The 12 tribes of Israel
The twelve tribes of Israel are named for the twelve sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 35:22-26). Four mothers bore them: Leah six sons, Rachel two, Bilhah two and Zilpah two. The lists of tribes later in the Bible change the names: Joseph's place is taken by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, and Levi gets no land.
Updated October 24, 2026. Every census figure below is read out of the King James Version verse that gives it and matches the World English Bible. Name meanings are from Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869).
The twelve sons of Jacob, in birth order
Genesis 29 and 30 record the births, and Genesis 35:22-26 lists all twelve with their mothers. Each row names the verse where the son is born.
| # | Tribe | Mother | Born | Name means | Jacob's blessing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reuben | Leah | Genesis 29:32 | who sees the son; the vision of the son | Genesis 49:3-4 |
| 2 | Simeon | Leah | Genesis 29:33 | that hears or obeys; that is heard | Genesis 49:5-7 |
| 3 | Levi | Leah | Genesis 29:34 | associated with him | Genesis 49:5-7 |
| 4 | Judah | Leah | Genesis 29:35 | the praise of the Lord; confession | Genesis 49:8-12 |
| 5 | Dan | Bilhah | Genesis 30:6 | judgment; he that judges | Genesis 49:16-18 |
| 6 | Naphtali | Bilhah | Genesis 30:8 | that struggles or fights | Genesis 49:21 |
| 7 | Gad | Zilpah | Genesis 30:11 | a band; a troop | Genesis 49:19 |
| 8 | Asher | Zilpah | Genesis 30:13 | happiness | Genesis 49:20 |
| 9 | Issachar | Leah | Genesis 30:18 | reward; recompense | Genesis 49:14-15 |
| 10 | Zebulun | Leah | Genesis 30:20 | dwelling; habitation | Genesis 49:13 |
| 11 | Joseph | Rachel | Genesis 30:24 | increase; addition | Genesis 49:22-26 |
| 12 | Benjamin | Rachel | Genesis 35:18 | son of the right hand | Genesis 49:27 |
Meanings are the traditional ones from Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) (1869, public domain); modern scholars often read names differently. Simeon and Levi share one blessing in Genesis 49:5-7. Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons, are born in Genesis 41:50-52, and Genesis 48:5 has Jacob take them as his own.
The two censuses: how each tribe changed
Numbers 1 counts the men able to go to war in the second year after the exodus, and Numbers 26 counts them again near the end of the wilderness years. Simeon lost the most and Manasseh gained the most.
| Tribe | Numbers 1 | Numbers 26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reuben | 46,500 | 43,730 | -6.0% |
| Simeon | 59,300 | 22,200 | -62.6% |
| Judah | 74,600 | 76,500 | +2.5% |
| Dan | 62,700 | 64,400 | +2.7% |
| Naphtali | 53,400 | 45,400 | -15.0% |
| Gad | 45,650 | 40,500 | -11.3% |
| Asher | 41,500 | 53,400 | +28.7% |
| Issachar | 54,400 | 64,300 | +18.2% |
| Zebulun | 57,400 | 60,500 | +5.4% |
| Benjamin | 35,400 | 45,600 | +28.8% |
| Ephraim | 40,500 | 32,500 | -19.8% |
| Manasseh | 32,200 | 52,700 | +63.7% |
| Total | 603,550 | 601,730 | -0.3% |
The twelve figures in each census add up to the total the verse gives (Numbers 1:46 and 26:51), which is how this table was checked. Joseph appears as his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The Levites were counted apart: 22,000 males a month old and up in Numbers 3:39 and 23,000 in Numbers 26:62, because "there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel".
Men counted in Numbers 26, by tribe
Judah was the largest tribe both times. Simeon was the smallest in the second count at 22,200, and the biggest drop of any tribe was Simeon's, from 59,300 to 22,200. Manasseh grew from 32,200 to 52,700, which moved it from the smallest tribe in Numbers 1 to the sixth largest in Numbers 26. The total moved only 1,820 men, so the tribes traded places, not size.
Why the tribe lists in the Bible do not match
Three lists give three different twelves. Genesis 35:22-26 names the twelve sons. The census in Numbers 1 leaves out Levi and names Ephraim and Manasseh in place of Joseph. Revelation 7:5-8 seals twelve thousand from each of twelve tribes, in this order: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. It leaves out Dan and Ephraim. In all, 14 different names appear across the lists.
Joshua 14:4 explains the first change: "the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim", and Joshua 13:14 explains the second: "unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance". Revelation 7 does not say why Dan and Ephraim are absent. The King James Version also spells five names differently there: Juda, Aser, Nepthalim, Manasses and Zabulon.
How often the Bible says "tribe of" each name (KJV)
Counts of "tribe of", "tribes of" and "tribe of the children of" followed by the name. Manasseh leads with 42.
What the censuses do and do not show
Each census counts men of fighting age, so the figures say little about women, children or the Levites, who were counted apart. The Bible gives no reason for most of the changes between the two counts, and nothing on this page claims one. Numbers 1:1 dates the first count to the second month of the second year after the exodus. Numbers 26:1 places the second "after the plague" in the plains of Moab, so the years between them are not stated.
Questions about the twelve tribes
What are the 12 tribes of Israel?
The twelve tribes of Israel are named for the twelve sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 35:22-26). Four mothers bore them: Leah six sons, Rachel two, Bilhah two and Zilpah two. The lists of tribes later in the Bible change the names: Joseph's place is taken by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, and Levi gets no land.
How many tribes of Israel are there?
Twelve, if you count by Jacob's sons (Genesis 35:22). The tribe lists in the Bible use 14 different names, though. Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh are each counted as a tribe (Joshua 14:4: "the children of Joseph were two tribes"). Levi is sometimes left out because the Levites received no land (Joshua 13:14).
Which tribe was the largest?
Judah, in both counts: 74,600 men in Numbers 1 and 76,500 in Numbers 26. The smallest was Manasseh in the first census (32,200) and Simeon in the second (22,200).
Why is Dan missing from Revelation 7?
Revelation 7:5-8 seals twelve thousand from each of twelve tribes and leaves out Dan and Ephraim. It lists Joseph and Manasseh in their place and Levi, who is absent from the censuses. The chapter gives no reason for the changes.
What happened to the ten lost tribes?
The Bible text has no "lost tribes". The King James Version never uses the phrase and "ten tribes" appears 2 times, both in 1 Kings 11, where God promises Jeroboam ten tribes. After the kingdom split, 1 Kings 12:20 says only the tribe of Judah followed David's house, with Benjamin joining in verse 21. 2 Kings 17:6 says the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away, and 2 Kings 17:18 says "there was none left but the tribe of Judah only".
Who were the mothers of the twelve tribes?
Leah bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin; Bilhah, Rachel's servant, bore Dan and Naphtali; and Zilpah, Leah's servant, bore Gad and Asher (Genesis 35:23-26).
Sources
- The King James Version (1769) and the World English Bible, both public domain: every verse and figure on this page, read by scripts/build-bible-lists.mjs from the text at github.com/seven1m/open-bibles (read and counted 2026-10-24).
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869), public domain: the traditional meaning of each name (read 2026-10-24).
Every tribe name has a count page, such as Judah, Benjamin and Levi. See Bible names and their meanings, the ten plagues of Egypt, the book of Numbers, and the Bible by the numbers.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-24.