This article is about the Biblical figure Benjamin, son of Jacob. For people named Benjamin, see Benjamin (name). For other uses, see Benjamin (disambiguation).
Benjamin (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִיןBīnyāmīn; "Son of (the) right")[2] was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (i.e., Jacob's thirteenth child and twelfth and youngest son) in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was also the progenitor of the IsraeliteTribe of Benjamin. Unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan according to biblical narrative.
In the Samaritan Pentateuch, Benjamin's name appears as "Binyamēm" (Samaritan Hebrew: ࠁࠪࠍࠬࠉࠣࠌࠜࠉࠌࠬ, "son of days"). In the Quran, Benjamin is referred to as a righteous young child, who remained with Jacob when the older brothers plotted against Joseph. Later rabbinic traditions name him as one of four ancient Israelites who died without sin, the other three being Chileab, Jesse and Amram.
Name
The name is first mentioned in letters from King Sîn-kāšid of Uruk (1801–1771 BC), who called himself “King of Amnanum” and was a member of the Amorite tribal group the “Binu-Jamina” (single name “Binjamin”; Akkadian Mar-Jamin).[3] The name means "Sons/Son of the South" and is linguistically related as a forerunner to the Old Testament name "Benjamin".
According to the Hebrew Bible, Benjamin's name arose when Jacob deliberately changed the name "Benoni", the original name of Benjamin, since Benoni was an allusion to Rachel's dying just after she had given birth, as it means "son of my pain".[4] Textual scholars regard these two names as fragments of naming narratives coming from different sources - one being the Jahwist and the other being the Elohist.[5]
Unusual for one of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Bible does not explain the etymology of Benjamin's name. Medieval commentator Rashi gives two different explanations, based on Midrashic sources. "Son of the south", with south derived from the word for the right hand side, referring to the birth of Benjamin in Canaan, as compared with the birth of all the other sons of Jacob in Aram.[6][7] Modern scholars have proposed that "son of the south" / "right" is a reference to the tribe being subordinate to the more dominant tribe of Ephraim.[7] Alternatively, Rashi suggests it means "son of days", meaning a son born in Jacob's old age. The Samaritan Pentateuch consistently spells his name "בנימים", with a terminal mem, ("Binyamim"), which could be translated literally as "spirit man" but is in line with the interpretation that the name was a reference to the advanced age of Jacob when Benjamin was born.[7]
According to classical rabbinical sources, Benjamin was only born after Rachel had fasted for a long time, as a religious devotion with the hope of a new child as a reward. By then Jacob had become over 100 years old.[7] Benjamin is treated as a young child in most of the Biblical narrative,[7] but at one point is abruptly described as the father of ten sons.[8] Textual scholars believe that this is the result of the genealogical passage, in which his children are named, being from a much later source than the Jahwist and Elohist narratives, which make up most of the Joseph narrative, and which consistently describe Benjamin as a child.[7]
By allusion to the biblical Benjamin, in French, Polish and Spanish, "Benjamin" (benjamin/ beniamin /benjamín, respectively) is a common noun meaning the youngest child of a family, especially a particularly favoured one (with a similar connotation to "baby of the family").
The Torah's Joseph narrative, at a stage when Joseph is unrecognised by his brothers, describes Joseph as testing whether his brothers have reformed by secretly planting a silver cup in Benjamin's bag. Then, publicly searching the bags for it, and after finding it in Benjamin's possession, demanding that Benjamin become his slave as a punishment.[9]
The narrative goes on to state that when Judah (on behalf of the other brothers) begged Joseph not to enslave Benjamin and instead enslave him, since enslavement of Benjamin would break Jacob's heart. This caused Joseph to recant and reveal his identity.[9] The midrashic book of Jasher argues that prior to revealing his identity, Joseph asked Benjamin to find his missing brother (i.e. Joseph) via astrology, using an astrolabe-like tool.[7] It continues by stating that Benjamin divined that the man on the throne was Joseph, so Joseph identified himself to Benjamin (but not the other brothers), and revealed his scheme (as in the Torah) to test how fraternal the other brothers were.[7]
Some classical rabbinical sources argue that Joseph identified himself for other reasons.[7] In these sources, Benjamin swore an oath, on the memory of Joseph, that he was innocent of theft, and, when challenged about how believable the oath would be, explained that remembering Joseph was so important to him that he had named his sons in Joseph's honour.[7] These sources go on to state that Benjamin's oath touched Joseph so deeply that Joseph was no longer able to pretend to be a stranger.[7]
An illustration from the Morgan Bible of Benjamin being returned to Egypt (Genesis 44)
