ISSACHAR. – Ninth son of Jacob, fifth of Lia, whose name Jiššāhār in the qērē perpetuum corresponds to “mercenary man” or “there is the wage”; in the qēthibh, “He [God] provides the wage,” third person singular of the verb šhr in šaph'ēl, an ancient Canaanite or Hebrew form found in the Ugaritic texts.
The name is explained by the mother: “The Lord has given me my reward” (šāhār), which presupposes the biblical spelling of the qēthibh (Gen. 30:18; cf. V. 16). With the sons Thola, Phua, Iasub, and Semran (Gen. 46:13; Num. 26:23; I Par. 7:1), I. went down with Jacob to Egypt, where the descendants of his sons multiplied so greatly that at the time of the Exodus the tribe numbered 54,400 warriors in the first census (Num. 1:28-29) and 64,300 in the second (Num. 13:8). Igal represented the tribe in the exploration of Canaan (Num. 13:8), and Phaltiel on the commission for the division of the territory (Num. 34:26).
The boundaries of the Issacharite district (Jos. 19:17-23) can approximately be established by listing the cities assigned to it: from Engannim (= Genin) to the south-eastern corner of the plain of Esdrelon, through Iezrael (= Zav'in) and Sunem (= Selem), the line met at Thabor, the sacred mountain, the tribes of Nephthali and Zabulon, and proceeded eastward to the Jordan. It thus included the eastern part of the fertile plain of Esdrelon and the valley of Galūd, good and pleasant land. As Jacob (Gen. 49:14-15) and Moses (Deut. 33:18) had foretold, the tribe, settled in the valleys adjoining Thabor and Nebī Dāhī, benefited from the richness of the soil only at the expense of its independence and, “like a strong ass, lying down in a good resting-place, bowed its back to the burden,” serving in the caravans of the powerful Canaanites. Nevertheless, the tribe joined the war proclaimed by Debora against Sisara (Iude. 5:15); the judges Thola (Iude. 10:1) and the king Baasa (II Reg. 15:27) were Issacharites; and the tribe, numbering 87,000 warriors (I Par. 7:5), supported David in his accession to the throne of Israel (I Par. 12:32).