Tribe of Issachar
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The Tribe of Issachar (יִשָּׂשׁכָר "Reward; recompense", Standard Hebrew Yissaḫar, Tiberian Hebrew Yiśśâḵār) is one of the Hebrew tribes, which the Bible claims was founded by Issachar son of Jacob.
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[edit] In the Bible
Traditionally, the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun were considered to have a symbiotic relationship, whereby Issachar would devote its time to the study and teaching of Torah, and Zebulun would financially support Issachar. In exchange, Zebulun would receive a share in the spiritual reward for Issachar's learning, which may be a mythological tale explaining a situation in which Zebulun was a tribute-paying vassal state of Issachar. In modern times, although the identity of Issachar and Zebulun are unknown, these terms are still used by those engaged in such a partnership.
[edit] Sea Peoples
The tribe may be the same as the Shekelesh mentioned in Egyptian accounts (Shekelesh is taken to mean men of Sheker). The Shekelesh were part of a tribal confederation known as the Sea Peoples, which also included Peleset (the Philistines), Danua (possibly Dan), Tjekker (thought to mean of Acco, and thus may refer to Manasseh), Weshesh (technically Uashesh, and thus may refer to Asher).
Records only state that the Sea People attacked Egypt, and other nations, but not where they came from or where they went to. As such there has been much speculation, with some thinking they either invaded, or returned home to, coastal Canaan, and subsequently their federation for some unknown reason split, with some tribes joining the Israelite federation.