[EGW editor's preface:  One of our readers sent in the following question: “Which of the 12 tribes of Israel didn't have any judges, prophets or heroes?”  As with any question concerning what we hope to learn from the Bible, we must always strive to apply good hermeneutics and to let the Bible interpret itself.
     (For more tips on good Bible-reading skills, click the subjects Hermeneutics and Bible study)]

• The context:
     
     The tribes of Israel were originally named after the 12 sons of Jacob (also known as “Israel”), — Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.  Levi was later made the priestly tribe without a land inheritance in Canaan. To keep the land-inheriting tribes equal to 12, the tribe of Joseph was split into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, named after Joseph’s sons.
     To research our reader's question, I primarily looked through the book of Judges, at some sections in Joshua and 1 & 2 Kings about the land awarded to the tribes, and at the authors mentioned in the books often referred to as the Major & Minor Prophets.  Obviously I did not try to investigate every single character mentioned in the Old Testament.  Therefore, it's almost certain that within my limited research, I missed coming across some key leaders from some of the tribes.
     Keeping that fact in mind, I did not find any judges, prophets, heroes, or famous leaders identified in Scripture as associated with Reuben, Simeon, Gad, or Asher.  
     This doesn't mean none existed.  For example, several prophets and judges I located in the Bible … like Shamgar, Deborah, Isaiah, Malachi, Obadiah, Micah, etc. … had no indications provided as to which tribe they belonged.  Obviously, as Israelites, they belonged to one tribe or another … but as to which one, I don't know.  Establishing where a person lived was not always much help … some individuals clearly identified with one tribe resided in another tribe's territory, and in some cases lived or were raised in another country.  This type of situation is probably true for several other Jewish characters as well.
     

• Digging into the Scriptures:

     Here are some names of judges, prophets, heroes, and other famous leaders sorted by tribe:

     Reuben: -------
     Simeon: -------
     Levi: (Israel's priests were from this tribe)
          Moses -- Exodus 2:1-10
          Ezra (prophet) -- Ezra 7:1-6
          Jeremiah (prophet) -- Jeremiah 1:1
          Ezekiel (prophet) -- Ezekiel 1:1-3
     Judah:
          Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite -- Numbers 13:3-16, 14:5
          Othniel (judge) -- Judges 3:9-11
          (?) Ibzan (judge) -- Judges 12:8-10 (from Bethlehem in Judah's territory)
          David (king and ancestor of Jesus), son of Jesse -- 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Ruth 4:18-22; Numbers 26:20-21; Matthew 1:2-6
          Daniel (prophet) -- Daniel 1:6,7
          (?) Zephaniah (prophet) -- Zephaniah 1:1; Matthew 1:6-11 (if both passages refer to the same Hezekiah)
     Dan:
          Samson (judge) -- Judges 13:2-3,21-24, 16:28-31
     Naphtali:
          Barak (judged with Deborah) -- Judges 4:4-7
     Gad: -------
     Asher: -------
     Issachar:
          Tola (judge) -- Judges 10:1-2
     Zebulun:
          Elon (judge) -- Judges 12:11-12
          (?) Jonah (prophet) -- Jonah 1:1; 2 Kings 14:25; Joshua 19:10 (from Gath Hepher in Zebulun's territory)
     Ephraim:
          Joshua, son of Nun -- Numbers 13:3-16, 14:5; 1 Chronicles 7:20-28
          (?) Deborah (judge) -- Judges 4:4-5 (her landmark was in Ephraim's territory)
          (?) Abdon (judge) -- Judges 12:13-15 (from Pirathon in Epraim's territory)
          Samuel (judge), son of Elkanah -- 1 Samuel 1:1-2,19-20, 7:15-17,
     Manasseh:
          Gideon (judge) -- Judges 6:11-15
          Jair (judge) -- Judges 10:3-5; Numbers 26:28-29
          Jephthah (judge) -- Judges 11:1-6, 12:7; Numbers 26:28-29
     Benjamin:
          Ehud (judge) -- Judges 3:15
          Saul (king), son of Kish -- 1 Samuel 9:1-10:27; Acts 13:20,21
          Mordecai, uncle of Queen Esther -- Esther 2:5-7
          Paul (apostle) -- Romans 11:1; Phillipians 3:1-6