Tribe of Zebulon

Tribal identifications: Zebulon (Adapted from "The Tribes" by Yair Davidiy)
ZEBULON

"And the sons of Zebulon; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel" (Genesis 46;14).

See also:Netherlands

Some Main Points:

We identify Zebulon as primarily the people of Holland. In general Israelites settled in that area: A people named Sebulingoi were recorded as being there and this name means "People of Zebulon" and other names confirm that. It was prophesied that Zebulon would dwell on the shores of the sea: One third of Holland is below sea-level and another third would be subject to periodic flooding by the sea if it was not for protection by the dykes. Most of the country is therefore on the seashores and it is the only country in the world about which this can be said. The symbol of Zebulon was a ship and this was the traditional symbol of Holland. For more points read on:

Moses (Deuteronomy 33;18) grouped the two brothers Issachar and Zebulon together, saying, "Rejoice, Zebulun in thy going out; and Issachar in thy tents". From this verse it was understood11that Issachar and Zebulon had a symbiotic relationship, Issachar being involved in Religious and scientific intellectual pursuits and Zebulon setting forth in ships to trade and, with his earnings, contributing to the support of Issachar. Other Rabbinical opinions12 say that it merely implies that Issachar was more inclined towards working the land and less given to venture out. Groups of Zebulonite origin are often found in association with groups from Issachar. Zebulon is identifiable with Holland. The people of Alsace and Lorraine (in France) come from both Issachar and Zebulon and their region forms a bridge from Switzerland to Belgium and Holland.

The symbol of Holland was a ship in popular tradition13 and a ship was the symbol of the former Dutch Republic. Many of the Boer (Afrikaans) population of the Republic of South Africa are of Dutch descent. A ship was also the symbol of Zebulon14. Zebulon, in Talmudic Literature, was pictured as a merchant seafarer, which description fits the Dutch. Rotterdam in Holland is the world's busiest port. Moses blessed Zebulon (Deuteronomy 33; 19): that he should "Suck of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sands". Today both South Africa and Holland are on the seashores and a good portion of the earlier diamond wealth of South Africa was found in the "sands". Another important element in the population of both Holland and South Africa is a portion of Naphtali of whom it was said, (Deuteronomy 33; 23): "Possess thou the west and the south"; - being the west of England (settled by Vikings from Norway) as well as both Holland and Norway. The South meant both South Africa and New Zealand. South Africa was settled by British and Dutch, and New Zealand by British of a particular type. Shillem, son of Naphtali, has been traced15 by archaeological similarities (supported by linguistics16) to the Vandals of Silesia [Germany-Poland] (Silingi-Silem, -Silen) and to Vendsyssel of Jutland (Denmark) in the first century b.c.e. Previous to that time, the cultural contacts of Vendsyssel were more to Zeeland in southern Holland17. The Huns of Nephtali (in addition to settling in Norway) re-appeared as recognizable groups among the Frisians who invaded England. The Frisians of Holland in their character fit Zebulon though to some degree they are also traceable to Menasseh (Peres) and Judah (Peretz) and the Nephtalite element amongst them may have been important in early South African colonization.

Similarly, Zebulon, though dominant in Holland, is also represented by "Halland" of the southwest coast of Sweden, and by Hallin in Norway which names come from that of Elon, son of Zebulon, as does the name for Holland itself. Only The Dutch dwell "on the shores of the Sea" since the Dutch descend from Zebulon!!

Jacob prophesied (Genesis 49;13): "Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon". Zidon, at one stage, was conquered by the Sakkara who were named after the Tribe of Issachar18 but whose forces in this case probably comprised or at least included Zebulonites [1] A Prophecies concerning the tribes were applicable both within the Land of Israel and outside of it. In both cases, some degree of literal significance is to be expected. The expression concerning Zebulon, "His border unto Zidon" could be fulfilled in a number of ways[2]G. In the verse, "Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea and he shall be for an haven of ships... " (Genesis 49; 13): The expression, "dwell at the haven of the sea" according to the HEBREW original (Hof-yamim) may be preferably translated as "dwell on the SHORES of the Sea"19. The only nation in the world whose population is known for dwelling extensively on reclaimed sea-land, literally, "On the shores of the sea", is Holland. The SABALINGOI went to Holland and their name means "People of -ZEBULON"!!!