In the narrative, just prior to this test, when Joseph had first met all of his brothers (but not identified himself to them), he had held a feast for them;[10] the narrative heavily implies that Benjamin was Joseph's favorite brother, since he is overcome with tears when he first meets Benjamin in particular,[11] and he gives Benjamin five times as much food as he apportions to the others.[12] According to textual scholars, this is really the Jahwist's account of the reunion after Joseph identifies himself, and the account of the threat to enslave Benjamin is just the Elohist's version of the same event, with the Elohist being more terse about Joseph's emotions towards Benjamin, merely mentioning that Benjamin was given five times as many gifts as the others.[7]
Jacob's blessing
Upon his death, the patriarch Jacobblesses his youngest son: "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he consumes the foe, And in the evening he divides the spoil" (Genesis 49:27). This wolf symbolism has been interpreted to refer to several elements of the Tribe of Benjamin, including its heroic members like King Saul and Mordecai, the tribe's often warlike nature, and the tribe's jurisdiction over the Temple in Jerusalem in which sacrifices were 'devoured' by flame.[13][14]
Origin
An exterior view of a Mamlukcaravanserai complex, including the mausoleum of Nabi Yamin, traditionally believed to be the tomb of Benjamin, located outside Kfar Saba, Israel
Biblical scholars believe, due to their geographic overlap and their treatment in older passages, that Ephraim and Manasseh were originally considered one tribe, that of Joseph.[15] According to several biblical scholars, Benjamin was also originally part of this single tribe, but the biblical account of Joseph as his father became lost.[15][16]
The description of Benjamin being born after the arrival in Canaan is thought by some scholars to refer to the tribe of Benjamin coming into existence by branching from the Joseph group after the tribe had settled in Canaan.[16] A number of biblical scholars suspect that the distinction of the Joseph tribes (including Benjamin) is that they were the only Israelites which went to Egyptand returned, while the main Israelite tribes simply emerged as a subculture from the Canaanites and had remained in Canaan throughout.[16][17]
According to this view, the story of Jacob's visit to Laban to obtain a wife originated as a metaphor for this migration, with the property and family which were gained from Laban representing the gains of the Joseph tribes by the time they returned from Egypt.[16] According to textual scholars, the Jahwist version of the Laban narrative only mentions the Joseph tribes and Rachel, and does not mention the other tribal matriarchs whatsoever.[16][18]
Benjamin's sons
According to Genesis 46:21, Benjamin had ten sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.[8] The name of his wife/wives are not given, but the Book of Jubilees calls his wife Ijasaka and the Book of Jasher mentions two wives, Mechalia the daughter of Aram and Aribath the daughter of Shomron.[19][20] The classical rabbinical tradition adds that each son's name honors Joseph:[7]
Belah (meaning swallow), in reference to Joseph disappearing (being swallowed up)
Becher (meaning first born), in reference to Joseph being the first child of Rachel
Ashbel (meaning capture), in reference to Joseph having suffered captivity
Gera (meaning grain), in reference to Joseph living in a foreign land (Egypt)
Naaman (meaning grace), in reference to Joseph having graceful speech
Ehi (meaning my brother), in reference to Joseph being Benjamin's only full-brother (as opposed to half-brothers)
Rosh (meaning elder), in reference to Joseph being older than Benjamin
Muppim (meaning double mouth), in reference to Joseph passing on what he had been taught by Jacob
Huppim (meaning marriage canopies), in reference to Joseph being married in Egypt, while Benjamin was not there
Ard (meaning wanderer/fugitive), in reference to Joseph being like a rose
There is a disparity between the list given in Genesis 46 and that in Numbers 26, where the sons of Benjamin are listed along with the tribes they are the progenitors of.[21]
Belah, progenitor of the Belaites, is in both lists
Ashbel, progenitor of the Ashbelites, is in both lists
Ahiram, progenitor of the Ahiramites, appears in this list but not the first
Shupham, progenitor of the Shuphamites, corresponds to Muppim from the first list
Hupham, progenitor of the Huphamites, corresponds to Huppim from the first list
Becher, Gera, Ehi, and Rosh are omitted from the second list. Ard and Naaman, who are the sons of Benjamin according to Numbers 26, are listed as the sons of Belah and are the progenitors of the Ardites and the Naamites respectively.
In Islam
Though not named in the Quran,[22] Benjamin (بنيامين Binyāmīn) is referred to as the righteous youngest son of Jacob, in the narrative of Joseph in Islamic tradition. Apart from that, however, Islamic tradition does not provide much detail regarding Benjamin's life, and refers to him as being born from Jacob's wife Rachel. As with Jewish tradition, it also further links a connection between the names of Benjamin's children and Joseph.[23]
↑ Dietz-Otto Edzard: Die Nomaden in der altbabylonischen Zeit In: Elena Cassin, Jean Bottéro, Jean Vercoutter: Die Altorientalischen Reiche I - Vom Paläolithikum bis zur Mitte des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr. -, Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1965 (gleichnamige limitierte Sonderausgabe 2003), S. 170.
