The New Testament does not neglect the northern tribes. Although Jesus is of the line of David, of the tribe of Judah (Matthew 1:1–25), it is in the geographical regions covered by these northern tribes that he begins and conducts most of his ministry. Matthew, quoting Isaiah 9:1, speaks of the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali (Matthew 4:15), and Jesus surprises his disciples by speaking to a woman at Jacob’s well, in Manasseh’s allocated area (John 4:1–42). Even soon after his birth, it is a prophetess from the tribe of Asher, the elderly Anna, who gives thanks upon seeing the infant Jesus and speaks of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:36–38). Strikingly, it is in the northern area of Dan that Peter makes the confession, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13–16; the ancient town of Dan is about 6.4 km west of the Greco-Roman city of Caesarea Philippi). God, therefore, is at work in surprising places, not only in Judah and Jerusalem.¹