologists, there were always two distinct cultures in Canaan, a strong and prosperous northern kingdom and a weaker and poorer southern one,[41] in the Biblical account the Israelite tribes were initially united in a single kingdom, and only later fractured into the northern and southern kingdoms; this fracture is blamed by the Bible on the jealousy of Ephraim over the growing power of Judah. In theBook of Chronicles, Ephraim's act of splintering from Judah is denounced as forsaking God,[42] and Ephraim is portrayed as becoming highly irreligious, particularly in their resistance to the reforms enacted byHezekiah andJosiah.[43]
It was not until the close of the first period of Jewish history that God 'refused the tabernacle of Joseph (Hebrew Bible), and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved'.[44] When the Ark was removed from Shiloh to Zion the power of Ephraim was sequestered.[45]
As part of theKingdom of Israel, the territory of Ephraim was conquered by theAssyrians, and the tribe was mostly exiled; some in the tribe managed to flee to theKingdom of Judah, which lay just south of the territory of Ephraim. In any case, the manner of their exile and/or dispersal led totheir further history being lost. However, several modern day groups claim descent, with varying levels of academic and rabbinical support. TheSamaritans claim that some of their adherents are descended from this tribe, and manyPersian Jews claim to be descendants of Ephraim. Further afield, in India theTelugu Jews claim descent from Ephraim, and call themselvesBene Ephraim, relating similar traditions to those of theMizo Jews, whom the modern state of Israel regards as descendants of Manasseh.[46]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that a significant portion of its members are descended from or adopted into the tribe of Ephraim, believing that they are charged with restoring the lost tribes in thelatter days, as prophesied byIsaiah. Along with members of the tribe ofJudah, members of the tribe of Ephraim are believed to be playing important leadership roles forcovenant Israel in the last days. They also believe that the main groups of theBook of Mormon (Nephites andLamanites) were parts of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, as part fulfilment of theblessing of Jacob: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall",[47] interpreting the "wall" as the ocean).[48]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Ephraim, The tribe of".Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
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