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74 The House of Israel

The House of Israel

The Tribal Emblems of Israel encamped under its own ensign or emblem. Actually
these tribal emblems were in use long before the Exo-
We are often told that heraldry and the use of heraldic em- dus. In Genesis 49 we read that, just before his death,
blems came into use about the time of the Crusades. It is Jacob called his sons to him to give them his blessing.
said that knights in armour were unable to distinguish In this blessing Jacob likened each of his sons to some
friend from foe in battle and that, consequently, they be- object, animal or personal characteristic, which then
gan to put a mark or a representation of some animal or became his emblem and the emblem of the family and
other on their shields and banners, so that they could be the tribe descended from him. Later, Moses added
recognized. some additional items as recorded in Deuteronomy 33,
with the result that each of the tribes of Israel had at
The banners of the Roman legions and the emblem called least one emblem and some of them had two or more.
“Britannia” were certainly in use long before the Cru-
sades. In the legends and on works of art in ancient Jacob’s eldest son was named Reuben, and in blessing
Greece, we have a record of the emblems used by the lead- him Jacob said, as we read in Genesis 49:3-4: “Reu-
ers on both sides in the Trojan War; and when we turn to ben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the begin-
the Bible we find that each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel ning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the
had an emblem and that, by God’s command, these were excellency of power: unstable as water, thou shalt not
in regular use during the forty years of Israel’s wandering excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then
following the Exodus from Egypt. This is definitely stated defilest thou it: he went up to my couch.” In this de-
in Numbers 2:2, where we read: “Every man of the chil- scription of Reuben two points stand out. He was pri-
dren of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the en- marily a Man, strong and evidently handsome in a
sign of their father’s house.” physical sense but sensual and weak morally. Further,
his nature was changeable, so much so that Jacob de-
As we read this second chapter of Numbers we see that, clared him to be as unstable as water. Thus, Reuben is
when not on the march, the Twelve Tribes encamped in a pictured as a Man and also as a body of water. Conse-
definite order around an open space, at the centre of which quently, Reuben’s emblems were, first, a Man and
was the tent-like enclosure for national worship called the then some Wavy Lines or Bars representing a sheet of
Tabernacle. It is generally assumed that the Twelve Tribes water. These then became the emblems of the family
encamped around this open space in the form of a square, and later of the tribe descended from him.
but the Bible does not actually say this and there are some
indications that it may have been round or oval. Simeon and Levi are dealt with together in their fa-
ther’s blessing and in his description of their charac-
In either case it is evident that the Twelve Tribes en- ters. However, for reasons which will be explained
camped around an open space with three tribes in each of later, the object mentioned in connection with them
the four directions -- East, South, West and North -- and applies only to Simeon. Of them Jacob said, as re-
that in obedience to the command quoted above, each tribe corded in verses 5-7: “Simeon and Levi are brethren;

The Berean Voice November-December 2002