Zebulun

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Zabulon (also Zebulun, Hebrew: זְבֻלוּן, Z’vulun) was one Jacob's twelve sons, and the ancestor of the tribe of the same name. (Genesis 46:14, Numbers 26:26)

Nothing is known of Zabulon except that Sered, Elon, and Jahle'el were his sons and the heads of three tribal families.

The Tribe of Zebulun plays an important part in the early history of Israel. The name is Hebrew; it occurs in the form zebúlûn, eighteen times; zebûlún, twenty-six times; zebûlûn, once; Septuagint: Zaboulon; Josephus (Antiquities V.7.14): Zaboules; Vulgate: Zabulon, the New Testament reading is that of the Septuagint.

The meaning of the name is doubtful. There seems to be a play upon "zeved" in Leah's words of Genesis 30:20, "'God has granted me (z'vadani) a good gift (zeved) - this time my husband shall dwell with me (yizb'leini), because I have borne him six -sons;' she called him Z'vulun."

At the census of the tribes, in the Desert of Sinai, during the second year of the Exodus, the tribe of Zabulon numbered 57,400 men fit for war (Numbers 1:31). This army, under the command of Eliab the son of Heilon, encamped with Judah and Issachar east of the Tabernacle and with them made up the vanguard of the line of march (Numbers 2:3-9). Among the spies sent by Moses to view the land of Canaan, Gaddiel the son of Sodi represented Zabulon (Numbers 13:10).

At Shittim, in the land of Moab, after 24,000 men were slain for their crime, a second census was taken; Zabulon numbered 60,500 fighting men (Numbers 26:27). Elizaphan the son of Parnach was chosen to represent Zabulon at the division of the Promised Land (Numbers 34:25).

The tribe seems to have easily conquered its portion. During the rule of Joshua it received no special mention. While the judges ruled, its prowess was worthy of note. In the Song of Deborah, the tribe is specially singled out as having "offered their lives to death in the region of Merom." (Judges 5:18); and praised for that there came "out of Zabulon they that led the army to fight", as in Hebrew, "they that carry the pen of the writer", i.e., such as recruiting and inspecting officers (Judges 5:14).

The reference is to Barak's campaign against Sisera, the commander of the forces of Jabin, King of Canaan (Judges 4:10). They answered the call of Gideon and joined in battle against Madian (Judges 6:35); and gave to Israel Elon, who judged it ten years (Judges 12:11). Among those that followed David to Hebron to make him king were 50,000 fully armed men of Zabulon with no double heart (I Chronicles 12:33), who brought with them, as sign of their hearty allegiance, bounteous supplies of meat and drink to celebrate the accession of their new ruler (I Chronicles 12:41). When Hezekiah made reparation for the abominations of his father Achaz, he invited all Israel to keep the Passover in the house of the Lord. Mockery and ridicule met the emissaries of the reformer; yet some were true to the religion of their fathers, and, even from far away Zabulon, went up to Jerusalem, destroyed the idols, and kept the feast of the unleavened bread (II Chronicles 30:10-23).

At the division of the land between the seven tribes not yet provided for, the lot of Zabulon was third. The tribe's territory started with Sarid (Joshua 19:10), which is supposed to have been Tel Shadud, some five miles southwest of Nazareth. Zabulon's boundaries have not been made out. Of the nineteen proper names that the book of Joshua gives to guide us, only Bethlehem (Beit lahm, seven miles northwest of Nazareth) can be identified with certainty. Josephus (Antiquities V.1.22) assigns to Zabulon the land near to Carmel and the sea, as far as the Lake of Genesareth. To its northwest lay Asher, to the southeast Issachar. It included a part of the Jezreel Valley, and the great highway from the sea to the lake. Within the territory of Zabulon, Christ was brought up, and did and said much that is narrated in the Gospels, especially in the Synoptics, about His Galilean ministry.