Genesis 35:23-27
The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens.
Last week we talked about the Covenant God made with Abraham, promising he and his wife Sarah would be the father and mother of a great nation. They had one son, Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons. Those are the names given to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Twelve is a number that will show up again in the New Testament—Jesus chose twelve apostles. Twelve is a number that represents completeness. Twelve tribes and twelve apostles create a kind of symmetry (balance, mirror image) between the Old and New Testaments of the bible.
You can read the dramatic detail of Jacob’s family, the power struggles between his four wives, in Genesis chapters 29 and 30.
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