Zebulon through the Alans and Alamans of Elon, son of Zebulon, merged with the Suebi from Jashub (pronounceable as Ja-sueb, Num. 26;24) of Issachar in Alsace and in Switzerland i.e. they bordered "Sidon", as Switzerland was referred to. In early Scythian times the name Zebulon was recalled in ZABULISTAN which was to the south and south-east of Hara in the Iranian area.

The name of ZEBULON is also found in the Sabalingoi recalled by Ptolemy in south Jutland and northern Frisia in Holland. The name SABALINGOI in Hebrew means "People (Goi) - of - ZEBULON" since in Northern dialects "Sabalin" and Zebulon would have been alternate pronunciations of the same name: The "Z" was replaced by "S"; and "goi" means people in Hebrew. The Sabalingoi were to the north of the Sigulones (whose name in Hebrew means "Chosen Ones") and of the Saxons and in turn, to the north of the Sabalingoi were the Chali sons of Jahleel [Yachlayl in Hebrew, and the Ya would have been dropped] (Genesis 46; 14). Sered was a son of Zebulon as was Jahleel and also Elon. The Suardinoi (from Sered) were identified (by Kaspar Zeuss , "Die Deutschen und Die Nachbarstamme," Germany 1835) as inhabitants of Holland. From Jutland and Scandinavia there were several waves of migration into the area of nearby Holland especially into Frisia so the Sabalingoi and Chali moved to the Netherlands' region. Ptolemy may in fact be interpreted as placing the Sabalingoi in northern Frisia and thus in Holland . Pytheas20 (ca. 325 b.c.e.) is reported as describing Holland as peopled by Skuthai (i.e. Scythians) meaning (probably) Frisians who, in the 300's and 200's b.c.e., are claimed to have begun absorbing the native Celts. There followed several centuries in which the population fluctuated greatly. In about 200 c.e. the Franks invaded. Angles, Saxons, and JUTES from Jutland overran the land in 450-500 c.e. Consequently, Frisians, together with others, participated in the Anglo-Saxon invasions. After ca.600 c.e. Frankish influence re-asserted itself. Roughly speaking, modern Holland has Frisians in the north, Saxons in the east, and Franks in the south. It also has important continents of French Huguenots, Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, Malays, and Eurasians of mixed blood. In other words, the population is of mixed origins like the populations of most countries. This does not contradict the fact that a good proportion of the people (if not most) are descended from Israel or that amongst the Israelites a certain tribe has the ascendancy. Enough has been shown to prove that often groups of divergent backgrounds converging on one spot, are revealed as having originally the same tribal identity.

The Dutch speak Germanic dialects but Professor Theo Vennemann of Munich and his school have shown that underlying these dialects in Holland there may be discerned a linguistic substratum similar to that found amongst the Insular Celts of Britain and ireland and which is Semitic in origin.

The FRISIANS are a people now concentrated in Northern Holland but once spread all along the coast from Scandinavia through Holland, Belgium, and into France21. The Angles and Saxons before they, together with other northern peoples, invaded Britain in the 450s c.e. had sojourned (at least in part) for about 200 years in Holland especially in Frisia. Some of the Jutes had also been in Frisia. The Byzantine historian, Procopius (Gothic War vii; 20) said that the Frisians were an important element amongst the invaders of Britain. The name of the Frisians is traceable to Peres son of Gilead of Menasseh but the actual inhabitants of present-day Frisia and Holland are identifiable on the whole more with Zebulon. In Biblical times, Tribes such as Zebulon, Issachar, and Asher were closely associated with Menasseh and it would seem that this linkage was repeated after their exile in areas of their re-settlement. At all events the identity of the Frisians must be closely linked with that of peoples who invaded and settled the British Isles. Frisian-Legends Affirm Their Israelite Origins!

