No, it is not. The older son Dan, of Leah’s maid, Zilpah, is missing. There is no doubt that the tribe of Dan was involved in committing evil (see Judges 18:1–31). But the same can be said of other tribes (Judges 19:1–30). So we can only speculate why this tribe was removed from the list. More importantly is why, to still reach the number 12, Dan’s name was replaced by Manasseh. Manasseh was the older son of Joseph who was bypassed in favour of the younger son (Ephraim) when Joseph gave his blessing. Yet, as mentioned above, the bypassed receives an honoured place among the sealed. Furthermore, in the New Jerusalem the names of Jesus’ twelve apostles are inscribed on the foundations of the city (Revelation 21:14). Yet surely we are not to imagine that the name of Judas Iscariot is among those listed! It would appear that the Old Testament list of the sons/tribes of Israel experienced a deletion and an addition in a similar way as the New Testament list of apostles did. Herein the Lord taught his people again that redemption is by grace alone.
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,