List of minor biblical tribes
This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections.
A
Accaba, descendants of
For the descendants of "Accaba", see the entry for Hagab.Agaba, descendants of
For the "Agaba" of 1 Esdras 5:30, see Hagab.Ahumai
Ahumai, according to 1 Chronicles 4:2, was the name of a clan within the Tribe of Judah. The name "Ahuman" appears only in this verse of the Hebrew Bible, and manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint read Acheimei, Achimai or Achiman. The Encyclopaedia Biblica raises the possibility that the correct reading is "Ahiman" rather than "Ahumai."Apharsachites
A company of the colonists whom the Assyrian king planted in Samaria.Apharsathchites
Apharsathchites, according to Ezra 4:9, were among the groups of people who wrote a letter to the Persian emperor in opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The exact spelling "Apharsathchites" occurs only in Ezra 4:9. However, an alternate form of the same name, "Apharsachites," appears in Ezra 5:6 and 6:6. According to the Encyclopaedia Biblica, the term seems to be "the title of certain officers under Darius," and it is "misunderstood" as referring to a tribe of people.Apharsites
Another of the tribes removed to Samaria, or perhaps the same as the Apharsachites.Arkites
Arkites, also Archites were descendants of Canaan, according to Genesis 10:17 and 1 Chronicles 1:15, and were also inhabitants of the land of Canaan, according to Joshua 16:2. David's friend Hushai was an Arkite. The Arkites inhabited Arqa, a city in the north of what is now LebanonArvadites
Arvadites were descendants of Canaan, according to Genesis 10:18 and 1 Chronicles 1:16. They inhabited Arvad/Arwad, an island city that is now part of Syria.Asshurites
The Asshurites are a group of people who, according to Genesis 25:3, descended from Dedan, the son of Jokshan, the son of Abraham. Their exact historical identity is unknown, but the name may refer to an Assyrian or Egyptian tribe, or it may be a generic term for peasants.C
Chemarims
In the King James Version of the Bible, people known as "Chemarims" are mentioned in Zephaniah 1:4 as people to be punished by God for their associations with idolatry. In most later translations the noun is treated as a common noun meaning "idolatrous priests" or something similar. The underlying Hebrew term also appears in 2 Kings 23:5 and Hosea 10:5, and its precise meaning is not known.Cheran
Cheran is the name given to a Horite clan in Genesis 36:28 and 1 Chronicles 1:41. While the passage containing "Cheran" is written as though it were a genealogy of individuals, it expresses the relationship between various Horite clans as they understood by the writer of Genesis.D
Darkon, descendants of
In Ezra 2:56 and Nehemiah 7:58, which both reproduce versions of the same list, the bene darkon appear as one of the groups of the "descendants of Solomon's servants" said to have returned from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem and Judah.Dishon
Dishon is a Horite clan name that appears in the Hebrew Bible in 1 Chronicles 1 and Genesis 36. The passages involved are about the relations between Horite clans, but they are written as though the subject matter was the genealogical relationships between individuals, one of them named "Dishon." Dishon is described two times as the fifth son of Seir, but one time he is described as the son of Anah, who is in turn the son of Seir.E
Eleadah
Eleadah, Elead, or Eladah is the name of a clan in the tribe of Ephraim, personified as an individual in 1 Chronicles 7:20. The individual who appears in 7:20 is called "Eladah" or "Eleadah" depending on how one translates the Hebrew name, while an "Elead" appears in verse 21. This "Elead" may possibly be a repetition of the same name. It is still uncertain exactly how the Chronicler intended for the names in verses 20 and 21 to relate to one another.Elkoshites
The term Elkoshite appears only in Nahum 1:1, where the prophet is called "Nahum the Elkoshite." It would seem to come from the name of a town named "Elkosh," but no such town has been positively identified.Elmadam
Elmadam or Elmodam is the name of a figure in the genealogy of Jesus according to Luke. Where the Greek has Elmadam, the Peshitta has Elmodad. The Encyclopaedia Biblica suggests that the original Semitic name is Elmatham, a form of the name Elnathan.Eshban
Eshban is a name found in a genealogy in Genesis and Chronicles. In both genealogies, Eshban is identified as the son of Dishon, the son of Anah, the son of Zibeon, the son of Seir the Horite. The name refers to a Horite clan.G
Gammadim
Gammadim are a group or class of people mentioned only in Ezekiel 27:11, in a passage which lists them, along with various other groups of people, as defenders of Tyre. Some Hebrew manuscripts spell the name as Gammarim, while the Septuagint and other ancient Greek versions interpret it in a wide variety of ways. Some interpreters have taken it to refer to Cimmerians or Capadocians.The Gammadim are listed alongside Arvadites in Ezekiel, just as the Zemarites are listed alongside Avadites in Genesis 10:18. Because of this parallel between Zemarites and Gammadim, as well as the similarities in appearance of the two words as written in the consonantal Hebrew text, Thomas Kelly Cheyne believed that the current text of Ezekiel only has "Gammadims" as a result of a scribal error, and that Ezekiel 27:11 originally read "Zemarites."
Garmites
Garmite is a term that appears in passing only once in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, in a genealogical passage which mentions a member of the Tribe of Judah referred to as "Keilah the Garmite". Where the Hebrew reads "the garmi", various manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint read "atamei", "the tarmi", or "the garmei". Thomas Kelly Cheyne wrote that the name "Keilah the Garmite" may have been a mistaken form of the originally intended "Keilah the Calebite."Gatam
For the Edomite clan name "Gatam," see Gatam.Gazzam
Gazzam is the family name of a group of Nethinim in Ezra 2:48 and Nehemiah 7:51. Both instances are in copies of a list which claims to contain the family names of people who returned from the Babylonian captivity to Yehud Medinata.[Girgashites]
Girgashites, or Girgasites, were descendants of Canaan, according to Genesis 10:16 and 1 Chronicles 1:14, and they also were inhabitants of the land of Canaan, according to Genesis 15:21, Deuteronomy 7:1, Joshua 3:10, 24:11, and Nehemiah 9:8. At times, they are not listed along with the other Canaanite tribes inhabiting the Holy Land; according to some, such as Rashi, this is because they left the Land of Israel before the Israelites returned from Egypt.Gibbar
For the "sons of Gibbar" see Gibbar.Ginnath
''For the possible biblical clan-name Ginnath, see Ginath.''H
Haahashtari
See HaahashtariHabaiah, descendants of
For the priestly family in Ezra 2, see Habaiah.Hagab, descendants of
The descendants of Hagab, whose name means "grasshopper," are listed among the families of Nethinim, or temple assistants, who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity in Ezra 2:46 and the parallel verse, Nehemiah 7:48. The Greek Septuagint manuscripts of Ezra and Nehemiah record the name as Agab or Gaba.The name also appears in 1 Esdras 5:30, where the Revised Standard Version reads "Hagab" while the King James Version has "Agaba" and the Revised Version "Accaba."
The Book of Acts has a prophet who shared a form of the same name: Agabus.