Issachar
hired (Gen. 30:18). "God hath given me," said Leah, "my hire
(Heb. sekhari)...and she called his name Issachar." He was
Jacob's ninth son, and was born in Padan-aram (comp. 28:2). He
had four sons at the going down into Egypt (46:13; Num. 26:23,
25).
Issachar, Tribe of, during the journey through the wilderness,
along with Judah and Zebulun (Num. 2:5), marched on the east of
the tabernacle. This tribe contained 54,400 fighting men when
the census was taken at Sinai. After the entrance into the
Promised Land, this tribe was one of the six which stood on
Gerizim during the ceremony of the blessing and cursing (Deut.
27:12). The allotment of Issachar is described in Josh.
19:17-23. It included the plain of Esdraelon (=Jezreel), which
was and still is the richest portion of Palestine (Deut. 33:18,
19; 1 Chr. 12:40).
The prophetic blessing pronounced by Jacob on Issachar
corresponds with that of Moses (Gen. 49:14, 15; comp. Deut.
33:18, 19).
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