12 Tribes

According to the Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. They were divided into twelve tribes, each descended from one of twelve sons or grandsons of Jacob. The term Israelite derives from Israel (Hebrew: ישראל (Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl)), the name given to Jacob after the death of Isaac. (Genesis 32:28-29). His descendants are called the House of Jacob, the Children of Israel, the People of Israel, or the Israelites. The Israelites were divided along family lines, each called a shevet or mateh in Hebrew meaning literally a "staff" or "rod". The term is conventionally translated as "tribe" in English, although the divisions were not small isolated distinct ethnic groups in the modern sense of the term.

In Egypt the house of Joseph was divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, by virtue of Jacob's blessing. (Genesis 48:8-21). Some English speaking Jewish groups view the pronunciation, English transcription and Hebrew spelling of the tribal names to be extremely important. The transcriptions and spellings are as follows:

Reuben: ראובן, Standard Rəʾuven, Tiberian Rəʾ?ḇēn

Simeon: שמעון, Standard imʿon, Tiberian imʿn

Levi: לוי, Standard Levi, Tiberian Lēw (which did not share in the apportionment of the Land)

Judah: יהודה, Standard Yəhuda, Tiberian Yəh?ḏāh

Dan: דן, Standard Dan, Tiberian Dān

Naphtali: נפתלי, Standard Naftali, Tiberian Nap̄tāl

Gad: גד, Standard Gad, Tiberian Gāḏ

Asher: אשר, Standard Aer, Tiberian ʾĀēr

Issachar: יששכר, Standard Yissaḫar, Tiberian Yiśśḵār

Zebulun: זבולן, Standard Zəv?lun, Tiberian Zəḇ?lun

Joseph: יוסף, Standard Yosef, Tiberian Ysēp, containing the tribes:

*Manasseh: מנשה, Standard Mənae, Tiberian Mənaeh, Samaritan Manatch

*Ephraim: אפרים, Standard Efryim, Tiberian ʾEpryim / ʾEprāyim, Samaritan Afrime

Benjamin: בנימין, Standard Binyamin, Tiberian Binyāmn

Source: From wikipedia