Below is a shortened version
of an article that originally published in our magazine "Brit-Am"
"vol.1, issue no.2, pp.9-14
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HERE to see a full length translation of the original extract from Nachmanides
THE
TEN TRIBES WILL RETURN!
The
Bible Says So!
Extract
from “The Book of Redemption” (Sefer HaGeulah)
by
Nachmanides (Moshe ben Nachman. 1194-1270)
Nachmanides was one of the greatest Biblical
scholars of all times. He attached importance to the subject of the Lost Ten
Tribes and spoke of them in several places. In the following articles Nachmanides gives us some important insights. There were
actually thirteen tribes of Israel.
The people of Israel
include two sections, which are the Ten Tribes of “Israel”
and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin known collectively as Judah.
Several Exiles occurred to the people of Israel.
The Bible prophesied each one separately. Nachmanides
discusses these prophecies and distinguishes between them. Just as part of Judah
was exiled with the northern tribes so too did some people from the ten tribes remain
with Judah.
Their descendants are now to be found amongst the present-day Jews. The
overwhelming majority of the Ten Tribes HOWEVER were exiled by the Assyrians
and never returned though they are destined to do so. The Ten Tribes (said Nachmanides in ca. 1260 CE) are still in Tserefath (France and its neighborhood) and “at
the ends of the north”, meaning at that time the northern areas of Europe.
The Two Sticks of
Ezekiel 37
In Ezekiel
[chapter thirty-seven] it speaks of future re-union:
[Ezek 37:16]
Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah,
and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and
write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel
his companions:
Here it speaks
of a future Redemption for both Judah
and Israel.
Where it says, “For Judah,
and for the children of Israel
his companions” by “the children of Israel
his companions” it means Benjamin who was attached to Judah.
Similarly it says, “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel
his companions.” The section is quite plain. The two kingdoms will unite into
one kingdom under the House of David. The Israelites went into Exile and ever
since then Ephraim and all [the ten tribes of northern] Israel
have never [again] been in the Land
of Israel. Concerning the future it
says, “And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel,
when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore”
Behold I will
recall a matter that is expressly mentioned many times in Scripture. It is
known that with the Return of the Exiles under Ezra only the Tribes of Judah
and Benjamin returned. These had been exiled to Babylon
by Nebuchadnezzar. This is what it says concerning the beginning of that
Redemption, [Ezra 1:5] Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and
Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had
raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem”.
They said in
the Midrash Seder Olam,
<Of those who came into the Land in the time of Ezra the whole community
together numbered 42,360. The total whose names are recorded however only numbered 30,360. What happened therefore to the missing
12,000? These were those from the other Tribes who came up with Ezra.
Let
me clarify the matter for you…The Kingdom of Israel
included the ten northern Tribes. These were exiled by Sancherib
[Sancherib in Rabbinical Literature is a figure taken
to represent ALL of the Assyrian monarchs] as it says, “For he rent Israel
from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat
king: and Jeroboam drave Israel
from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin” (2-Kings 17;11). “Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight…so was
Israel exiled out of their own land to Assyria unto this day” (2-Kings 17;12).
This is a proof that all the Kingdom
of Israel was exiled to Assyria
but the Kingdom of David
remained as it was until Nebuchadnessar exiled them
to Babylon. The Kingdom
of David included Judah and
Benjamin. It says, “There was none left but the tribe of Judah
only” (2-Kings 17;18). This indicates the Kingdom of
the Tribe of Judah that included the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
It
also appears from the simple meaning of the text, that before the exile of the
northern country by Senacherib there were gathered
into the cities of Judah people from the neighboring tribes of Menasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon and these then dwelt in the
heritage of Judah…in the period King Asa it was written,
“And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of
Ephraim and Menasseh, and out of Simeon: for they
fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw the LORD his God was with
him” (2-Chronicles 15; 9).
Those
from the Tribes of Ephraim and Shimeon from Israel
that were present (2-Chronicles 35;18) with Judah
were they who dwelt in the Land of Judah
or perhaps to some degree also those who had dwelt in their own territories
adjoining Judah
and had fled to Judah.
They are referred to in a general sense as “from Israel”
(in 2-Chronicles 35;18) and not by their specific
tribes since they represented only a small portion of their tribe. These
are they who returned under Ezra with the Jews from Babylon.
They were not expressly mentioned by their tribes since they were attached to Judah.
They all settled in the cities of Judah.
