The Lost Tribes of Israel

Abstract This chapter examines the plethora of interpretations and of extrapolations generated by the myth of the Lost Tribes of Israel. While in the Bible the exile of the tribes appears as divine punishment for idolatry or for neglecting study, the prophecies predict their coming together as the culmination of the hopes of messianic redemption. But well beyond this interpretation, the theme of the Lost Tribes became charged over time with theological, philosophical, psychological, and sociological richness and influenced both the imagination of human communities and the representation of the world. The chapter details how the Ten Tribes, both human and outside of humanity, which are associated with the end of time, embody the representation of the Other, the missing link forever, the permanent exile of humans on Earth, while at the same time fulfilling the universal function of messianic hope.