Earliest Dispute
The earliest documentation of the dispute can be found in discussions taking place sometime before the 2nd century CE. The Mishnah records Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Eliezar disagreeing on various points in regard to the return of the lost tribes.
The Babylonian Talmud (Mishnah) Sanhedrin 110b:
"The Ten Tribes will not return, for it is said, 'And cast them into another land, as is this day: just as the day goes and does not return, so they too went and will not return.' This is R. Akiba's view. R. Eliezer said: 'As this day—just as the day darkens and then becomes light again, so the ten tribes—even as it went dark for them, so will it become light for them."
The quote from Rabbi Akiva, however, should probably be understood in light of his disappointed belief that Simon ben Kosiba (surnamed Simon bar Kokhba) was the Messiah who would liberate the Jews from Rome, return the lost tribes and usher in the long-awaited Olam Haba. The failure of the Bar Kochba rebellion convinced Akiva that the lost tribes would not return at that time. It is probably a mistake to take Akiva's statement as a categorical denial of a return at any time.
Read more about this topic: Two House Theology
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