Hebrew Origins

What are the Ten Tribes?

The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel are Tribes of the Israelite nations who were exiled and whose identity has been lost. They are not aware of who they are, nor is the world aware of them. Nevertheless, they exist and are destined to return and re-unite with Judah (Isaiah 11: 12-13, Jeremiah 31:19-20, Ezekiel 37:16-28, Hosea 1:10, 2:1, 23). By the term "Judah," is meant the Jews who kept the Jewish Religion and did not forget who they were.

The Sages also spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes Returning in the End Times:

Midrash,Yalkut Shimeoni, Song of Solomon 905:
#... These are the ‘Ten Tribes.’.... They are those who were exiled beyond the Sambation River. The exiles of Judah and Benyamin [i.e. the present-day ‘Jews’] are destined to go unto them and bring them back in order to merit with them the Messianic Era and life in the World-To-Come. This is as it says, ‘In those days the house of Judah shall go unto the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers’ (Jeremiah 3:18). #

After the death of King Solomon the Kingdom of Israel had been divided into two sections (1-Kings 12:20). In the north was an entity referred to as "Israel," or "Samaria," or "Joseph," or "Ephraim" (Isaiah 11:13). This contained ten of the 12 tribes though when they were exiled part of the remaining tribes also went with them. In the south was a Kingdom known as "Judah," "Zion", or "Jerusalem." Sometimes it may be also denoted as "Israel" the same as the northern Kingdom. Judah originally encompassed the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Then most of the Levites joined then. After that minority elements from the other Tribes also came in.
From this southern Kingdom of Judah emerged the foundational groups of the present-day Jewish people.
From the northern section came the "Lost Ten Tribes."

How did they get lost?

The northern Kingdom had worshipped pagan idols, adopted pagan beliefs synthesizing them with Israelite ones, intermixed with neighboring peoples, stopped practising circumcision, and in general virtually stopped being "Jewish" (i.e. Hebraic) in the religious sense while they were still in the land. Their level of literacy was not as high as that of Judah and their Israelite consciousness was apparently lower. They were exiled by the Assyrians, split up into several groups, subjected to foreign overseers, amalgamated with various peoples, moved around from here to there quite frequently, and so on. It would not have taken them long to forget where they came from. Numerous other nations were exiled at this time by the Assyrians. It was Assyrian Policy. They would take peoples or segments of them from one area and place them in another. In some cases they took the men from nation and the women from another and put them together. All those other nations also forget their ancestry. It had been prophesied the Lost Ten Tribes would loose awareness of their Israelite identity (Deuteronomy 29:20-21, Hosea 1:9, 7:8, Isaiah 49:21). NO ANCIENT PEOPLE that has moved from its land (apart from Judah) still remembers who it is. And the Jews had Judaism whereas the Ten Tribes did not.
Nevertheless, Tribal Names were sometimes retained by the migrating groups. The Sabalingoi for instance were a people (recorded by Ptolemy in Northern Frisia (Netherlands). This name means "People of Zebulon." So too, the Danes from Dan in Denmark, and others kept the names of their Tribes and/or of Tribal clans from within the Tribes. It has been shown that despite everything the different tribes remained roughly together or re-coalesced in the course of time.

Who did they become and where did they move to?
They migrated, they moved. We can trace some of them. Often the migrating groups ultimately converged in the same areas. Tentatively we may say that Israelites were to be found in specific places. They were not necessarily the majorities but they were there and they were significant.

Q.20. Ten Tribes. What are the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel?

The Sages also spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes Returning in the End Times:

Midrash,Yalkut Shimeoni, Song of Solomon 905:
#... These are the ‘Ten Tribes.’.... They are those who were exiled beyond the Sambation River. The exiles of Judah and Benyamin [i.e. the present-day ‘Jews’] are destined to go unto them and bring them back in order to merit with them the Messianic Era and life in the World-To-Come. This is as it says, ‘In those days the house of Judah shall go unto the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers’ (Jeremiah 3:18). #

1. Movement by Sea.

Most of the Israelites had been exiled to the north (2-Kings 17:18). A portion however were transported overseas in Phoenician and Philistine ships working for the Assyrians (Amos 1:6-10). Hebrews transported by ship were taken to Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Those taken to Spain later moved northward into Gaul or crossed over to Britain and Ireland.

2. Movement by Land Northward.

The Assyrians moved masses of Northern Israelites (and other Syrians and Phoenicians) to Northern Mesopotamia and to Hara in eastern Iran. They became federated with, identified as part of, the Cimmerians, Scyths, and Goths (Guti).

