Issachar isn’t the name we’d most often think of giving our children unless we did some variation of Isaac. However, he plays an important role in the nation of Israel. Not only is he one of the brothers of Joseph, but he ends up being a forefather to one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Today’s article will explore his parentage, what his tribe was known for, and more. Let’s dive in.
Who Were Issachar’s Mother and Father?
It should be no surprise that Issachar’s father was Jacob. Jacob fathered all of Joseph’s brothers. Sadly, Jacob married more than one woman. And he tended to sleep with some of the maidservants in the household.
Issachar’s mother happened to be Leah, Rachel’s sister.
For those unfamiliar with these two names, fear not. I’ll give you a brief crash course.
Jacob was quite the trickster, and one prank sent him running away from home. He ended up working for a man named Laban. Now Laban is Jacob’s match in trickery. Jacob wants to marry Laban’s youngest, Rachel, a beautiful woman.
Laban had Jacob working for seven years to earn the right to marry her. On their wedding night, Jacob discovers Laban swapped Rachel out with his ugly but older daughter Leah. Jacob can earn the right to marry Rachel for another seven years of work.
As we can imagine, this would build up a lot of resentment in Jacob. He never wanted Leah in the first place, and he got swindled out of seven years of work for her. Leah, feeling hated, cries out to God.
God blesses her with several offspring. Far more than Rachel. In those days, a woman’s worth was tied to how many children—especially males—she could produce.
Issachar was one of many of Leah’s children.
What Do We Know about Issachar’s Wife and Children?
As far as wife and offspring, do we get to learn much about Issachar?
The Bible doesn’t give us a name for Issachar’s wife. We actually have to look to the Jewish Midrash for that. She goes by the name of Aridah, according to Jewish tradition. Sadly, We’re not given many details about her, except that she gave birth to at least five sons for Issachar.
The sons go by the names of Puah, Jashub, Shimron, Tola, and Job (not to be confused with Job, the main character in the book of Job). Some believe Jashub and Job are the same person, meaning they may have only had four sons.
So, the question is . . . did Issachar’s immediate family do anything notable?
Jashub ended up being the father to the Jashubites. Of which we know little.
Shimron became the father of the Shimronites. Again, not much on what that ethnos did in history.
Tola’s name means “a scarlet worm.” A descendant of his with the same name hailed from the same tribe and served as a judge of Israel for several years.
Puah’s name means “splendid.” This name also belonged to one of the midwives who saved Israelite babies during a genocide in Egypt. A later Puah ends up being the father of the judge Tola, mentioned above.
Although Issachar’s immediate family doesn’t make any waves, we must understand they’re part of a bigger picture. In another section, we’ll explore what his tribe became known for.
But for now, let’s go back to Issachar and his role in Joseph’s slavery in Egypt.
Why Were Issachar and His Brothers Jealous of Joseph?
For those who don’t know the story of Joseph, let me explain it in brief. It follows from his marriages to Leah and Rachel.
Jacob played clear favorites, and it was no different when it came to offspring. It didn’t matter that Leah, and some handmaidens, had given birth to sons for Jacob. The very first son Rachel gave birth to . . . the instant favorite.
His name was Joseph.
Joseph’s brothers undoubtedly felt the effects of their father’s love for Joseph and his neglect of them. Joseph exasperated this by saying he had dreams that his brothers would one day bow to him.
And Jacob giving Joseph a beautiful coat didn’t help. Jacob had literally given a physical sign of his favoritism for their brother.
At first, Joseph’s brothers decide they want to kill him. Reuben, the oldest brother, persuades them to sell Joseph into slavery instead.
Joseph spends a long time as a slave and then as a prisoner in Egypt. Eventually, he becomes second in command of the nation after interpreting a dream about famine in Egypt. When the brothers go to Egypt for food, Joseph reveals himself.
They reconcile and bring Joseph back to Jacob. There, Jacob issues blessings (and curses) on his sons, foretelling what each of the tribes would be known for. Issachar was no exception. In our next section, we’ll dive into what his descendants became known for.
What Issachar’s Descendants Become Known For?
Sadly, Jacob’s blessings weren’t always the nicest for some of his descendants. Issachar fell into this category. Issachar was apparently very strong. Jacob compares him with a donkey. He did a lot of hard work. But that hard work would go to other people.
According to Jacob, although Issachar’s descendants would inhabit great land—land between two really important, bountiful pieces of land, “sheepfolds”—it would be overrun with foreigners and trade routes. They essentially wouldn’t have much power in their own lands.
It even ended up to the point where Issachar’s people would end up enslaved by some of these people.
The Tribe of Issachar also became a tribe of scholars. In fact, 200 members of the Sanhedrin hailed from this tribe.
In the book of Judges, some other notable members include the princes of Issachar who came to Deborah’s aid in battle.
We’d already mentioned Tola earlier, but two kings sprang up from Issachar. Basha and Elah. Because the tribe of Issachar was part of the northern kingdom, they fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. None of the kings from the northern kingdom were good.
What Can We Learn from Issachar?
From all this that we’ve gathered, do we have any takeaways from Issachar? He seems almost meaningless compared with some of the more famous brothers, such as Judah or Reuben.
As always, every name in the Bible plays an important role. Let’s look at three takeaways from the life of Issachar.
First, evil bites you in the butt eventually.
We’re not told why Jacob is disappointed with Issachar. His younger brother receives a blessing before him, which would’ve been like a slap in the face. And his “blessing” comes with strings attached. Issachar gets great land but doesn’t get to enjoy the benefits of it. Whatever wrong Issachar had committed, it ended up affecting his descendants. We can learn that our actions can affect our future bloodline.
Second, good and bad descendants can come from a family.
The account of good and bad people coming from this tribe seems torn down the middle. We have judges and princes willing to come to the aid of Deborah in battle. That’s good. But we also have evil kings who ruled and members of the Sanhedrin who probably played a role in the death of Jesus. Not so good. It shows that families can have a mix of good and bad.
Finally, favoritism will always end in disaster.
We don’t know why Issachar earned a bitter blessing from Jacob, but we can imagine much of it would’ve been avoided if Jacob never picked favorites in the first place. If Jacob hadn’t chosen Rachel over Leah or Joseph over all his brothers, perhaps Issachar could’ve ended up differently. We need to see Jacob’s example and analyze our own lives. Where are we putting certain people above others? Are we treating everyone equally as image-bearers of the Most High?
Issachar may not have been notable, but there are still a lot of takeaways we can glean from his story in Scripture. May we, unlike him, end up with blessings that are not bitter.
Photo Credit: Seventeenth-century painting by Jacob de Gheyn II/Wikimedia Commons.
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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