Tribe of Ephraim in the context of "Gibeah"

Samaria (/səˈmæriə, -ˈmɛəriə/), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (Hebrew: שֹׁמְרוֹן‎), is used as a historical and biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is known in Arabic under two names, Samirah (Arabic: السَّامِرَة‎, as-Sāmira), and Mount Nablus (جَبَل نَابُلُس, Jabal Nābulus).

The first-century historian Josephus set the Mediterranean Sea as its limit to the west, and the Jordan River as its limit to the east. Its territory largely corresponds to the biblical allotments of the tribe of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh. It includes most of the region of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, which was north of the Kingdom of Judah. The border between Samaria and Judea, while historically fluid, is set at the latitude of Ramallah.

Shechem (/ʃəˈkɛm/ shə-KEM; Biblical Hebrew: שְׁכֶם, romanized: Šəḵem, Biblical pronunciation: [ʃəˈxɛm]; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠬࠥࠊࠝࠌ, romanized: Šăkēm), also spelled Sichem (/sɪˈkɛm/ sik-KEM; in the Septuagint, Koine Greek: Συχέμ, romanized: Sykhém) and other variants, was an ancient city in the Southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) following the split of the United Monarchy. According to Joshua 21:20–21, it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel. The city later regained its importance as a prominent Samaritan center of Hellenistic Palestine.

Traditionally associated with the city of Nablus, Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata village in the West Bank, Palestine.

The Ten Lost Tribes were those from the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. They were the following: Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim – all but Judah and Benjamin, both of which were based in the neighbouring Kingdom of Judah, and therefore survived until the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. Alongside Judah and Benjamin was part of the Tribe of Levi, which was not allowed land tenure, but received dedicated cities. The exile of Israel's population, known as the Assyrian captivity, was an instance of the long-standing resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire implemented in many subjugated territories.

The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that "there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers." In the 7th and 8th centuries CE, the return of the Ten Lost Tribes was associated with the concept of the coming of the Hebrew Messiah. Claims of descent from the "lost tribes" have been proposed in relation to many groups, and some Abrahamic religions espouse a messianic view that Israel's tribes will return.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh (/məˈnæsə/; Hebrew: שֵׁבֶט מְנַשֶּׁה‎‎ Ševet Mənašše, Tiberian: Šēḇeṭ Mănašše) was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the Assyrian invasion of 720 BCE, it is counted as one of the ten lost tribes. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph.

Joshua (/ˈdʒɒʃuə/ JOSH-oo-ə), also known as Yehoshua (‹See Tfd›Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ Yəhōšuaʿ,‍ Tiberian: Yŏhōšuaʿ, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, was Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Book of Joshua of the Hebrew Bible. His name was Hoshea (הוֹשֵׁעַ‎ Hōšēaʿ,‍ lit. 'Save') the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him "Yehoshua" (translated as "Joshua" in English), the name by which he is commonly known in English. According to the Bible, he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus.

In Numbers 13:1, the Hebrew Bible identifies Joshua as one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. After the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, and allocated lands to the tribes. According to biblical chronology, Joshua lived some time in the Bronze Age. According to Joshua 24:29 Joshua died at the age of 110.

The Tribe of Dan (Hebrew: דָּן, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe initially settled in the hill lands bordering Ephraim and Benjamin on the east and Judah and the Philistines on the south but migrated north due to pressure of their enemies, settling at Laish (later known as Dan), near Mount Hermon.

Biblical judge Samson was a hero of the Dan tribe.

The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes of Israel in biblical tradition. Since the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (often called the "two half-tribes of Joseph") together traditionally constituted the "tribe of Joseph", it was often not listed as one of the tribes, in favour of Ephraim and Manasseh being listed in its place; consequently it was often termed the House of Joseph, to avoid the use of the term tribe. Even though Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons, they were considered heads of two of the twelve tribes of Israel because Joseph’s father, Jacob (renamed in later life by God as “Israel”), adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons (Genesis 48:1-16).

According to the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the ensign of both the House of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) and the Tribe of Benjamin was of silk of three colours, corresponding with the precious stones in the priestly breastplate, leshem, shəvo, and aḥlamah (amber, agate, and amethyst); and upon it expressed and set forth the names of the three tribes, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; having the figure of a young man upon it, with the inscription: "And the Cloud of the LORD was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp." (Numbers 10:34).

Bethel (Hebrew: בֵּית-אֵל, romanized: Bēṯ ʾĒl, "House of El" or "House of God", also transliterated Beth El, Beth-El, Beit El; Greek: Βαιθήλ; Latin: Bethel) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Bethel is first referred to in the Bible as being near the place where Abram pitched his tent. Later, Bethel is mentioned as the location of Jacob's Ladder that Jacob named Bethel "House of God". The name is further used for a border city located between the territory of the tribe of Benjamin and that of the tribe of Ephraim, which first belonged to the Benjaminites and was later conquered by the Ephraimites. In the 4th century, Eusebius and Jerome described Bethel as a small village that lay 12 Roman miles north of Jerusalem to the right or the east of the road leading to Neapolis.