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BENJAMIN

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 739 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BENJAMIN , a tribe of See also:

Israel, named after the youngest son of See 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, See also: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 See also: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-See also:Gilead. At all events, Benjamin claimed the See also: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 See also:bound up with the See also:northern See also:kingdom (see See also:DAVID). Although its territory lies open on the See also:west and See also:east, its See also:physical features unite it to Judah, and what is known of its mixed See also: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 See also:home of See also:Abiathar and See also:Jeremiah, See also:Gib eon the old Canaanite See also:sanctuary, the royal sanctuary at Bethel, its associations with See also:Samuel and the prophetic See also:gilds of the times of See also:Elijah and See also:Elisha, and finally See also:Jerusalem itself, the centre of See also:worship, give " the least of all the tribes " a unique value in the history of Old Testament See also:religion.

See H. W. See also:

Hogg, Ency. Bib., See also:col. 534 sqq. (S. A.

End of Article: BENJAMIN

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