According to the Bible, Jacob had 12 sons. Their descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel, making the number central to the biblical story of Israel’s origins.
Jacob’s sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. They were born to Jacob’s wives Leah and Rachel and their servants Bilhah and Zilpah. Joseph and Benjamin were Rachel’s sons, while the others were born through the other three women.
The Bible often uses the name Israel for Jacob after he is renamed following his wrestling encounter with a divine being. That is why the same family may be described as Jacob’s sons or the sons of Israel. A common mix-up is counting Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, among the twelve; she is mentioned in Genesis but is not one of the twelve sons. Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, later received tribal status, which can make lists of Israel’s tribes appear to contain more than twelve names.