What happened to the 10 tribes of the Jews?

Answer 1

No one knows, but they most likely assimilated into the Babylonian culture.

Answer:

The Ten Tribes were carried off to Assyria, not Babylonia.

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. 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.

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 descendents 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.)

Answer 2

When Joshua captured the Promised Land, there were 12 tribes. Three tribes stayed east of the Jordan. The tribe of Simeon was south of the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Simeon was absorbed into Judah.

The Tribes of Judah and Benjamin became the Kingdom of Judah and the other tribes became the Kingdom of Israel.

Later the tribes east of the Jordan were absorbed into the nations east of the Jordan and ceased being a part of Israel and Judah.

After a number of years, the Assyrian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Israel. It took all of the people living in the towns and cities and moved them to various towns and cities throughout the Assyrian Empire. It replaced them with people from various parts of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire left the farmers behind.

The Assyrians came back a few years later and removed everyone from the cities of Judah except for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. It replaced those people with people from the cities of the Assyrian Empire.

As a result, the people displaced from the promised land were spread out throughout the Assyrian Empire.

The Apocrypha, a section in some Bibles, includes stories about what happened during that period. One book tells how the Assyrians would not allow the Jews to bury their dead, so Tobit arranged for it to happen.

The group that the Assyrians sent to Babylon had arrived there with just a few books. They had a number of traditions, some written and some oral. They wanted them all written down. They asked Ezras to write them down. He had five young men write down The Bible. According to Jewish tradition that is when the Bible was first written down. You can read about it is second Ezras, also in the Apocrypha.

Answer 3

They went lost because they failed to live up to the high standards that God set for the Israelites (see Hosea ch.5, among many such passages). They were exiled to Assyria and Medea (2 Kings 18:11); and from there, they moved or were further exiled, to points now unknown. See also: Where are the Ten Tribes?