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BENJAMIN , a tribe of Israel, named after the youngest son ofSee also: Jacob and See also: Rachel
.
As distinct from the others Benjamin was See also: born not beyond the See also: Jordan but in See also: Palestine, between See also: Bethel and Ephrath
.
His See also: mother, dying in childbed, gave him the name See also: Ben-oni, " Son of my sorrow," which was changed by his See also: father to Benjamin, meaning probably " Son of the right See also: hand " (i.e
.
" of prosperity," or, perhaps, " son of the See also: south "; Gen. See also: xxxv
.
16-18)
.
Of his See also: personal See also: history little is recorded
.
He was the favourite of his father and See also: brothers (with which contrast the spirit of the stories in Judg. xix.-xxi.), and the reputation of fierceness ascribed to him in the blessing of Jacob (" Benjamin is a See also: wolf that teareth," Gen. xlix
.
27) agrees with what is told of the tribe's warriors (see EHUn, See also: SAUL, JONATHAN)
.
It IS a curious feature that its noted slingers were said to be See also: left-handed (Judg
.
xx
.
16, cf. iii
.
15) and even ambidextrous (1 Chron. xii
.
2) . The See also: late references to this tribe in the Israelite wanderings in the See also: wilderness are of little value
.
On entering Palestine it is allotted a portion encompassed by the districts of See also: Ephraim, See also: Dan and See also: Judah
.
In the See also: time of the " See also: judges " the tribe of Benjamin was almost exterminated (see JUDGES, See also: BOOK OF), 600 men alone escaping (Judges xix. sqq.)
.
The tribe was built up again by the rape of the maidens of See also: Shiloh at one of their See also: annual festivals (for which cf
.
Judges ix
.
27), but a later narrative gives currency to a tradition that 400 virgins were also brought to Shiloh, the survivors of a See also: massacre of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead
.
At all events, Benjamin claimed the honour of providing the See also: great See also: king of Israel whose heroic deliverance of Jabesh-Gilead is referred to elsewhere (see SAUL), and it is noteworthy that the tribe only now attain
See also: historical importance
.
If the genealogies associated it with See also: Joseph the father of Ephraim and See also: Manasseh, its fortunes were for a time bound up with the See also: northern See also: kingdom (see See also: DAVID)
.
Although its territory lies open on the west and See also: east, its See also: physical features unite it to Judah, and what is known of its mixed population 1 makes it difficult to determine how far the youngest of the tribes of Israel enjoyed any See also: independent position previous to the See also: monarchy
.
Its neutral position between Judah and Ephraim gave it an importance which was religious as well as See also: political
.
Anathoth the home of Abiathar and See also: Jeremiah, See also: Gib eon the old Canaanite sanctuary, the royal sanctuary at Bethel, its associations with See also: Samuel and the prophetic See also: gilds of the times of Elijah and Elisha, and finally Jerusalem itself, the centre of worship, give " the least of all the tribes " a unique value in the history of Old Testament See also: religion
.
See H . W . Hogg, Ency . Bib., col . 534 sqq . (S . A . |
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