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In the Old Testament, Benjamin
(בִּנְיָ
מִין "Son of my right
hand" but in some Rabbinical Judaism|Rabbinical
traditions "Son of the south", Standard Hebrew
Binyamin, Tiberian Hebrew Binyāmîn) is the
younger son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen. 35:18).

His birth took place on the road between Bethel
and Ephrath, characterized later by Christian
writers as at a short distance from Bethlehem,
because many centuries later the prophet Micah
referred to "Bethlehem Ephrata", There is no other
connection with Bethlehem. His mother died in
giving him birth, and with her last breath named
him Ben-oni, "son of my pain", an ill-omened name
which was changed by his father into Benjamin. His
posterity were the tribe of Benjamin, sometimes
translated "Benjamites" (Genesis|Gen. 49:27;
Deuteronomy|Deut. 33:12; Book_of_Joshua|Joshua
18:21).

The tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus was the
smallest but one (Book_of_Numbers|Num. 1:36, 37;
Psalms|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 (Genesis|Gen. 49:27) that the
figure of a wolf was on the tribal standard:
"Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning
he shall devour the prey, at evening he shall
divide the spoil."

This tribe is mentioned in Epistle to the
Romans|Rom. 11:1; Philippians|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. Tribe of Dan|Dan
intervened between it and the Philistines. Its
chief towns are named in Book_of_Joshua|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; they were almost
exterminated (Judg. 20:20, 21; 21:10). (See GIBEAH
¯T0001476.)

The first king of the Jews was Saul the King|Saul,
a Benjamite. A close alliance was formed between
this tribe and that of Tribe of Judah|Judah in the
time of David (Books of Samuel|2 Sam. 19:16, 17),
which continued after his death (Book of Kings|1
Kings 11:13; 12:20). After the Babylonian
captivity|Exile these two tribes formed the great
body of the Jewish nation (Ezra 1:5; 10:9), and to
this day the other ten are referred to as the lost
tribes of Israel.

The tribe of Benjamin was famous for its archers
(Books of Samuel|1 Sam. 20:20, 36; Books of
Samuel|2 Sam. 1:22; 1 Books of Chronicles|Chr.
8:40; 12:2) and slingers (Book of Judges|Judges
20:6).

The gate of Benjamin, on the north side of
Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; 38:7; Zech. 14:10), was so
called because it led in the direction of the
territory of the tribe of Benjamin. It is called
by Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah (20:2) "the high
gate of Benjamin"; also "the gate of the children
of the people" (17:19). (Comp. 2 Kings 14:13.)
 
==Reference==
*Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897.

==External link==
*http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ The Jewish
Encyclopedia, 1908: Benjamin. Material on the
tribe, its territory, Rabbinical tradition and
Islam, where Benjamin is not specifically
mentioned in the Qur'an.