There was no Redemption for the Ten Tribes who remained in exile…
We
have explained this section in accordance with the opinion of our sages of
blessed memory. These said that in the time of the Second
Temple a few refugees from the
other tribes also came up. They did not come from all of the other tribes but
only from Ephraim and Menasseh. [Another authority
however, Tosefot in Arakin
32;a, says that, “from each and every tribe a few
returned”]. These few were not enough to be termed a tribe in their own right
or even part of a tribe. Due to their minority position they were included
amongst the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin and dwelt in their cities. This
Second Redemption was not meant for the other tribes…
The vision of
Obadiah deals with events that were to occur after the exile of Jerusalem to
Babylon: <<IN THE DAY THAT THOU STOODEST ON THE OTHER SIDE, IN THE DAY
THAT THE STRANGERS CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE HIS FORCES, AND FOREIGNERS ENTERED INTO
HIS GATES, AND CAST LOTS UPON JERUSALEM, EVEN THOU WAST AS ONE OF THEM>>
[Obadiah 1:11].
<<AND THE HOUSE OF JACOB
SHALL BE A FIRE, AND THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH A FLAME, AND THE HOUSE OF ESAU FOR
STUBBLE, AND THEY SHALL KINDLE IN THEM, AND DEVOUR THEM; AND THERE SHALL NOT BE
ANY REMAINING OF THE HOUSE OF ESAU; FOR THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT>>
[Obadiah 1:18].
There are
those who say that this prophecy of Obadiah is referring to King Hezekiah in
the Second Temple
period but those who think so are in error. It is obvious from Scripture that
this term, i.e. House of Joseph, applies to the Kingdom
of Israel who are the Ten Tribes.
They should be ashamed not to recognize this fact! The above verse proves it!
When was the House of Joseph like a flame devouring the stubble of Esau? Not in
Biblical times! The Ten Tribes had already been exiled and they are still in
Exile, in the area of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath:
“And this first exile of the children of Israel
who are [now] from Canaan unto Zarephath”
[Obadiah 1:20]. [Rashi,
Iben Ezra, Radak and others
say that Zarephath means France,
Abarbanel says it means France
and Britain].
These places are at the extremes of the north. The verse continues, “and the
captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south”
[Obadiah 1:20]. Those who were
exiled to “Sepharad” [meaning Spain]
were the Jews of Jerusalem who were taken away by Titus and Vespasian
when the Second Temple
was destroyed by the Romans and not before then. The others were the Ten Tribes
who were exiled in the First Exile. These have not returned as has been
claimed.
Editor’s Note: <<[[It says,
“Zarephath”
according to Rabbinical Commentators (Rashi, Iben Ezra, Radak, and all Medieval authorities) refers to France or more specifically
northern France and probably included present-day Belgium
and Holland. Abarbanel
said that “Zarephath” included both France
and “Island of England”
(i.e. Britain).
”The words translated in the KJ as “the captivity of this host” in Hebrew [“Galut HaChail”] can also mean
“the first exile” and so was the understanding of Rabbinical
Commentators.]]>> End of Editor’s Note
Nachmanides continues:
When did they
[the Ten Tribes] come back and when were these enormous exiled groups
ingathered to inherit the cities of Ephraim and Samaria?
When did saviours go up on Mount
Zion to judge the mount of Esau? In
the time of Ezra only a few returned as pigeons to their dovecotes. It says, “the kingdom shall be the LORD's”
[Obadiah 1:21]. At that time
everyone will openly acknowledge the Kingdom
of God. “And the LORD shall be King
over all the earth” (Zechariah 14;9). This too will
happen in the future. The general principle concerning these and all similar
verses concerning the Redemption of Israel and the fall of Edom and the like is
that it is all for the future. “The punishment of your iniquity is finished
daughter of Zion; he will no more
carry you away into captivity. He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom;
he will discover your sins” (Lamentations 4;22). This
is all for the future. “He will no more carry you away into captivity,” is instructing us about the future redemption. If it was
otherwise what would be the point of saying to those in exile that they would
no longer be exiled unless it meant that they really are destined to be
redeemed from the exile they are in? Also, “he will visit your iniquity,
daughter of Edom;
he will discover your sins”, must be for the future. It could not be speaking
of the past for it was they [i.e. the Israelite Jews] who were beaten by Herod
the Edomite in the time of the Second
Temple. It all must pertain to the
future. It is impossible that this was all conditional, that they did not
deserve it, and that the prophecies were spoken for nothing. It is pertinent
that at the time of their exile Israel
were sinning and transgressing. Even so, it was prophesied, “The punishment of
your iniquity is finished daughter of Zion;
he will no more carry you away into captivity” (Lamentations 4;22). This was not conditional, meaning to say that on
condition that they repented then they would have been redeemed. This is not
the way of Prophecies to make such limited conditions. Rather it all pertains
to the future. Zechariah lived in the Second
Temple period. Zechariah said,
“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,” and so on in great detail that without
any doubt can only be referring to some future day. So too, were these passages
explained by the Commentators and by our holy sages of blessed memory.
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