Reuben, one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after the oldest of Jacob’s sons born of Leah, his first wife.

After the Exodus out of Egypt, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land and divided the territory among the 12 tribes. The tribe of Reuben apparently settled east of the Dead Sea in the same general area occupied by the tribe of Gad and played a secondary role in the history of the Jewish people. After the death of King Solomon (922 bc), the 10 northern tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam I that in 721 bc fell to Assyrian conquerors. In time these northern tribes lost their identity through assimilation with other peoples, and thus the tribe of Reuben became known in legend as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.


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Judaism
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Twelve Tribes of Israel, in the Bible, the Hebrew people who, after the death of Moses, took possession of the Promised Land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. Because the tribes were named after sons or grandsons of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel after he wrestled an angel of the Lord, the Hebrew people became known as Israelites.

Jacob’s first wife, Leah, bore him six sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Each was the father of a tribe, though Levi’s descendants (among whom were Moses and Aaron), the priests and temple functionaries, were dispersed among the other tribes and received no tribal land of their own. Two other tribes, Gad and Asher, were named after sons born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant. Two additional tribes, Dan and Naphtali, were named after sons of Jacob born of Bilhah, the maidservant of Rachel, Jacob’s second wife. Rachel bore Jacob two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin provided Israel with its first king, Saul, and was later assimilated into the tribe of Judah. While no tribe bore the name of Joseph, two tribes were named after Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. The 10 tribes that settled in northern Palestine and were carried into captivity by the Assyrians became known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.