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Quick Facts |
| Father |
Jacob |
| Mother |
Rachel |
| Sons |
Ard,
Ashbeli,
Becher,
Bela,
Chuppim,
Echi,
Gera,
Muppim,
Naaman,
and Rosh |
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Youngest son of
Jacob and Rachel, who died shortly after giving birth to him
near Ephrath in Bethlehem. |
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Rachel named her
son Ben-oni ("son of my sorrow") but Jacob changed the name to
Benjamin ("son of my right hand"), the right hand being the
place of honor (Genesis 48:14, Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and
Menasseh). |
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Benjamin was not
sent down to Egypt to buy corn during the famine in Canaan but
was later sent to Egypt at Joseph's command. Joseph deliberately
placed a silver cup in Benjamin's sack as the brothers were
leaving for Hebron and had them arrested for theft, intending to
keep Benjamin in Egypt with him, but Judah intervened offering
himself as hostage instead. |
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Joseph revealed
his true identity and Jacob and the rest of their family,
including Benjamin's ten sons, settled in Egypt. |
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On his deathbed,
Jacob blessed each of his sons in turn, calling Benjamin "a
vicious wolf" (Genesis 49:27). |
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Benjamin's
descendants formed the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin
at the Exodus was the second-smallest. |
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After entering the
Promised Land, Benjamin received the smallest of the allotments
of the Tribal Lands (Joshua 18:11-20). Their territory was
located immediately to the south of Ephraim, measuring about 26
miles (42 kilometers) in length and 12 miles (20 kilometers)
wide. Their eastern boundary was the The Jordan River, and their
major cities included part of Jerusalem (Joshua 18:21-28). |
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The Benjamin Gate,
on the north side of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:13), was so named
because it led in the direction of the territory of the tribe of
Benjamin. |
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