3. Cimmerians to Europe and Galatian-Gaul
Ca. 640 BCE: The first waves of Cimmerians via Turkey and the Anatolian Bosporos were driven into Europe whence they made their way west to Gaul and Britain becoming known as Celts and Galatians.

4. First Scythian Movements to Europe
Ca. 550 BCE: The movement of Scythians from the Middle East to north of the Caucasus began in earnest with the penetration of Scythia.

5. Royal Scythians Move Westward.

Climate changes in Scythia caused "Sarmatian" groups to push the Royal Scyths westward in the period 300-100 BCE. The Royal Scyths re-settled at first in the area of Bulgaria, then after renewed pressure continued north, ultimately to reach Scandinavia.

6. Royal Scythians to Scandinavia
The Huns emerging from Mongolia or further east (200-160 BCE) attacked the Aseir (Wusun), Goths, and Sacae and caused these peoples to war amongst themselves. These events were followed by a climate change which, after 120 BCE, caused the desolation of Chorasmia (east of the Caspian Sea) which previously had been heavily populated. Goths and Sacae began to move westward and Scandinavia was re-populated in the period 100 BCE-100 CE.

7. The Belgae.
After 200 BCE the Belgae from the East began occupying Northern Gaul. They were associated with, or accompanied by, a group ultimately hailing from the Middle East and Syria and known linguistically as "The Northwest Block".

8. Eastern Scythians Move West.
Later, from eastern Scythia, in the decades 70-50 BCE, the Western Sienbi and the Northern Hun group of Hugie, Dingling, and Gienkun moved westward. ...They began to re-appear from 50 BCE in the Rhine area of Western Europe and within a hundred years had taken over the region. The area of Germany, like Scandinavia, received Tribes coming from Scythia and about to continue westward into Gaul and Britain. ["Gaul" is a term generally inclusive of modern France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Holland].

9. Suebi and Saxons Move Westward
From 150-350 CE continuous warfare instigated by the Huns in East Scythia caused many more peoples to move westward amongst whom were the eastern branch of Sienbi in ca. 170 CE ....
The movements were of peoples coming from Scythia via Scandinavia and the Baltic Coast, and in the south via the Balkans. ....
The movement westward could also be quite sudden. Events on the borders of China or even deep within China sometimes had direct connection to movements in the west. Peoples of nomadic disposition would traverse the distance. Chain reactions of one group pushing forward another would also occur.

10. The Huns Pushed Saxons, Franks, and Others Westward. In the years 350-450 CE the Huns moved en-masse out of "Scythia" (Eurasia) into Europe forcing most of the peoples in Scythia to accompany them or else to flee for their lives. As a result of the Hun invasions the Saxons, Franks, and Alamans received a large augmentation of manpower with the addition of new clans.

11. The Danites and Nephtalites Move to Scandinavia.
A good portion of the Naphtalite horde had remained to the east of Scythia. In the 450-500 CE period the Naphtalites began to move west eventually entering Scandinavia in the 500's and 600's CE. The Naphtalite horde included the Danes who re-settled Denmark possibly via Sweden.

12.The Viking Invasions.
The continued migrations to Scandinavia resulted in over-population, the pushing outwards of coastal populations, and subsequent overseas colonization. The Scandinavians overseas were known as the Vikings. The Vikings settled in England, Scotland, Ireland, Normandy (France), and elsewhere.

13. The Normans.
In Normandy the Vikings accepted French Culture and were called Normans. From Normandy they invaded England in 1066.

14. The Getae and Daci.
A portion of the Cimmerian-host in its trip westward had remained in the Balkans and became known as the Getae and Dacii. Most of the Getae and Daci in the period 100 BCE-100 CE moved to the north toward the Baltic and Scandinavia and eventually participated in the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain.

15. The Picts and Khazars.
Some groups of Sacae-related Israelites including bands of Goths and Naphtali remained in the Caucasus region and adjoining areas of Scythia. These were eventually to amalgamate with the Agathyrsi and form the KHAZAR nation which converted to Judaism. A previous portion of the Agathyrsi had moved to Scotland becoming a part of the Picts.

16. Movement out of Germany.

The migrations to the USA out of Germany and other parts of Europe comprised peoples who were DIFFERENT FROM THOSE WHO STAYED BEHIND.

17. Jews from Judah also became part of the said nations and were assimilated among them. So too, converts from these peoples attached themselves to Judah.

The majority of the Ten Tribes were destined to be situated at the continental extremities of the earth such as North America, the British Isles (Isaiah 41:1-9), Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (Deuteronomy 33:13, Isaiah 24:16, 26:15, 41:8-9) cf.

