According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the '''Israelites''' were the descendants of the sons of [[Jacob]], later known as ''Israel''. His twelve male children were [[Reuben (Bible)|Reuben]], [[Simeon]], [[Levi]], [[Judah (Biblical figure)|Judah]], [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]], [[Dan (biblical figure)|Dan]], [[Gad]], [[Naphtali]], [[Asher]], [[Joseph (dreamer)|Joseph]], and [[Benjamin]].
