Episode 3086: The Twelve Tribes: Connection to the Mystical Body of Christ - by Sharon - Part 3

11. Joseph – “He adds”
Divided into:
• Ephraim – Often symbolizes the Northern Kingdom (Israel).
• Manasseh – Strength and forgetting past affliction.
• Catholic Typology: Joseph (as a whole) is a Christ figure betrayed, descended into suffering, but elevated to rule and save his people (Genesis 50:20).
• Ephraim and Manasseh together prefigure the adopted sons of the Church Gentiles grafted in (Romans 11).
12. Benjamin – “Son of my right hand”
• Fate: Fierce warriors (e.g., tribe of Saul and later St. Paul).
• Symbol: Beloved and deeply loyal.
• Catholic Typology: Symbol of mystical intimacy with God those closest to Christ in suffering and zeal.
• Lesson: St. Paul, from the tribe of Benjamin, becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles, symbolizing the spread of the Church through suffering and missionary zeal.
So what does this mean from a Traditional Catholic perspective and how the Twelve Tribes of Israel flow through to the Twelve Apostles, showing continuity from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant and the Mystical Body of Christ:
The Twelve Tribes of Israel were not only the foundation of the chosen people in the Old Testament but were also divinely ordained to prefigure the New Israel the Holy Catholic Church. As the sons of Jacob, each tribe represented a unique aspect of the people of God kingship, priesthood, suffering, labor, apostasy, and evangelization. They were a shadow of what was to come. In choosing twelve apostles, Christ did not act arbitrarily but with intentional continuity. Just as the patriarch Jacob fathered twelve sons who would form the physical nation of Israel, so too did Christ appoint twelve spiritual sons who would lay the foundation for His Mystical Body, the Church.
This connection is more than symbolic it is covenantal. The twelve tribes represented the old covenant, sealed through circumcision, sacrifice, and the Mosaic Law. The Twelve Apostles, by contrast, became the living stones of the Church (cf. Ephesians 2:20), mediators of a new and eternal covenant sealed by the Blood of Christ. Where the twelve tribes bore the Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness, the Twelve Apostles bore the living presence of the Eucharistic Lord into the world. Each Apostle, like each tribe, was called from among ordinary men to participate in something extraordinary: the sanctification of the world through divine mission.
Christ’s decision to appoint twelve apostles was an act of restoration and fulfillment. In Matthew 19:28, Our Lord tells the apostles: “Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” This declaration makes it clear that the Apostles are not only the successors to the tribes but their judges, their fulfillment, and their renewal. What was once rooted in bloodline has now been transformed through grace, with apostolic succession extending this divine commission through every generation of bishops.
From a typological standpoint, we can even view specific tribes as echoing the apostolic ministries. For example, Levi, the priestly tribe, finds fulfillment in St. Peter and the apostles who were ordained to offer the true sacrifice of the New Covenant. Judah, the royal line, is fulfilled in Christ, but also in the apostolic proclamation of His kingship. Dan, once associated with judgment and possible apostasy, finds its corrective in St. Paul, who as an outsider and former persecutor, becomes the great missionary to the Gentiles. Just as the tribes were scattered yet called to unity in Jerusalem, so too the apostles, though sent to the ends of the earth, remain united in one Faith, one Baptism, and one Eucharist.
The passage from the Twelve Tribes to the Twelve Apostles is not merely historical it is mystical. It is the unfolding of divine providence, the seamless garment of salvation history woven by the Holy Ghost. In the Apostles, the Church sees not just a new beginning, but the transfiguration of the old into the eternal. Through their witness, authority, and martyrdom, the Twelve Apostles lead us into the heavenly Jerusalem where, as Revelation 21:14 describes, the twelve foundations of the city walls are inscribed with the names of the apostles, just as the twelve gates are named for the twelve tribes. The old and the new are one in Christ.
The Catholic Church does not officially and directly assign each of the Twelve Apostles to one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel in a one-to-one correspondence. However, the Church does teach and affirm the deep typological and symbolic continuity between the Twelve Tribes and the Twelve Apostles particularly within the context of fulfillment theology, where the Old Covenant finds its completion in the New.
Here are a few key points explaining the connection:
Scriptural Basis for the Typology
• In Matthew 19:28, Christ says to the apostles:
“You who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
This verse is often cited by Church Fathers and theologians as indicating that the Apostles represent a fulfillment and spiritual authority over the Old Testament tribes, rather than a direct tribal alignment.
• Revelation 21:12–14 also reinforces this typological parallel. The heavenly Jerusalem has:
o 12 gates with the names of the Twelve Tribes.
o 12 foundation stones with the names of the Twelve Apostles.
This imagery presents the unity and continuity of salvation history, not a literal tribal assignment.
Patristic and Theological Tradition
• Church Fathers like St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and St. Thomas Aquinas acknowledged the symbolic connection but never attempted a direct mapping of Apostle to Tribe.
• St. Thomas Aquinas (in his Catena Aurea and other works) affirms the antitype–type relationship, seeing the Apostles as the spiritual foundation of the New Israel, but not as a replacement or direct mirror of tribal identities.
Liturgical and Ecclesial Teaching
• The Church teaches that the Apostolic College replaces the old tribal structure not by erasing it, but by fulfilling and elevating it.
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 877) states:
"In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as the 'seeds of the new Israel' (Ad Gentes 5)."
This clearly identifies the Apostles as the spiritual continuation of the tribes, not literal successors or tribal representatives.
So Why No Direct Mapping?
Because:
• The Twelve Tribes were based on biological descent from Jacob.
• The Twelve Apostles were chosen freely by Christ, based on grace and mission, not ancestry.
• Some tribes were lost or absorbed by the time of Christ (e.g., Simeon, Dan), making direct correlation historically and theologically speculative.
So the Church does not directly assign each Apostle to a specific Tribe. But the Church affirms that the Apostles symbolically and spiritually fulfill the role of the Twelve Tribes, forming the foundation of the New Israel, the Catholic Church.
Synthesis and Final Reflection
• The Twelve Tribes are not mere relics of ancient Israel they are living symbols of the Church. Some show holiness, others sin; some foreshadow saints, others foreshadow apostates. But through it all, God's plan marches forward.

• Each tribe speaks to a different aspect of the Mystical Body: priest, king, evangelist, martyr, laborer, apostle, missionary. All find their fulfillment in Christ and continue through His Church until the end of time.

• St. Augustine wrote: “The New is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New.” The Church, as the New Israel, brings all these shadows into the light of Christ.

Conclusionary Prayer
O Eternal God, who chose the sons of Jacob to bear witness to Thy covenant, we give Thee thanks for fulfilling Thy promises in Thy Son, Jesus Christ. We praise Thee for the Church, the New Israel, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.
May we take to heart the lessons of the Twelve Tribes: to labor in holiness, to proclaim truth, to fight sin, and to remain faithful in all things. Let every tribe and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.