1 Kings 11: 29-32

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Ahi’ja tore his garment into 12 pieces and gave Jerobo’am 10 as a symbol that God was giving him 10 tribes. But God was allowing Solomon to retain one tribe. What happened to the 12th tribe?
 
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marthax2:
Ahi’ja tore his garment into 12 pieces and gave Jerobo’am 10 as a symbol that God was giving him 10 tribes. But God was allowing Solomon to retain one tribe. What happened to the 12th tribe?
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The 12th tribe was the line of Levi, they didn’t possess land etc. Also, the kingdom under Solomom remained intact. His son, Rehoboam, became king of the southern kingdom (Judah) while Jeroboam became king of the Northern kingdom (Israel).
 
Here is the passage in question from 1 Kings 11:
29 And at that time, when Jerobo’am went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahi’jah the Shi’lonite found him on the road. Now Ahi’jah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30 Then Ahi’jah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jerobo’am, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes 32 (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel).
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Actually, when Israel was split into the kingdoms of Israel in the north and Judah in the south, the two tribes that stayed as Judah were Judah and Benjamin (Jerusalem was actually located in Benjamin’s territory. Since it was the capital and because the Temple was there, the Kings of Judah, descendents of Solomon, weren’t about to let it go. Benjamin, among the smallest of tribes, was probably too weak to leave, even if they wanted to).

That being the case, it’s possible to interpret this passage as referring to all the tribes except Judah, with Benjamin the one tribe the king of Judah would retain, besides his own.
 
Well, Joseph’s two sons Ephriam and Manasseh each had their own tribes. So with Levi not having a portion of the land there were actually 13 tribes. So part of Benjamin went with Judah and the rest was absorbed into another tribe making 12 tribes.
 
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