Who
Leah’s fifth son, named for the reward God gave her: “God has given me my hire” (Genesis 30:18). Jacob’s blessing calls him “a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags” (Genesis 49:14), a tribe that would bear burdens for the good land it received. Its territory lay in the plain of Jezreel, south of Galilee. When David was made king, Chronicles praises the men of Issachar as “men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Key verses
- Genesis 30:18
Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Issachar.
- Genesis 35:23
The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
- Genesis 49:14
“Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.
- 1 Chronicles 2:1
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
- 1 Chronicles 12:32
Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their command.
Where the Bible names him
Family
Discussed by
Comments on the verses that name him.
- Hippolytus of Rome, Exegetical Fragments §2
On Genesis. Gen. i. 5 And it was evening, and it was morning, one day. Hippolytus. He did not say “night and day,” but “one day,” with reference to the name of the light. He did not say the “first day;” for if he had…
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Festal and Personal Letters Festal Letters.11
(For 341.) Coss. Marcellinus, Probinus; Præf. Longinus; Indict. xiv; Easter-day, xiii Kal. Maii, xxiv Pharmuthi; Æra Dioclet. 57. Letter XIII.—(For 341.) Coss. Marcellinus, Probinus; Præf. Longinus; Indict. xiv;…