The twelve tribes originated with the twelve sons of Jacob, which Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah bore him. Leah had six sons and the others two each. Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Joseph, became the founders of two tribes in accordance with the blessing of Jacob. Thus for the purpose of dividing the land, there were twelve tribes, with the tribe of Levi not receiving territory, and Joseph replaced by Ephraim and Manasseh. Excluding Joseph and Levi, the twelve tribes are Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh.
The Bible describes in detail the areas allotted to the twelve tribes (except for the Levites who lived all over the land). The leaders of the tribes were the dominant political figures. Relations between them were often fragile and each tribe followed its own tribal policy. The strongest expression of their relationship was the sharing of a common religious center.
The tribes were not sufficiently united even to go to war together against enemies. Each tribe or tribal group would decide separately whether to wage war or not. At times intertribal warfare would break out, for instance at the time of Jephthah or after the deed committed with the concubine at Gibeah (Judg. 19–21), when all the other tribes attacked the tribe of Benjamin and almost wiped it out. With the founding of the Kingdom of Israel, the distinctions between the tribes became blurred, although there was a long-standing disunion between the ten northern tribes and the southern tribes. This discord led to the division of the united kingdom into two, when the ten northern tribes established their separate kingdom after the death of King Solomon. The northern kingdom and its ten tribes was destroyed in the eighth century BCE. Those that remained in the land united with the two tribes in the southern area of Judah. Over time, those that were not assimilated by other peoples came to be called "Jews." Only the tribe of Levi maintained its identity, in fact to the present day, because of the special role of the priests and Levites in the function of the Temple. In the Middle Ages, a belief spread amongst the Jews that the Ten Lost Tribes were still alive somewhere and it would come about that they would appear to hasten the day of redemption of the people. Indeed in various places in Asia there are communities with religious traditions which are thought to suggest an Israelite origin.