In the Book of Exodus, Amram is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
Jacob, later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, and Islam. Jacob first appears in the Book of Genesis, originating from the Hebrew tradition in the Torah. Described as the son of Isaac and Rebecca, and the grandson of Abraham, Sarah, and Bethuel, Jacob is presented as the second-born among Isaac's children. His fraternal twin brother is the elder, named Esau, according to the biblical account. Jacob is said to have bought Esau's birthright and, with his mother's help, deceived his aging father to bless him instead of Esau. Later in the narrative, following a severe drought in his homeland of Canaan, Jacob and his descendants, with the help of his son Joseph, moved to Egypt where Jacob died at the age of 147. He is supposed to have been buried in the Cave of Machpelah.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim was one of the tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim formed the House of Joseph. It is one of the ten lost tribes. The etymology of the name is disputed.
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the catastrophic Assyrian invasion of 720 BCE, it is counted as one of the ten lost tribes. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph.
Judah was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fourth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah and the founder of the Tribe of Judah of the Israelites. By extension, he is indirectly the eponym of the Kingdom of Judah, the land of Judea, and the word Jew.
Asher, in the Book of Genesis, was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher.
The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes of Israel in biblical tradition. Since the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together traditionally constituted the "tribe of Joseph", it was often not listed as one of the tribes, in favour of Ephraim and Manasseh being listed in its place; consequently it was often termed the House of Joseph, to avoid the use of the term tribe. Even though Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph’s sons, they were considered heads of two of the twelve tribes of Israel because Joseph’s father, Jacob, adopted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons.
Leah appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has three more sons, namely Simeon, Levi and Judah, but does not bear another son until Rachel offers her a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrake root. Leah gives birth to two more sons after this, Issachar and Zebulun, and to Jacob's only daughter, Dinah.
Issachar was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fifth of the six sons of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Issachar. However, some Biblical scholars view this as an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.
Ephraim was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath. Asenath was an Ancient Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of ʾĀwen. Ephraim was born in Egypt before the arrival of the Israelites from Canaan.
Reuben or Reuven was the first of the six sons of Jacob and Leah, according to the Book of Genesis. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.
The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist. The existence of the Jahwist text is somewhat controversial, with a number of scholars, especially in Europe, denying that it ever existed as a coherent independent document. Nevertheless, many scholars do assume its existence. The Jahwist is so named because of its characteristic use of the term Yahweh for God.
Gad was, according to the Book of Genesis, the first of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah and the founder of the Israelite tribe of Gad. The text of the Book of Genesis implies that the name of Gad means luck/fortunate, in Hebrew.
The Twelve Tribes of Israel are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, who collectively form the Israelite nation. The tribes were through his twelve sons through his wives, Leah and Rachel, and his concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah. In modern scholarship, there is skepticism as to whether there ever were twelve Israelite tribes, with the use of the number 12 thought more likely to signify a symbolic tradition as part of a national founding myth, although some scholars disagree with this view.
Massah and Meribah are place names found in the Hebrew Bible. The Israelites are said to have travelled through Massah and Meribah during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in Numbers 33 does not mention this. In Exodus 17:7, Meribah is mentioned at the same time as Massah, in a context which suggests that Massah is the same location as Meribah, but other biblical mentions of Massah and Meribah, such as that in the Blessing of Moses seem to imply that they are distinct. Massah and Meribah are also referred to in several other places in the Bible.
Simeon was the second of the six sons of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite tribe, The Tribe of Simeon, according to the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been part of the original Israelite confederation. The tribe is absent from the parts of the Bible. Some scholars think that Simeon was not originally regarded as a distinct tribe. However, many Biblical scholars believe that Simeon isn't regarded as a distinct tribe due to the scandal involving Zimri. The Blessing of Moses before his death had omitted the Tribe of Simeon because Jacob had castigated him Genesis 49:5-7, and because of the terrible affair of Baal-peor.
Manasseh or Menashe was, according to the Book of Genesis, the first son of Joseph and Asenath. Asenath was an Egyptian woman whom the Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of On. Manasseh was born in Egypt before the arrival of the children of Israel from Canaan.
Rachel was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aunt Rebecca was Jacob's mother.
According to the Bible, the Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob. The descendants of Aaron, who was the first High Priest of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim.
According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife Rachel. In the Samaritan Pentateuch the name appears as Binyamīm.
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