Tribe of Issachar

The territory allocated to Issachar stretched from the Jordan River in the east to Mount Carmel on the west, near to the Mediterranean coast, including the fertile Esdraelon plain between present-day Lower Galilee and Samaria.

[6] 1 Chronicles 7:1–5 lists the generations of the tribe of Issachar, totaling 87,000 "mighty men of valour".

W. E. Barnes, writing in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges argues that "times" are "opportunities", and the phrase means, therefore, "men of experience, having knowledge of the world".

The passage of Jacob's blessing referring to Issachar (Gen. 49:14-15) is interpreted as an allusion to the study of Torah, with which the people of that tribe occupied themselves (Genesis Rabba 98:17; compare also pseudo-Jonathan and Rashi ad loc.).

The tribe of Issachar advised the others to bring six covered wagons and twelve oxen (Num.

Targum Onkelos to Gen. 49:14); and its members figure as persons who united wealth and learning (Bava Kamma 17a).

Map of ancient Land of Israel , with the territory of Issachar shaded blue.
Issachar (print by Jacob de Gheyn II )
Map of the Twelve Tribes of Israel per the Book of Joshua ; Issachar's supposed territory is shaded red. Scholars generally agree that Joshua is not a reliable source for reconstructing the history of the period it describes. [ 10 ]