BENJAMIN. The eponymous ancestor of the tribe of Benjamin. According to biblical tradition, he is the younger son of Jacob and Rachel (Gen. xxxv. IS), named by his mother Benoni (`child of my sorrow'), but renamed Ben jamin by his father. The second element of the name is parallel with the Arabic term Yemen, 'right-south,' as opposed to Shimal, 'left-north' (southern Arabial ; and therefore some biblical scholars consider that it is probable that Benja min was originally a geographical name for a group settled in the southern portion of the Eph raimitic highland (Sam. ix. 10-16). The stories told of Benjamin in Genesis illustrate the 1 redilections of both Juda•an and Ephraimitic writers for this tribe. After Joseph was sold into Egypt Benjamin was the pet of his father, and Jacob could only with difficulty he persuaded to allow him to accompany his brothers into Egypt during the famine (ib. xlii. 36; xliii. 6-14). At the time of the migration of Jacob to Egypt Benjamin appears as the head of a family of ten (ib. xlvi. 21) ,and is already depicted as the ancestor of the tribe of Benjamin. The territory of this tribe in 1''al estine was between Judah and Ephraim, and in cluded among its important cities Jericho, Bethel, Gibeon, and Ramah, all of which were also important sanctuaries (Josh. swill. 11. 21 25). Jerusalem seems to have been on the bor der between Judah and Benjamin. The tribe was one of the most warlike of the whole twelve and, considering that it was a small tribe, played a most important part in Ilebrew history. It pro
duced such men as Ehud the Judge (Judges iii. 15ff.) and King Saul (I. Sam. ix. 1-2) . After Saul's death it joined in the revolt of his son Ishbosheth (II. Sam. ii. 15) ; and Sheba, the Benjamite, later led a revolt against David (If. Sam, xx. 1). The strength of the tribe in war proves that its almost total destruction by the rest of Israel for its conduct in connection with the outrage at Cibeah (Judges xix.-xxi.) had no permanent effect, and the account of their de struction is exaggerated. When the kingdom was divided. Benjamin joined with .Judah in forming the southern kingdom, or Kingdom of ,hulqh (1. Kings vii. 21, etc.) . Modern critics re gard the tribe of Benjamin as having originally, with Ephraim and Manasseh, formed the tribe of Joseph (cf. ]i. Sam. xix. 16,with ib.xix. 20; and note the expression, 'house of Joseph; in I. Kings xi. 28) ; and according to the critical view that the stories in Genesis are the echoes of tribal history, this explains the fact that Ben jamin is there spoken of as the full brother of Joseph, as it also accounts for the favorable view taken in general by northern writers of Benja min, despite the fact that it joined Judah in estab]ishing the southern kingdom. For the his tory of the southern kingdom, eonmposed of Judah and Benjamin, see JEws.