|
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim () was one of the Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim also formed the ''House of Joseph''. The descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas each of the other sons of Jacob was the founder of only one tribe. From the end of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, who himself was a descendant of Ephraim (), in c. 1200 BCE, to the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Ephraim was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. (see the Book of Judges) With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Ephraim joined the new kingdom with Saul as the first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, but after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Ephraim joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, David's grandson, in c. 930 BCE the northern tribes split from the House of David to form the northern Kingdom of Israel. The first king of the northern kingdom was Jeroboam, who came from the Tribe of Ephraim. () The accents of the tribes were distinctive enough even at the time of the confederacy so that when the Israelites of Gilead, under the leadership of Jephthah, fought the Tribe of Ephraim, their pronunciation of ''shibboleth'' as ''sibboleth'' was considered sufficient evidence to single out individuals from Ephraim, so that they could be subjected to immediate death by the Israelites of Gilead. Ephraim was a member of the Northern Kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c. 723 BCE and the population deported. From that time, the Tribe of Ephraim has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. However, some see as prophesying that one day Ephraim (the Lost Tribes) and Judah (the Jewish People) will be made one people again. However, some also see that before this takes place, , , indicates that Ephraim and Judah will be in conflict with each other, and that also indicates that Ephraim would one day be in a conflict with many nations. Ephraim is often seen as the tribe that embodies the entire Northern Kingdom and the royal house resided in the tribe's territory (just as Judah is the tribe that embodies the Kingdom of Judah and provided its royal family). ==Tribal territory== Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE,〔Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003), "On the Reliability of the Old Testament" (Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)(ISBN 0-8028-4960-1)〕 Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. The territory allocated to the Tribe of Ephraim was at the center of Canaan, west of the Jordan, south of the territory of Manasseh, and north of the Tribe of Benjamin. The region was later named Samaria (as distinguished from Judea or Galilee) mostly consisted of Ephraim's territory. The area was mountainous, giving it protection, but also highly fertile, giving prosperity,〔Hosea 9:13〕〔Genesis 49:22〕〔Deuteronomy 33:13-16〕〔Isaiah 28:1〕 The territory of Ephraim contained the early centers of Israelite religion - Shechem and Shiloh.〔''Jewish Encyclopedia''〕 These factors contributed to making Ephraim the most dominant of the tribes in the Kingdom of Israel, and led to ''Ephraim'' becoming a synonym for the entire kingdom.〔 Bethel was allocated by Joshua to the Tribe of Benjamin. However, even by the time of the prophetess Deborah, Bethel is described as being in the land of the Tribe of Ephraim. () Some twenty years after the breakup of the United Monarchy, Abijah, the second king of Kingdom of Judah, defeated Jeroboam of Israel and took back the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. Ephron is believed to be the Ophrah that was also allocated to the Tribe of Benjamin by Joshua.〔, esp 23〕 The riverine gulch, ''naḥal Ḳanah'' (Joshua 17:9), divided Ephraim's territory to the south, and Manasseh's territory to the north. The modern Israeli town of Karnei Shomron is built near this gulch, which runs in an easterly-westerly direction.〔''Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land'' (3rd edition 1993), Jerusalem〕 The border of Ephraim extended from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and incorporated within it the cities of Bethel (now Beitin〔''Carta's Official Guide to Israel'', Jerusalem 1983, p. 99. Beitin, identified as Bethel, is now an Arab village 4 km. NE of Ramallah. ''Burj Beitin'', the ruins of its ancient settlement, lay within the boundaries of Beitin village.〕), ʻAtarot, Beth-Ḥoron the Nether (now Bayt ʻUr), extending as far as Gezer (now Abu Shûsheh, formerly known as ''Tell el Jezer'') and the Mediterranean Sea.〔Joshua 16:1 ''et seq''.〕 Gezer was said to have been inhabited by Canaanites long after Joshua had either killed or expelled the other Canaanites.〔Joshua 16:10〕 According to French archaeologist, Charles Clermont-Ganneau, who identified the site in 1871 and later carried out excavations there, Gezer marked the extreme western point of the territory of Ephraim, and was "situated at the actual intersection of the boundaries of Ephraim, Dan and Judah."〔Charles Clermont-Ganneau, ''Archaeological Researches in Palestine during the Years 1873-1874'', vol. II, London 1896, p. 275 (Translated from the original French by John MacFarlane)〕 This view, however, does not seem to be supported by the Scriptures themselves which place the extent of Ephraim's border at the sea. Spanish Jewish traveller, Benjamin of Tudela, wrote that the southern-most bounds of the territory of Ephraim extended in a south-westerly direction as far as the town of Ibelin or Jabney.〔''The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela'', (ed. Marcus Nathan Adler), Oxford University Press, London 1907, p. 27〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tribe of Ephraim」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|