was toward its SE boundary. Within this territory there were a number of Canaanite cities and their dependent settlements. (Josh. 17:10; 19:17-23) It was here in this choice valley that the tribe of Issachar, according to Moses’ blessing, ‘rejoiced . . . in their tents.’—Deut. 33:18.

The likening of Jacob’s son Issachar to “a strong-boned ass” evidently pointed to a quality reflected as well in the tribe descended from him. (Gen. 49:14, 15) The land assigned them was indeed “pleasant,” a fertile part of Palestine, good for agriculture. Issachar seems to have accepted well the hard labor involved in such work. Willingness is indicated by his ‘bending down his shoulder to bear burdens.’ So, while the tribe was not particularly outstanding, it apparently could be commended for taking on the load of responsibility that was its share.

Certain cities within Issachar’s possession were designated as enclave cities belonging to the neighbor tribe of Manasseh, including the prominent cities of Megiddo and Beth-shean. (Josh. 17:11) A number of towns in its territory, together with their surrounding pasture grounds, were also set aside for the tribe of Levi. (Josh. 21:6, 28, 29; 1 Chron. 6:62, 71-73) Later, Issachar supplied its share (one-twelfth of the annual needs) for the support of Solomon’s court.—1 Ki. 4:1, 7, 17.

Among the prominent individuals of Issachar was Igal, the tribe’s selected spy who joined others in advising Israel not to enter the Promised Land. (Num. 13:1-3, 7, 31-33) As chieftains of the tribe Nethanel served after the Exodus (Num. 1:4, 8; 7:18; 10:15), Paltiel when Israel entered the Promised Land (Num. 34:17, 18, 26), and Omri during the reign of David.—1 Chron. 27:18, 22.

For twenty-three years Tola of the tribe of Issachar was one of the judges of Israel. (Judg. 10:1, 2) Prior to that Issachar was listed among those who had supported Judge Barak in the overthrow of Jabin’s forces under Sisera. (Judg. 4:2; 5:15) After the split-up of the united kingdom, Baasha of Issachar was the third ruler of the northern kingdom. A wicked man, Baasha murdered his predecessor to gain the throne and held it for twenty-four years. (1 Ki. 15:27, 28, 33, 34) Some two hundred years later Hezekiah, king of Judah, invited those of the northern kingdom to join in keeping the Passover, and many from Issachar, in response, traveled up to Jerusalem for the celebration.—2 Chron. 30:1, 13, 18-20.

In the books of Ezekiel and Revelation, Issachar is enumerated with the other tribes and, in view of the prophetic nature of those visions, obviously has symbolic meaning.—Ezek. 48:25, 26, 33; Rev. 7:7.

3. A Levite gatekeeper; seventh son of Korahite Obed-edom. Issachar, together with his relatives, was assigned to guard duty on the S side of the sanctuary in Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 26:1-5, 13, 15.

ISSHIAH

(Is·shiʹah) [Jah forgets].

1. One of the headmen of the tribe of Issachar whose descendants helped make that tribe very numerous.—1 Chron. 7:1, 3, 4.

2. A warrior who joined David’s forces at Ziklag; possibly a Korahite.—1 Chron. 12:1, 6.

3. A descendant of Kohath whose Levite sons were organized under David’s reign.—1 Chron. 23:12, 20; 24:24, 25.

4. Another Levite of David’s day, a descendant of Moses.—1 Chron. 23:14-17; 24:21.

ISSHIJAH

(Is·shiʹjah) [Jah forgets].

One of the Levites who responded to Ezra’s urging to send away their foreign wives and sons.—Ezra 10:31, 44.

ITALIAN BAND

A unit of the Roman army in which Cornelius of Caesarea served as a centurion. In the Bible’s only reference to it, Cornelius is said to have been “an army officer of the Italian band, as it was called.” (Acts 10:1) This was probably a cohort, so named to distinguish it from the regular Roman legions. A cohort in full strength consisted of about 1,000 men, that is, about one-sixth the size of a legion. As its name implies, this cohort was probably made up of volunteers mustered in Italy, having Roman citizenship either as freeborn men or as freedmen.

The scripture does not say this Italian band was stationed at Caesarea. It only says that Cornelius, one of its army officers had his home in Caesarea.—Acts 10:1, 2, 22, 24.

ITALY

That boot-shaped peninsula extending out in a southeasterly direction from continental Europe into the Mediterranean Sea. From the Alps on the N to the “big toe” at the Straits of Messina in the S it is about 700 miles (1,126 kilometers) long. It varies in width from 100 to 150 miles (161-241 kilometers), and is bounded by the Adriatic Sea on the E and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the W. As a backbone down the middle of this peninsula is the Apennines mountain range, with its fertile valleys running toward the coastal plains. The principal rivers are the Tiber and the Po. Italy is about the size of the Philippines, or the states of Florida and Georgia combined.

Originally, according to Antiochus of Syracuse (of the fifth century B.C.E.), the name applied only to the province of Calabria in the S where the Itali lived. This name was a Grecized form of Vitelia, from the stem vitlo- (meaning calf or young bull), and was probably applied to these people, either because of their grazing lands and cattle or because they supposed themselves to be descendants of their bull-god. By the first century C.E. the name Italy had been extended to cover much the same territory it does today.

Peoples of different racial origins migrated to this very fertile land over the centuries. The first sizable colony of Greeks is said to have settled at Cumae about ten miles (c. 16 kilometers) W of Naples around the year 770 B.C.E. Italy’s early history includes wars between those already there and waves of newcomers that periodically invaded the land. The peninsula thus served as a melting pot of languages, blood and customs as these different national groups settled down and intermarried.

Christianity was brought to Italy at an early date, for, on the day of Pentecost, 33 C.E., Italian proselytes as well as Jews from Rome witnessed the outpouring of holy spirit, listened to Peter’s explanation, and no doubt some of them were among the “about three thousand” baptized on that occasion. (Acts 2:1, 10, 41) Returning to Italy, they could have formed the nucleus of the Christian congregation in Rome to whom Paul some years later addressed one of his letters. (Rom. 1:1-7) Aquila and Priscilla may have been of that congregation in Italy when ordered by Emperor Claudius on January 25, 50 C.E., to leave the country. They arrived in Corinth shortly before Paul got there on his first visit to that city on his second missionary tour.—Acts 18:1, 2.

Cornelius, undoubtedly an Italian and an army officer of the “Italian band,” had a home in Caesarea. (Acts 10:1) It was in Caesarea that Paul, at his trial before Festus, appealed his case to Caesar. He was then taken by boat to Myra, where, together with other prisoners, he was transferred to a grain boat from Alexandria that was headed for Italy. (Acts 25:6, 11, 12; 27:1, 5, 6) Shipwrecked on the voyage, they had to winter on the island of Malta. Then in the spring of 59 C.E. Paul first touched Italian soil, at Rhegium on the “toe” of Italy, and shortly thereafter he disembarked at Puteoli on the Gulf of Naples. Here, more than a hundred miles (161 kilometers) S of Rome, Paul stayed for a week with the local congregation before going on up to Rome via the Appian Way, along which, at “the Market Place of Appius and Three Taverns,” he was met by the brothers from Rome. (Acts 28:11-16) Likely, toward the end of Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, or shortly after