Bible Strands
Benjamin
the name means son of (the) right hand Strong's Lexicon
Benjamin, initially named Ben-oni by his mother Rachel, was the youngest son of Jacob.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
Son of my right hand. (1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His mother died in giving him birth, and with her last breath named him Ben-oni, son of my pain, a name which was changed by his father into Benjamin. His posterity are called Benjamites (Gen. 49:27; Deut. 33:12; Josh. 18:21). The tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus was the smallest but one (Num. 1:36, 37; Ps. 68:27). During the march its place was along with Manasseh and Ephraim on the west of the tabernacle. At the entrance into Canaan it counted 45,600 warriors. It has been inferred by some from the words of Jacob (Gen. 49:27) that the figure of a wolf was on the tribal standard. This tribe is mentioned in Rom. 11:1; Phil. 3:5. The inheritance of this tribe lay immediately to the south of that of Ephraim, and was about 26 miles in length and 12 in breadth. Its eastern boundary was the Jordan. Dan intervened between it and the Philistines. Its chief towns are named in Josh. 18:21-28. The history of the tribe contains a sad record of a desolating civil war in which they were engaged with the other eleven tribes. By it they were almost exterminated (Judg. 20:20, 21; 21:10). (See GIBEAH.) The first king of the Jews was Saul, a Benjamite. A close alliance was formed between this tribe and that of Judah in the time of David (2 Sam. 19:16, 17), which continued after his death (1 Kings 11:13; 12:20). After the Exile these two tribes formed the great body of the Jewish nation (Ezra 1:5; 10:9). The tribe of Benjamin was famous for its archers (1 Sam. 20:20, 36; 2 Sam. 1:22; 1 Chr. 8:40; 12:2) and slingers (Judge. 20:6).
Easton's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1897 — public domain, quoted in full and unedited.
Family
From STEPBible's TIPNR genealogy data. A relationship the data marks uncertain is not shown here.
First named at Genesis 35:18.
See Benjamin in the family tree →
Verses that name Benjamin
- Genesis 35:18 And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
- Genesis 35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
- Genesis 42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
- Genesis 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- Genesis 43:14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- Genesis 43:15 So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
- Genesis 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”
- Genesis 43:29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
- Genesis 43:34 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
- Genesis 44:12 The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest—and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
- Genesis 45:12 Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you.
- Genesis 45:14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.
- Genesis 45:22 He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
- Genesis 46:19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
- Genesis 46:21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
- Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
- Exodus 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
- 1 Chronicles 2:2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
- 1 Chronicles 6:60 And from the tribe of Benjamin they were given Gibeon, Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, together with their pasturelands. So they had thirteen cities in all among their families.
- 1 Chronicles 6:65 They assigned by lot the cities named above from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
- 1 Chronicles 7:6 The three sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.
- 1 Chronicles 8:1 Benjamin was the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
- 1 Chronicles 8:40 The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and they had many sons and grandsons—150 in all. All these were the descendants of Benjamin.
- 1 Chronicles 9:3 Some of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:
- 1 Chronicles 9:7 From the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;