ISSACHAR ĭs’ ə kər (יִשָּׂשׂכָר, H3779; ̓Ισαχάρ, G2695). 1. The meaning is uncertain and knowledge of the tribe is meager. 1. The ninth son of Jacob and the fifth of Leah (Gen 30:18; 35:23). Issachar had four sons and with them went down into Egypt with Jacob (Gen 46:13; Exod 1:3). Practically nothing is preserved of the personal history of the patriarch beyond his share in the common actions of the sons of Jacob. Issachar died in Egypt and was buried there; his descendants formed a tribe, consisting of five great tribal families (Num 26:23, 24).
At Sinai the tribe numbered 54,400 men of war over twenty years of age (1:29); at the end of the wanderings, the number had grown to 64,300 (26:25). The place of Issachar in the desert march was with the standard of the tribe of Judah (along with Zebulun) on the E side of the Tabernacle (2:5); this group formed the vanguard of the host (10:14ff.). Igal, son of Joseph, was Issachar’s representative to spy out the land of Canaan (13:7).
Although a dozen or more towns are listed in Joshua 19:17-23 as belonging to Issachar, the location of most of these is uncertain. In the strange ceremony described in Deuteronomy 27:11ff., it was the tribe of Issachar, along with several other tribes, who stood upon Mount Gerizim “to bless the people.” The territory of Issachar lay S of Zebulun and Naphtali, and N of Manasseh. On the E it was bounded by the Jordan. Whether it ever reached the sea is uncertain (Deut 33:18, 19); it prob. remained an inland tribe. Its lot included the very fertile plain of Esdraelon, but this for the most part remained in the possession of the Canaanites.
Tola, a judge, was from Issachar (Judg 10:10) as were two kings, Baasha and his son (1 Kings 15:27). Deborah and Barak belonged to Issachar; and in Deborah’s song (Judg 5:15), the tribe is mentioned as having taken part in the battle against Sisera. The battle took place on the plain of Issachar and the victory secured free passage between the Israelites in the hill country of Ephraim and those in Galilee.
In the time of David, the tribe of Issachar numbered 87,000 (1 Chron 7:5). Of the 200 “heads” of the men of Issachar who came to David at Hebron it is said that they were “men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron 12:32). In Solomon’s arrangement of administrative districts Issachar’s territory formed an independent province (1 Kings 4:17).
In the arrangement of 1 Chronicles 4-7, the extended genealogy of Issachar may be found in 7:1-5, whereas that of Zebulun is missing. A company from Issachar came to the celebration of the Passover when it was restored by Hezekiah (2 Chron 30:18). In the ideal division of the land according to the vision of Ezekiel 48:25, the territory of Issachar lies between that of Simeon and of Zebulun; these three tribes have the three gates on the S side of the new Jerusalem named after them (Ezek 48:33). The tribe of Issachar is also mentioned in Revelation 7:7, where 12,000 were sealed.
2. A Korahite doorkeeper in the reign of David (1 Chron 26:5). See Location of Tribes.