Where are the twelve tribes of Israel today?

Answer 1

The tribe of Judah are represented through the modern Jewish people of today to some extent but not entirely as people of other tribes & nations have married and converted into the religion since the diaspora.

10 tribes were taken as slaves by some King from the east and since that time the knowledge of their existence and whereabouts has all but been forgotten. Some theories suggest that the Pashtun/Pathan ethnic group of Pakistan & Afghanistan are the lost tribes of Israel, others have suggested the slavs of eastern Europe and even some of the Native Americans. But nothing's ever been proven without a doubt.

Answer The Twelve Tribes of Israel sect was founded in 1968 by Dr. Vernon "Prophet Gad" Carrington. It is the most liberal of the Rastafarian orders and members are free to worship in a church of their choosing. Each member of this sect belongs to one of the 12 Tribes (or Houses), which is determined by birth month and is represented by a color. The Standard Israelite calendar begins in April. Bob Marley was from the tribe of Joseph. HAILE SELLASSIE from the tribe of Judah.

Answer According to Josephus"...the entire body of the people of Israel remained in that country; wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers." -Antiquities of the Jews (Book XI Chapter 5 Section 2)

Note that when Josephus mentioned "Asia", he was referring to Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey. In general, he made a semi-veiled reference to the Ten Tribes of Israel being located in Parthian territory, Rome's arch rival across the Euphrates River, the de facto border between the two empires. He did not need to say "Parthia". Everyone during his time knew what he was referring to in the same way people living in California today would not need a description of what is "east of the Mississippi River" or what is "south of the Rio Grande". Yet, for those who understand the extreme fluidity of the Middle East and Central Asia, it begs the question: "Who are the Parthians today?" ...or rather: "Where did the descendants of Parthia and related Saka-Scythian peoples go in later centuries?"

The tribes of Israel can be located today through the old testament. Deuteronomy 28 gives a list of 53 curses that explain the events that would befall the Israelites (only) in time. Of the events described in the bible we would have to look at two possible nations of people in the world today who's history fits the description given in Deuteronomy 28, The Native Americans and the Africans, as they are the only two cultures in the world who fit the following curses on a biblical scale (i.e. millions upon millions of their people were affected for an extended period of time):

Deut 28:37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

Deut 28: 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

Deut 28:48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed thee.

Deut 28:49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

Deut 28:64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

Deut 28:68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

The Native American population only fits so many of the curses listed in Deuteronomy and the book of Leviticus 26. The African population fits every one of the 53 curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28 and all curses listed in Leviticus 26. The estimated time of the African diaspora began with the year 70 A.D. and continued for 1,810 years until the close of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the year 1888.

The exact whereabouts of all 12 tribes are unknown, the most that can be known at this time is that all 12 tribes are scattered throughout the world. Due to a bible prophecy in Genesis 49:19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. The only two possibilities in terms of identifying the tribe of Gad in modern times are the populations of South Africa (Aparteid), and Haiti (Haitian revolution). The tribe of Judah is believed by some to be the African American population amongst other slave descendants scattered throughout the Americas. Levi as is known is scattered among the other 11 tribes. Ephraim is believed to be in the regions of Morocco and Nigeria. The 12 tribes of Israel are black African people who were brought into slavery world wide.

Answer:

The above answer is an example of sheer speculation, and is laughable from a Jewish point of view. While a relatively small number of African tribes may be descended from Israelites, in the absence of a Jewish tradition to that effect the matter becomes moot and a mere curiosity. But the vast majority of Africans, and also the entirety of the Native American population, are unquestionably not from the Ten Tribes. The lack of a connection between them and the Jewish people has been shown through DNA analyses.

The bulk of the descendants of the Ten Tribes are either as yet unidentified, or scattered in places such as Afghanistan.

The Tribes of Israel which are known today are the Jewish people. The great majority of Jews today, some 80% or so, are descended from the tribe of Judah (plus converts and descendents of converts). The remaining 20% include Levites (from the tribe of Levi), Cohanim (also a part of the Levites), and a small percentage from every one of the remaining tribes. (When the Ten Tribes were carried off into Assyria and didn't return, a few of them had already mixed into the tribe of Judah before that, through marriage. See for example the Talmud, Pesachim 4a.)

