Issachar and Asher

The tribe of Issachar is the fourth of the unsettled tribes, and the ninth overall, to receive its land as God guides Joshua’s hand in the casting of the lot. This tribe, one of the largest in population (Num. 26), is given a region that stretches westward from the Jordan just south of the sea of Galilee. It encompasses the hills and valleys of the eastern Galilee region and the eastern Jezreel Valley, a large and very fertile plain. The brief description of its territory gives a tally of 16 cities, and that is the number listed. Most of these cities are undistinguished, but two appear in Scripture during the later period of the evil kings who reigned over the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel. Jezreel is the site of the palace of Ahab (1 Kings 21:1), one of the most wicked of the kings of Israel (1 Kings 16:29–34). And Shunem is the home city of a widow who ministers to the prophet Elisha as he witnesses against the evils of his day (2 Kings 4:8–10).

The next lot is for Asher. This tribe is given a tract that runs along the Mediterranean coast north of Manasseh and Zebulun and west of Naphtali. Stretching north from Mount Carmel to the territory of Phoenicia, the tract includes the western slopes of the Galilean hills and the coastal plain. Twenty-two cities are said to be given to the Asherites. However, Asher is unable to take possession of seven important cities on the coastal plain (Judg. 1:31) and it thus does not have full use of its territory. Some of these cities may come under Israelite control as the nation’s strength grows, only to be given away later to the king of Tyre (1 Kings 9:10–14). He, in turn, apparently returns them later (2 Chron. 8:2).

The Asherites are among several tribes that struggle to overcome a remnant of Canaanites in their territories. Judges 1 lists several instances in which tribes are unable to totally defeat the Canaanites but succeed in putting them under tribute. Issachar also may be among these tribes. Later, the Canaanites actually achieve dominance over some of the Israelites, but during the judgeship of Deborah and under the military leadership of Barak the tribes throw off their oppression (Judg. 5). The final victory over the Canaanite commander occurs near the River Kishon (Judg. 4:7, 13), in the territory of Issachar, with the help of the “‘princes of Issachar’” (Judg. 5:15).