According to Frisian-legends[3]` a certain King Adel was a descendant of Shem[4]k King Adel in India had three sons: Friso, Bruno, and Saxo. Legendary sources quoted by the historian Le Petit (1601) also mention Friso, Bruno, and Saxo and say too that they were descendants of Shem and lived in "India". The term "India", however, did not always mean the place known today as India but rather was more synonymous with "Cush" which term was sometimes applied to areas east of the Caspian Sea in present-day Central Asia and is the "Cush" (i.e. "Ethiopia") mentioned in Genesis 2; 13. Zephaniah 3; 10 and Isaiah 10; 10 said that Cush was one of the places to which the exiled Israelites would go and the Aramaic Translation renders Cushas as Hodu(translated as India) and refers to the region of Hara in eastern Iran and surrounding areas[5]¤. Similarly, Le Petit located the "India" he spoke of in a land by the Emodian Mountains which according to Ptolemy were in the area adjoining the Caspian and Aral Seas, in east Scythia, to the north of Afghanistan and India-proper. Tzvi Chasdoi related that in Jewish tradition the area east of the Caspian was known as "Cush". Jewish legends traced the Tribes of Zebulon and Nephtali to this area and placed other Israelite Tribes in the immediate vicinity. This is the area where Frisian legends say Friso, Saxo, and Bruno came from. In this land east of the Caspian archaeologists have found the ruins of an extensive civilization whose inhabitants spoke Aramaic. Some of the Israelite Tribes had spoken Aramaic even before their exile and the language was used as an official tongue in the Assyrian Empire and is believed to have been the most commonly-used one. Phillip Lozinski (1953) believed that from this region east of the Caspian came the "Barbarian" peoples whom he suggests may have been at least partly Semitic. They invaded Europe beginning from around the 200s c.e. Additional evidence exists showing that the invaders must have come from Scythia and the region east of the Caspian. These invasions and migratory movements were often connected with activities of the Huns who themselves were a mixture of various peoples. The Huns from this vicinity caused other nations to flee westward. N.C. Lukman (Copenhagen, 1943) showed how in Nordic Mythology the name Adel (meaning "Noble") was often used as a euphemism for Attila the Hun and for the Huns in general. In the Frisian legends King Adel was the father of Friso, Bruno, and Saxo. Scientific Linguists have concluded that the Northern "Barbarians" who entered Europe had the later European aspects of their languages imposed upon them by an external force. They originally spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic.

The legends speak of these three brothers being descended from Shem and having been in Jerusalem at the time of its destruction by the Babylonians:

"In the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnessar (586 B.C.), 3 brothers - Friso, Bruno, and Saxo with [their] wives, children, and relatives fled out of the country, encouraged to do so by announcements of the Prophets concerning the fall of the town". In this legend Bruno represents the Angles who according to Ptolemy had at one stage been centered on the region of Brunswick in eastern Germany. They had also had a center in Angeln to the south of Denmark or else they moved to Angeln prior to the invasion of England. By placing Friso, Bruno, and Saxo in Jerusalem (which became representative of all Israel) before its capture the legend in effect infers that the Frisians, Saxons, and Brunswickian-Angles were therefore originally Israelites or Jews.