As to the identity of the exiled Ten Tribes themselves, for the most part (because of lack of a continuous tradition in this matter) we can only speculate, and usually we don't spend time on it.

Answer 2

1) A large percentage of the Jewish people (over 50% as of 2015) live outside of Israel. 2) The location of the bulk of the Ten Tribes is not known.

With the above two limitations, we can offer a qualified Yes.

The Tribes of Israel today are the Jewish people. The great majority of Jews today, some 80% or so, are descended from the tribe of Judah (plus converts and descendants of converts). The remaining 20% include Levites (from the tribe of Levi), Cohanim (also a part of the Levites), the entire Tribe of Benjamin, and a small percentage from every one of the remaining tribes. (When the Ten Tribes were carried off into Assyria and didn't return, a few of them had already mixed into the tribe of Judah before that, through marriage. Also, the Talmud relates [Megillah 14b] that, one century after the Ten Tribes were exiled [and their location was still known], Jeremiah journeyed to where they were and brought some of them back to Judea. Thus, today's Jewry includes a small percentage of every one of the Lost Tribes. (See for example the Talmud, Pesachim 4a.)
As to the location of the bulk of the lost Ten Tribes, because of the lack of a continuous tradition in this particular matter, we can only speculate. Some well-known claims, such as the suggestion that the Native Americans or African Americans are the Lost Israelite Tribes, we can confidently dismiss offhand; and DNA analyses have also debunked such ideas. Other claims, such as that which has been suggested concerning the Pathani (Pashtun), are less far-fetched but must for the time being remain nothing more than a guess.

See also:

Jewish history timeline

Are Hebrews Israelites and Jews the same people?

Answer 3

The twelve tribes of Israel are legendary and it is uncertain whether there really were exactly this many. The Bible says that ten tribes settled in the north, in what was to become the Kingdom of Israel, and two tribes settled in the south, in the Kingdom of Judah.

In 722 BCE, the Assyrians destroyed the Kingdom of Israel and sent the Israelites into exile, where they assimilated into the local populations, accepted the local religions and cultures, and gradually lost their ethnic identity. The remnants of these people are believed to exist among the Assyrians, Iraqis and Syrians of today.

Not all the people of Israel were assimilated into non-Hebrew cultures. Some were able to flee south to Jerusalem, where they gradually assimilated into the Judahite population. Others, especially in the rural areas of Israel, remained and were assimilated to the incoming people of the Assyrian empire, to become the Samarians.

Some two centuries later, Judah was overrun by the Babylonians and sent into Exile, but were eventually permitted to return to Judah, where they lived and prospered for several centuries.

Many of the Jews alive today can trace at least part of their ancestry back to the people of the Babylonian Exile and therefore to the tribes of Israel.

Answer 4

The Tribes of Israel today are the Jewish people. The great majority of Jews today, some 80% or so, are descended from the tribe of Judah (plus converts and descendants of converts). The remaining 20% include Levites (from the tribe of Levi), Cohanim (also a part of the Levites), the entire Tribe of Benjamin, and a small percentage from every one of the remaining tribes. (When the Ten Tribes were carried off into Assyria and didn't return, some of them had already mixed into the tribe of Judah before that, through marriage and through large-scale migration [e.g. 2 Chronicles 15:9]. Also, the Talmud relates [Megillah 14b] that, one century after the Ten Tribes were exiled [and their location was still known], Jeremiah journeyed to where they were and brought some of them back to Judea. Thus, today's Jewry includes a small percentage of every one of the Lost Tribes. [See for example the Talmud, Pesachim 4a.])
As to the location of the bulk of the lost Ten Tribes, because of the lack of a continuous tradition in this particular matter, we can only speculate. Some well-known claims, such as the suggestion that the Native Americans or African Americans are the Lost Israelite Tribes, we can confidently dismiss offhand; and DNA analyses have also debunked such ideas. Other claims, such as that which has been suggested concerning the Pathani (Pashtun), are less far-fetched but must for the time being remain nothing more than a guess.

See also:

Are Hebrews Israelites and Jews the same people?

Debunking the "From the converts" claim

Debunking the Black tribes claim