Issachar

Issachar (meaning reward or hired) was the ninth son of Jacob and fifth son of Leah (Genesis 30:17–18). His name commemorates Leah's interpretation of his conception as God's reward (sakar) for her giving her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob — or alternatively, as the wages of her "hiring" Jacob from Rachel with the mandrakes (Genesis 30:14–16). His birth completes the first group of Leah's sons before her daughters Dinah and the sons of the concubines are enumerated. Jacob's blessing in Genesis 49:14–15 describes Issachar as "a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds," seeing that rest was good and bowing his shoulder to bear burdens — an oracle interpreted as describing the tribe's character of agricultural industriousness and possible tribute-paying to neighboring powers.

The tribe of Issachar settled in the fertile valley of Jezreel, one of the most productive agricultural regions of Canaan. At the first census the tribe numbered 54,400 men (Numbers 2:5–6), and it contributed men of understanding of the times to David's cause (1 Chronicles 12:32). The territory of Issachar is described in Joshua 19:17–23. The tribe's position in the Jezreel Valley made it both prosperous and vulnerable to military pressure from the north and east throughout the period of the judges and the monarchy.