Jacob had 12 sons by four different mothers. Sometimes these sons are listed in their birth order, but frequently in the Old Testament they are listed in differing orders. And sometimes different sons or grandsons are included in the listing. Often the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob’s grandsons, are included and Joseph’s name is omitted. That would make 13, but often in such lists that include the grandsons, Levi’s name is also omitted.

In the New Testament, there is a listing of the Twelve tribes in Rev.7 and unusually there Levi’s name is included but Dan’s name is excluded (and both Joseph and Manasseh are in the list).

There is no clear reason for the different composition of the varying names in the list. Sometimes birth order prevails and that simplifies our understanding of the purpose. Sometimes the failings of one or other of the sons may have resulted in them losing normal priority in the list. Sometimes the list reflects who the mothers were rather than the birth order.

It would seem helpful to be able to review all the lists side-by-side, so that any more obvious similarities or explainable differences might help in understanding the reasons for the variety.

So here are the different lists of the 12 tribes in various Scriptures (there are 27 columns and rows, so scroll to see complete data)