Israel's history is one of the most detailed and well kept histories of any nation. The nation of Israel was first promised to Abraham. He was told that through his decedents a great nation would be born and those people would be God's chosen people. It was through Abraham's son Isaac that the lineage of the Jewish people was established.

Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Through Jacob the nation of Israel was born. Jacob then had 12 sons and one daughter, through his two wives and two concubines. Leah, his first wife gave birth to six sons, they were Zebulun, Issachar, Reuben, Simon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel his most beloved wife had two sons Joseph and Benjamin. His concubine Zilpah had Asher and Gad, and Dan and Naphtali were born to Bilhah.

When Jacob was on his death bed he gathered all of his sons together and gave each son his inheritance and a specific blessing. He also included the two grandsons he had from his favorite child, Joseph. This is where the twelve tribes of Israel originates.

It was not until many years later, after Moses freed the Jewish people and they actually entered into the promise land that the land was divided according to their tribes and heritage. The land was divided by tribe at a meeting held in Shiloh where all twelve tribe were gathered and Joshua cast lots. He then assigned land areas accordingly.

There is often some confusion about the twelve tribes of Israel. If Jacob had twelve sons and included his 2 grandsons then it would stand to reason that Israel would be divided fourteen ways, but this is not the case. The tribe of Levi was never given any land; they were instead given the responsibility to be the caretakers of the religion. There is no actual tribe of Joseph because his two sons were included he was elevated to a patriarch and not a landowner. The extra territory he would normally have received for receiving a blessing normally reserved for the first born son, was divided between his two sons, Ephraim and Menasseh.