Editing Issachar

{{otheruses}}
{{Short description|Biblical figure and son of Jacob and Leah}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Issachar
| native_name        = יִשָּׂשכָר
| native_name_lang   = he
| pronunciation      = Yissakhar
| birth_place        = [[Paddan Aram]]
| birth_date         = 10 [[Av (month)|Av]]
| death_date         = (aged 122)
| resting_place      = maybe in [[Sidon]]{{citationneeded|date=January 2024}}
| father             = [[Jacob]]
| mother             = [[Leah]]
| image              = Issachar (Francisco de Zurbarán).jpg
| caption            = Painting by [[Francisco de Zurbarán]] (from ''[[Jacob and his twelve sons]]'', c. 1640–45)
| spouse             = Aridah
| children           = Tola (son)<br>Puah (son)<br>Jashub (son)<br> Shimron (son)<br><ref name="Genesis 46:13" />
| relatives          = [[Reuben (son of Jacob)|Reuben]] (brother)<br>[[Simeon (son of Jacob)|Simeon]] (brother)<br>[[Levi]] (brother)<br>[[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] (brother)<br>[[Dan (son of Jacob)|Dan]] (half brother)<br>[[Naphtali]] (half brother)<br>[[Gad (son of Jacob)|Gad]] (half brother)<br>[[Asher]] (half brother)<br>[[Zebulun]] (brother)<br>[[Dinah]] (sister)<br>[[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] (half brother)<br>[[Benjamin]] (half brother)<br>[[Rachel]] (aunt/stepmother)
}}
[[File:Issachar, from The Twelve Sons of Jacob MET DP873209.jpg|thumb|''Isachar'', from [[Jacques de Gheyn II]]'s prints (c. 1584–94)]]
'''Issachar''' ({{langx|he|יִשָּׂשכָר|Yiśśāḵār|"There is reward"}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |title=The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1783746767}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 3462. yesh |url=https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3426.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 7939. sakar |url=https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7939.htm}}</ref> was, according to the [[Book of Genesis]], the fifth of the six sons of [[Jacob]] and [[Leah]] (Jacob's ninth son), and the founder of the [[Israelites|Israelite]] [[Tribe of Issachar]]. However, some [[Biblical criticism|Biblical scholars]] view this as an [[eponym]]ous [[metaphor]] providing an [[aetiology]] of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite [[confederation]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

==Name==
The text of Genesis provides two different sources for the name of ''Issachar''. The first derives it from ''ish sakar'', meaning ''man of hire'', in reference to Leah's hire of Jacob's [[Human reproduction#Copulation|sexual favours]] for the price of some [[Mandrake (mythology)#In the Bible|mandrake]]s.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|30:16}}</ref> The second derives it from ''yesh sakar'', meaning ''there is a reward'', in reference to Leah's opinion that the birth of Issachar was a divine reward for giving her handmaid [[Zilpah]] to Jacob as a concubine.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|30:18}}</ref>

Albright notes that the name Issachar finds a rich parallel in the name of a Semitic slave recorded in the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]] Egypt derived from the Semitic root ''ś-k-r'' "favorable, favor". The causative *''Yašaśkir'' which constitutes the protoform of "Issachar" would mean approximately "May (God) Grant Favor".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Albright |first=W. F. |date=1954 |title=Northwest-Semitic Names in a List of Egyptian Slaves from the Eighteenth Century B. C. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/595513?seq=1 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=222–233 |doi=10.2307/595513 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Historical theories==
In the Biblical account, Leah's status as the first wife of Jacob is regarded by [[biblical criticism|biblical scholars]] as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Issachar as being one of the original Israelite groups;<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">{{cite book|title=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> however, this may have been the result of a scribal error, as the names of ''Issachar'' and ''[[Naphtali]]'' appear to have changed places elsewhere in the text, and the birth narrative of Issachar and Naphtali is regarded by [[textual criticism|textual scholars]] as having been spliced together from [[documentary hypothesis|its sources]] in a manner which has highly corrupted the narrative.<ref name="Friedman">{{cite book|author=[[Richard Elliott Friedman]]|title=Who wrote the bible?}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book|title=[[Peake's commentary on the Bible]]}}</ref>

==Rabbinical interpretations==
In [[classical rabbinical literature]], it is stated that Issachar was born on the fourth of [[Av (month)|Av]], and lived 122 years.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> According to the [[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|midrashic Book of Jasher]], Issachar married ''Aridah'', the younger daughter of [[Jobab]], a son of [[Joktan]]; the Torah states that Issachar had four sons, who were born in Canaan and migrated with him to [[Egypt]],<ref name="Genesis 46:13">{{bibleverse||Genesis|46:13}}</ref> with their descendants remaining there until [[the Exodus]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Book of Exodus}}</ref> The midrashic Book of Jasher portrays Issachar as somewhat pragmatic, due to his strong effort in being more learned, less involved with other matters which led him to such actions like taking a feeble part in military campaigns involving his brothers, and generally residing in strongly fortified cities and, depending on his brother [[Zebulun]]'s financial support in return for a share in the spiritual reward he gains.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/>

The [[Talmud]] argues that Issachar's description in the [[Blessing of Jacob]] - ''Issachar is a strong [[donkey|ass]] lying down between two burdens: and he saw that settled life was good, and the land was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute''<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|49:14-15}}</ref> - is a reference to the religious scholarship of the tribe of Issachar, though scholars feel that it may more simply be a literal interpretation of Issachar's name.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]|title=Tribe of Issachar}}</ref>

==In Islam==
Some Muslim genealogists link Shuayb to [[Prophet Abraham|Abraham]] through both Sarah and [[Keturah]] by making Shuayb's genealogy to be Shuayb b. Isaachar b. Midian b. Abraham.<ref>{{cite book|last=Noegel|first=Scott|title=Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism|date=2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810866102}}</ref>

== Tomb ==
A [[Samaritans|Samaritan]] tradition recorded in the late 19th century considered Neby Hazkil near [[Rameh]] to be the burial place of Issachar.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/219/mode/1up 219]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Tribe of Issachar]]
*[[Sea Peoples]]
*[[Book of Chronicles]]

==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
*[http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/yissachar.htm Judaism 101:A Glossary of Basic Jewish Terms and Concepts: Yissachar]
*[http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/9131/jewish/Issachar.htm Issachar] at [[Chabad.org]]

{{Sons of Jacob}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Founders of biblical tribes]]
[[Category:Tribe of Issachar]]
[[Category:Children of Jacob]]