Who and what is
Issachar

Hebrew: יִשָּׂשכָר —meaning: hired (Genesis 30:18)

The man Issachar

This is the name of a biblical man and a tribe of Israel.

He was Jacob's 9th son, and was born in Padan-aram (compare 28:2). His mother is Leah, Jacob’s 1st wife.

God hath given me,” said Leah, “my hire (Hebrew: sekhari)… and she called his name Issachar.”

At the going down into Egypt due to famine, he had 4 sons (46:13; Numbers 26:23, 25).

Tribe of Issachar

During the journey through the wilderness, this tribe marched on the east side of the tabernacle, along with Judah and Zebulun (Numbers 2:5).

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 6 which stood on Gerizim during the ceremony of the blessing and cursing (Deuteronomy 27:12).

The prophetic blessing pronounced by Jacob on Issachar corresponds with that of Moses (Genesis 49:14-15; compare Deuteronomy 33:18-19).

Territory of the Tribe of Issachar

Map of the ancient Israelite tribal territories in the Promised Land. CC BY-SA 3.0
Issachar is shaded in marked red.

This map shows the approximate location and boundaries of the 12 Israelite tribes, based on records in the Book of Joshua. This, and more, was The Promised Land given by God to the descendants of Israel, the grandson of Abraham. The full extent of the Canaanite land promised was never acquired, due to the repeated disobedience of the Israelites during the their commanded conquest of this very idolatrous, heathen land, after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and the following 40 years of Divine punishment wandering in the wilderness, before Joshua and the living descendants were allowed to enter the land, following the death of Moses.

The land allotment of Issachar is described in Joshua 19:17-23. It included the plain of Esdraelon (=Jezreel), which was and still is the richest portion of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:18-19; 1 Chronicles 12:40).

Prophecy in the book of Revelation

Revelation 7:4–8 mentions that people from the 12 tribes of Israel will be sealed by an angel of God. Godly descendants of Issachar will be a part of the 144-thousand Israelite evangelists for Christ during The Great Tribulation.

And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

Brother tribes

  1. Asher
  2. Benjamin
  3. Dan
  4. Ephraim
  5. Gad
  6. Issachar
  7. Judah
  8. Levi
  9. Manasseh
  10. Naphtali
  11. Reuben
  12. Simeon
  13. Zebulun
Article Version: July 27, 2021