Allah says in surah al-Ma'idah:
*وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنْهُمُ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا*
*And Allah has previously taken a covenant from Banu Israa'eel and We appointed twelve _naqeeb_ from among them. (12)*
In his tafsir of this ayah, Imam al-Tabari wrote:
Abu'l-'Aliyah said about this ayah: Allah took their covenants to be sincere to Him and not to worship any others besides Him.
"And we appointed twelve *naqeeb* from among them" - meaning: We appointed twelve representatives from among them to vouch that their people who fulfill the covenant they had taken with Allah in doing what He commanded them to do and avoiding what He forbade them to do.
And the word *naqeeb* in the Arabic language is like a captain, but of a slightly lower level.
[Tafsir al-Tabari 10/111]
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