F. Koeslag points out that "In legends...events of several eras may be concentrated around famous historical figures - as you see with Charlemagne". The legend may therefore be taken as reflecting a tradition that the three brothers were related to the Jews which is consistent with their belonging to the Lost Ten Tribes who had been exiled from their own lands in Israel at least 140 years before the actual fall of Jerusalem. The legend contains the recognition that the three brothers had left the Land of Israel (identified as "Jerusalem" or the Land of the Jews) before Nebuchadnessar of Babylon captured it. The northern Israelites had indeed been exiled prior to the Babylonian onslaught. The Lost Ten Tribes had been re-settled in Assyria and in lands ruled by Assyria. Another Frisian legend says that Albione and 32 sisters went from Assyria by ship and landed in England which they called Albion. After they landed, Brutus drove them out of the country and re-named it Britain in his own honour. The Albioni crossed the Sea and landed in Frisia. This legend may also serve as an indicator of Israelite origins since the exiled Israelites had indeed been re-settled in "Assyria" (or in Assyrian-controlled areas) before asserting their independence and moving elsewhere.

The legends relate how while still in "India" Friso married Hilla daughter of Agathocles king of Thrace. They were driven out of "India" and sailed to Greece where Friso became a student of Plato (427-374 b.c.e) and then joined the Army of Alexander the Great. Alexander from Macedonia and Greece advanced into Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and from there continued into Persia, Bactria, the area east of the Caspian Sea and northwest India. In the east Alexander reformed his army and took into his Special Forces mainly peoples belonging to the Sacae-Scythian Tribes. From the Sacae descend the Anglo-Saxons and company. Le Petit also says that the brothers served under Alexander. A strong early tradition existed in Europe that the Saxons had been soldiers in Alexander's armies. This tradition was mentioned in the time of Charlemagne King of the Franks (768-814 c.e.). Additional traditions and evidence connect the Anglo-Saxons with the ancient Sacae-Scythians some of whom really had been in Alexander's forces. The legends state that via Asia Minor the people of Friso, Bruno, and Saxo came on a very large ship called "di Mannigfuald" (i.e. "The Multitude") to the west. Friso in 313 b.c.e. landed in Friesland (i.e. in Frisia) and founded a settlement called "Stavoren"[6]A Bruno and Saxo (brothers of Frisso) went eastward though Saxo (according to Le Petit) then returned to the west. Bruno founded the city of Brunswick in which area of Germany Ptolemy placed the Angloi thus identifying them with the people of Bruno. The Angloi (Angles) also moved northward to the regions bordering Denmark and from there they went to Britain some of them sojourning (like the Saxons) in Frisia on the way.[1]A Even so Issachar was also linkeable with Sidon: The Tribe of Issachar were destined to dominate Switzerland and a people named SEDUNI once dwelt in Celtic Switzerland (ca. Sion) which, together with all Switzerland in medieval times, was named "Sidon".[2]G. "Sidon" (i.e. Zidon) could be represented in any one of a number of ways. There were the people of "Sidone", scattered groups of whom seem to have usually accompanied Vandals from the Tribe of Asher which tribe had encompassed the original Phoenician City of Sidon. Switzerland was called "SIDON" in medieval times. The coast of northern Gaul (France and Belgium) had been partly settled by groups of Phoenician culture and possibly SIDONIANS were amongst them since Sidon and Tyre were the major Phoenician cities also all Phoenecians were called "SIDONIANS".[3]` This following section has been adapted from an article by Yair Davidy that was first published in the journal Tribesman.[4] k Mr. Fred J. Koeslag of Gouda, Holland, sent me the following information that he obtained from a book ("Freische Mythen en Sagen" by J.P. Wiesma, 1973) about Old Frisian legends. This information supplements other sources such as that of Jean Francoise LE PETIT ("Le Grande Chronicle Ancienne et Moderne de Holland, Zeelande, Utrecht, Frise, Oversyseel; et de Groenungham". Dordrecht, 1601). The book of Le Petit is written in a type of Old French and a copy is to be found in the Rare Books section of the National Library in Jerusalem. Le Petit relates the history of peoples who settled in the Netherlands.[5]¤ For an explanation of this subject see Section Two.[6]A The account says that Stavoren was named after after the god "Stav" but F. Koeslag of Holland suggests that the name "Stavoren" was originally derived from that of Mount Tabor in Israel since "v" and "b" are interchangeable and the names are therefore quite similar.