The Twelve Tribes of Israel is a
Rastafari
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...
religious group and one of the
Mansions of Rastafari. Its headquarters is on Hope Road in
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...
.
The group was formed in 1968 by
Vernon Carrington, who was known to the organisation as "
Prophet Gad".
[And Tribes Made Merry]
, ''Jamaica Observer
''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner
''The Gleaner'' is an ...
'', 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013 The twelve tribes have been described as the Rastafari mansion closest in beliefs to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
or
Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.
It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlie ...
. Members follow the teaching of reading the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
(the
Scofield Reference Bible
The Scofield Reference Bible is a widely circulated study Bible edited and annotated by the American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, which popularized dispensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Published by Oxford University Press ...
,
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
) a chapter a day from
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
1 -
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
22, a practice encouraged by Carrington. It is the most liberal of the Rastafarian orders and members are free to worship in a church or building of their choosing.
Beliefs
The Twelve Tribes of Israel teach salvation through the ''
Messiyah''
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
, whom they refer to as either
Yahshua
Yahshua is a proposed transliteration of , the original Hebrew name of Jesus. The pronunciation ''Yahshua'' is philologically impossible in the original Hebrew and has no support in archeological findings, such as the Dead Sea scrolls or inscrip ...
or by the
Amharic
Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...
name ''Iyesus Kirisitos''. It is perhaps the Rastafari mansion closest in beliefs to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
or
Messianic Judaism
Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.
It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlie ...
.
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
,
Emperor of Ethiopia
The emperor of Ethiopia ( gez, ንጉሠ ነገሥት, nəgusä nägäst, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse ( am, ዐፄ, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century ...
, is seen as a divinely anointed king in the lineage of Kings David and Solomon (Selassie's house being called the
Solomonic dynasty
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, was the ruling dynasty of the Ethiopian Empire formed in the thirteenth century. Its members claim lineal descent from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Tradition asser ...
). While he is considered a representation of "Christ in His Kingly Character", he is not seen as an incarnation of the ''Messiyah'', nor as
Jah
Jah or Yah ( he, , ''Yāh'') is a short form of (YHWH), the four letters that form the tetragrammaton, the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even th ...
Himself, but rather as an emissary of Jah and representative of the everlasting
Davidic covenant, which is to be fulfilled by Christ
upon his return.
Members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, like all other Rastafarians, reject the consumption of alcohol, refrain from cutting their hair, and avoid the dead and anything having to do with death, as a part of the
Nazirite vows. They also keep the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as ...
, and follow
Ital
Ital, also spelled I-tal (), is food often celebrated by those in the Rastafari movement. It is compulsory in the Bobo Ashanti and Nyabinghi mansions, though not in the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The word derives from the English word "vital", ...
dietary laws.
Organization and practices
Members are grouped into Twelve Tribes, modelled after the
Twelve Tribes of Israel
The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, thro ...
: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. Each member belongs to a tribe, which is determined by
Gregorian birth month, though beginning in April in rough alignment with the
Jewish calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel ...
. Each tribe is represented by a color, a part of the body, and a character trait, often called a "faculty". Although the twelve representations apply to male and female alike,
Dinah
In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengea ...
, though not considered a tribe, is representative of the feminine.
Members of this order are not required to be turbaned; however, they do wear red, gold, and green banners at meetings, during prayer and Bible readings as a holy garment. The Twelve Tribes of Israel functions internationally and has headquarters in various countries. Members work towards repatriation to Africa, mainly Ethiopia (
Shashamane)
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...
was a notable member.
Other artists associated with the group include
Sangie Davis,
Fred Locks,
Little Roy, and
Pablove Black
Pablove Black (born Paul Anthony Dixon, 24 October 1950) is a Jamaican reggae musician (keyboards and steel drums), arranger, composer, bandleader, vocalist and producer.
Biography
Pablove started playing piano and steel drums in the mid-1960 ...
.
The group had an association with the Jah Love
sound system in the 1970s.
See also
*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
References
External links
Twelve tribes internet group
{{Rastafari
Rastafari