Isaiah 49:

6 IT IS TOO SMALL A THING THAT YOU SHOULD BE MY SERVANT
TO RAISE UP THE TRIBES OF JACOB,
AND TO RESTORE THE PRESERVED ONES OF ISRAEL;
I WILL ALSO GIVE YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES,
THAT YOU SHOULD BE MY SALVATION TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

The Ten Tribes were to be exceedingly numerous (Genesis 16:10, 22:17, Hosea 1:10), to be the richest (Genesis 27:28, 49:25, Deuteronomy 33:13-16, Hosea 2:8), and most powerful (Numbers 24:8-7, Micah 5:7-9) nations on earth and were to control the major international strategic bases of the world (Genesis 22:16-17, 24:60), such as Gibraltar (Britain), Ramstein (Germany under US control), and numerous US and British bases all over the world. They were likened unto a lion, and unicorn (Numbers 24:8-9, i.e. cf. the symbols of Britain), and a bald-headed eagle (Micah 1:16). They were also to be largely unaware of their Israelite identity and to practice a non-Jewish religion (Hosea 2:8, 2:13, 2:16 11:12). They were to be in many oceans, in islands, in the north and west, in the coastlands.

Rabbinical Sources.

Commentaries to the Book of Obadiah 1:20 say that the Lost Ten Tribes were in Zarephath (Rashi, Nachmanides).
Rashi said Zaraphath meant France. Abarbanel says that the term Zaraphath included France and Britain. Nachmanides the far north in general.
The Malbim also opines that Obadiah 1:20 is speaking of the Lost Ten Tribes.

The Hatam Softer said that in the Time of the Messiah Britain and parts of Western Europe will be part of the Promised Land.

Early Jewish Beliefs.

Post-2nd Temple period Jewish legends say the Ten Tribes are in the Isles of the Blessed meaning Britain and/or Ireland.

Jewish Arab traditions (i.e. Arab sources of Jewish origin) concerning the people of Aed (meaning the Ten Tribes) etc., locate them in the British Isles or France.
Legends concerning the Sons of Moses often associate them with the Lost Ten Tribes also place them in France and/or the Isles of the Blessed meaning Britain and Ireland.

Josephus understood the Prophecy of Balaam to indicate that:

The multitude of your posterity also shall live as well in the islands as on the continent, and that more in number than are the stars of heaven.

Ireland was also known as Island of the Saints and as Isle of the Blessed. Isle of the Saints or Isle of the Blessed was a concept known in Late Classical Thought. It usually applied to Ireland though in some contexts could also apply to Britain. Jews in the Land of Israel in Roman Times as well as Jews in Arab Lands at a later date had the notion that the Lost Ten Tribes and peoples, such as the Rechabites and Children of Moses, were to be found in the Islands of the Blessed.

The Sons of Moses were a legendary group usually associated in Jewish Legend with the Lost Ten Tribes.
They were in "GABALK" which was an Arabic term for western Europe especially the Frankish realm of France.
The pagan Greeks and Romans also had legends concerning Cronus (Saturn) and his offspring concerning being in the British Isles. In some of these sources Saturn is identified with Israel. In pagan terms the legend of Saturn (Cronus) being expelled from Israel and going to Britain would have represented Northern Israel being exiled and reaching the British Isles.

Rabbi Yisrael Alter (1895-1977) in his work "Beis Yisroel" (VeYechi, 5710 (ca. 1950-51), # Genesis 47:28) wrote that the Children of Israel, especially as associated with Joseph, were known as Gomer and as Gomerites. Gomer is the name given by the Assyrians to the Cimmerian Federation that rebelled against them and from whom the Scythians and Goths emerged. Archaeological findings and inscriptions allow an equation of these peoples with the Lost Ten Tribes. They became the ancestors of Western Nations.

The Messiah son of Joseph is forerunner of the Messiah son of David. He was spoken of in early times but in our has aroused increasing interest. The Malbim says that the MBJ will precede the MBD. The MBJ will head the LTTs. Religious Zionists speak of the MBJ representing forces that prepare the way, the materialist, secular, infrastructure for the coming renewed Kingdom of Judah and Israel in the Messianic Era. This is pertinent to Britain having helped the Jews colonise the Land and after that the USA (the brother nation to Britain) also helping the State of Israel. Rabbi Joseph Valley (1697-1777), said (Hosea 14:8) that Ephraim represents the Israelite who assimilates among the Gentiles and civilizes them from inside.