S.I.A.M.: Twelve Tribes

(Just to be clear, I'm not trying to make any political statement. S.I.A.M. stands for "So I Asked Myself.")

One day, Self and I were reading in Genesis. Genesis 48 and 49, to be exact. These two chapters describe Jacob/Israel's last actions, as far as the Bible is concerned, which just happen to be the blessing of all his sons, and the claiming of Joseph's first two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (whom he also blesses.) According to the record, he claims E&M because they were born to Joseph in Egypt before he and Jacob were reunited. Now, I can't say I quite understand that process because if my mom just randomly decided my kids were hers, I'd be less like "Okay, here they are" and more like "What you talkin' 'bout Willis??" Maybe the world wasn't quite ready for the latter response or, more likely, it's some kind of Hebrew tradition I know nothing about.

In any case, Jacob blesses all of his sons, including the newly-claimed E&M, and "gives up the ghost." Everything's good, right? WRONG. At precisely that moment, Self figuratively tapped me on my shoulder:

"Yes, Self?"
"This doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't, Self?"
"Well... he has twelve sons."
"Yes."
"But he just claimed two more, so that makes fourteen sons."
*brow furrowing* "Yes, Self, I suppose it does."
"So... how can they be the twelve tribes of Israel if you've got E&M thrown in there too?"

Hence the dilemma. I turned to the source of all a lot of knowledge (a.k.a. my Grandma and Grandpa.) There was more brow furrowing, some research in both the scriptures and a book called Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie. From those sources and the collective brainpower of my beloved grandparents, my very best shot at an answer to this conundrum is thus:

I'm not entirely sure.

Here's what I do know. First off, as stated in Genesis 48:22, Joseph inherited a double portion. The best I can think of is one of those nifty little drop-down deals like you might see in a genealogy chart, where E&M end up as an off-shoot of Joseph, and comprise the whole "tribe." There was also something in Mormon Doctrine saying the tribe of Levi (which Moses came from!) wasn't always held on the same level as the other tribes because they were the ones entrusted with the Priesthood. With that said, either Ephraim or Manasseh could take his spot, and the other would take Joseph's spot, leaving twelve tribes again.

I feel like the former explanation is probably more correct. However, my word is certainly not the end-all-be-all of Gospel knowledge, and I'm not sure it really matters all that much anyway, as long as everyone does their part as a member of their tribe, inductee or otherwise.

So there it is. If you have any more solid knowledge, or even evidence that one of my explanations is correct (or *gulp* wrong), I'd love to hear it!

Sincerely,
Lora.