Zevulon: Tribe of Sivan

Exploring the tribe of Zevulon, associated with the Jewish month of Sivan

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

Zevulon (זְבוּלֻן), also pronounced Zebulon, is the sixth son of Jacob and Leah.  His name comes from the word “zeved” (זֵבֶד), which means dowry or gift. Leah saw him as G!d(dess) endowing her with a good dowry with her six sons (Genesis 30:20).   His standard, based on the blessing Jacob bestowed upon him in Genesis 49:13, generally contains a ship as Zevulon was considered a sea-faring tribe.

As we know from the lesson of the month of Iyyar, Zevulon is cosmically intertwined with his brother-tribe of Issachar. Zevulon is the merchant that supports the scholarship of Issachar. Zevulon is a tribe of movement and travel, which explains the “sense” of the month being, “walking.”