Tribe of Benjamin

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The Tribe of Benjamin (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין, Standard Binyamin Tiberian Binyāmîn) was one of the Tribes of Israel. At its height, the territory it occupied was sandwiched between that of Ephraim to the north and Judah to the south, with the Jordan River as the eastern border, and included many historically important cities, such as Bethel, Gibeah, and encroached on the northern hills of Jerusalem. Its situation, between the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Israel (Ephraim), and the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah (Judah), is seemingly prophesied in the Blessing of Moses, where it is described as dwelling between YHWH's shoulders[1], though textual scholars view this as postdiction - the poem being written long after the tribe had settled there[2].

Contents

[edit] Origin

According to the Torah, the tribe was founded by an eponymous individual, Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, who was born once Jacob and Rachel arrived in Canaan. Biblical scholars, however, suspect that this is just an aetiolocial metaphor describing the text's author's view of the ethnic origin of the tribe, namely that it branched off from the Rachel group of tribes (those tribes descended from Rachel) once the tribes had settled in Canaan[3]. According to several scholars, Benjamin was originally part of the house of Joseph (metaphorically a son of Joseph not Jacob), but that the biblical account of this became lost[4][5]; the Torah's account of the birth of the eponyms of the other tribes is regarded by textual scholars as a complex mixture of Elohist and Yahwist texts, and very corrupt, and it is clear that parts of the corresponding Elohist text, and parts of the corresponding Yahwist text, are missing[6][7].

In the Jahwist version of Jacob's visit to Laban, no mention is made of Jacob having any wife apart from Rachel, and no mention is made of Jacob having children apart from those descended from Rachel[8][9]. A number of biblical scholars suspect that the story of Jacob's visit to Laban to obtain a wife began as a metaphor for a second migration of Israelites to Canaan, the family, possessions, and livestock that journeyed from Laban to Canaan with Jacob being representations of the new wave of migrants[10]; according to this view, taking the textual evidence into account, it was only the tribes which had Rachel as a matriarch that formed this second group. Despite the current view among archaeologists that many of the Israelites originated in Canaan without having travelled to Egypt[11], scholars believe that a small section of Israelite society may nevertheless have once migrated to Egypt and later fled from it, forming a historic nucleus from which the Exodus narrative developed[12]; the section of Israelite society in question is suspected to be the tribes with Rachel as matriarch - Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh[13].

The etymology of the name Benjamin is a matter of dispute, though most agree that it is composed of two parts - ben and jamin - the former meaning son of. The literal translation of Benjamin is son of right (as opposed to left), generally interpreted as meaning son of my right hand, though sometimes interpreted as son of the right [hand] side; being associated with the right hand side was traditionally a reference to strength and virtue (cf sinister, which derives from the latin for left). This is, however, not the only literal translation, as the root for right is identical to that for south, hence Benjamin also literally translates as son of the south; this meaning is advocated by several classical rabbinical sources, which argue that it refers to the birth of Benjamin in Canaan, as compared with the birth of all the other sons of Jacob in Aram[14]. Modern scholars have instead proposed that, with the eponymous Benjamin being just a metaphor, son of the south/son of the right are references to the tribe coming into existence in a geographic situation respect to the more dominant tribe of Ephraim[15]. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, the name is consistently written with a terminal mem, making it Benjamim, and would literally translate as son of days; some classical rabbinical literature argues that this was the original form of the name and was a reference to the old age of Jacob when Benjamin was born[16].

[edit] Character

In the Blessing of Jacob, Benjamin is referred to as a ravenous wolf[17]; traditional interpretations often considered this to refer to the might of a specific member of the tribe, either the champion Ehud, king Saul, or Mordecai of the Esther narrative, or in Christian circles, the apostle Paul[18]. The Temple in Jerusalem was traditionally said to be partly in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin (but mostly in that of Judah), and some traditional interpretations of the Blessing consider the ravenous wolf to refer to the Temple's altar, as simile in regard to the heavy presence there of biblical sacrifices[19]. Some scholars believe that it instead originates from the tribe having the figure of a wolf in its standard.

Main article: Battle at Gibeah

The tribe of Benjamin is initially described in the Bible as being very pugnacious[20], for example in the Song of Deborah, and in descriptions where they are described as being taught to fight left handed, so as to be able to wrong foot their enemies[21][22][23], and where they are portrayed as being brave and skilled archers[24][25]. However, an abrupt change of character to one of placidity occurs in the text after a traumatic incident for the tribe[26]. The Book of Judges recounts that an incident of gross inhospitality by part of the tribe resulted in a Battle at Gibeah, in which the other tribes of Israel sought vengeance, and after which the surviving members of Benjamin were systematically slaughtered, including women and children; when Benjamin was nearly extinguished, it was decided that the tribe should be allowed to survive, and all the men from another town were slaughtered, so that their wives could be re-wed to the surviving men of Benjamin[27].

According to textual scholars, the biblical text describing the battle and the events surrounding it is considerably late in date, originating close to the time of the deuteronomist's compilation of Judges from its source material, and clearly has several exaggerations of both numbers and of modes of warfare[28], and additionally, the inhospitality which triggered the Battle is reminiscent of the Torah's account of Sodom and Gomorrah[29]. Many Biblical scholars concluded that the account was a piece of political spin, which had been intended to disguise atrocities carried out by the tribe of Judah against Benjamin, probably in the time of King David as an act of revenge or spite by David against the associates of King Saul, by casting them further back in time, and adding a more justifiable motive[30]; more recently, scholars have suggested that it is more likely for the narrative to be based on a kernel of truth, particularly since it accounts for the stark contrast in the biblical narrative between the character of the tribe before the incident, and its character afterwards[31].

[edit] Fate

Despite its ethnic connection to Ephraim, the main tribe in the Kingdom of Israel, Benjamin instead associated with the southern tribes and became part of the Kingdom of Judah. Benjamin was very much a minor partner; kings came from the tribe of Judah and it was Judah which gave its name to the kingdom. As part of the kingdom of Judah, Benjamin survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, and instead was subjected to the Babylonian captivity; when the captivity ended, the distinction between Benjamin and the other tribes in the kingdom of Judah were lost in favour of a common identity as Jews.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Deuteronomy 33:12
  2. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible?
  3. ^ This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
  4. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  6. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  7. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  8. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  9. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible?
  10. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  11. ^ Israel Finkelstein, The Bible Unearthed
  12. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
  13. ^ ibid
  14. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  15. ^ ibid
  16. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  17. ^ Genesis 49:27
  18. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  19. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  20. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  21. ^ Judges 3:15-21
  22. ^ Judges 20:16
  23. ^ 1 Chronicles 12:2
  24. ^ 1 Chronicles 8:40
  25. ^ 2 Chronicles 14:7
  26. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  27. ^ Judges 19-21
  28. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  29. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  30. ^ ibid
  31. ^ ibid