Tribe of Joseph

The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes in Israel. Since the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (often called the "two half-tribes of Joseph") together traditionally constituted the "Tribe of Joseph," it was often not listed as one of the tribes, in favor of Ephraim and Manasseh being listed in its place. Consequently, it was often termed the House of Joseph, to avoid the use of the term "tribe." Even though Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph's sons, they were considered heads of two of the twelve tribes in Israel, because of Joseph's father, Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons (Genesis 48:1-16).