The Ten Lost Tribes

  When we're talking about the Ten Lost Tribes, we're talking about the Tribes of Ancient Israel that were deported from the Kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by Assyria in about 722 BC. We espouse a millenarian view that the Tribes will return.
  The Hebrew Bible does not use the expression "Ten Lost Tribes", leading some people to question the number of tribes involved. However, the passage in 1 Kings, chapter 11, verse 31 and 35, states that kingdom would be taken from Solomon and that would be given ten tribes to Jeroboam:

1 Kings (Melachim Alef) 11:31
³¹ And he said to Jeroboam (Yarov‘am), Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith Yah Elohei Yisrael (of Israel), Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon (Sh’lomo), and will give ten tribes to thee:

1 Kings (Melachim Alef) 11:35
³⁵ But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

The Ten Lost Tribes and the New Testament

  Within the New Testament we can verify that exists some evidence of a continuing identification in later centuries of individual Israelites to the Lost Tribes. For example, in Luke 2:36, an individual is identified with the tribe of Asher.

Luke (Lukas) 2:36
³⁶ And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

The Ten Lost Tribes and the Jewish Tradition

  There are numerous references to the Lost Tribes in biblical writings. In Ezekiel 37:16-17; the prophet is told to write on one stick (an ancient reference to scrolls) "For Judah..." and on the other "For Joseph..." (the main Lost Tribe). The prophet is then told that these two groups shall be someday reunited. See the biblical passage below:

Ezekiel (Yechezkel) 37:16-17
¹⁶ Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah (Yehudah), and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph (Yosef), the stick of Ephraim (Ephrayim) and for all the house of Israel his companions: ¹⁷ And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

  There are also discussions in the Talmud as to whether the ten lost tribes will eventually be reunited with the Tribe of Judah, that is, with the Jewish people.

The Ten Lost Tribes and the Beta Israel of Ethiopia

  The Beta Israel are Ethiopian Jews. Some members of the Beta Israel, as well as several Jewish scholars, believe that they are descended from the lost Tribe of Dan.
  Early DNA studies showed they were descended from Ethiopians, but in the 21^st century, new studies have shown possible connection to a few Jews of the 4^th to 5^th century

The Ten Lost Tribes and the Igbo Jews of Nigeria

  The Igbo Jews of Nigeria claim descent variously from the tribes of Levi, Naphtali, Gad, Zebulun and Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim).