King James Bible Dictionary

Son of my right hand.

1. The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Genesis 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His mother died in giving him birth, and with her last breath named him Ben-oni, son of my pain, a name which was changed by his father into Benjamin. His posterity are called Benjamites (Genesis 49:27; Deuteronomy 33:12; Joshua 18:21).

The tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus was the smallest but one (Numbers 1:36, 37; Psalms 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 49:27) that the figure of a wolf was on the tribal standard. This tribe is mentioned in Romans 11:1; Philippians 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. Dan intervened between it and the Philistines. Its chief towns are named in Joshua 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. By it they were almost exterminated (Judges 20:20, 21; 21:10). (See GIBEAH.)

The first king of the Jews was Saul, a Benjamite. A close alliance was formed between this tribe and that of Judah in the time of David (2 Samuel 19:16, 17), which continued after his death (1 Kings 11:13; 12:20). After the Exile these two tribes formed the great body of the Jewish nation (Ezra 1:5; 10:9).

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

The gate of Benjamin, on the north side of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:13; 38:7; Zechariah 14:10), was so called because it led in the direction of the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. It is called by Jeremiah (20:2) "the high gate of Benjamin;" also "the gate of the children of the people" (17:19). (Comp. 2 Kings 14:13.)

son of the right hand

1. Son of Jacob by Rachel

General references
Genesis 35:18; Genesis 35:24; Genesis 46:19

Taken into Egypt
Genesis 1:42

Prophecy concerning
Genesis 49:27

Descendants of
Genesis 46:21; Numbers 26:38-41

2. Tribe of

Census of;

Sinai
Numbers 1:37

The plain of Moab
Numbers 26:41

Clans of
Numbers 26:38-40; 1 Chronicles 7:6-12; 1 Chronicles 13:8

Position of, in camp and march
Numbers 2:18; Numbers 2:22

Moses' benediction upon
Deuteronomy 32:12

Allotment in the land of Canaan
Joshua 18:11-28

Reallotment
Ezekiel 48:23

Did not exterminate the Jebusites
Judges 1:21

Join Deborah in the war against Sisera
Judges 5:14

Territory of, invaded by the Ammonites
Judges 10:9

Did not avenge the crime of the Gibeonites against the Levite's concubine, the war that followed
Jude 1:19-20

Saul, the first king of Israel
1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Samuel 9:17; 1 Samuel 10:20-21

Its rank in the time of Samuel
1 Samuel 9:21

Jerusalem within the territory of
Jeremiah 6:1

A company of, joins David at Ziklag
1 Chronicles 12:1-2; 1 Chronicles 12:16

Not enrolled by Joab when he took a census of the military forces of Israel
1 Chronicles 21:6

Loyal to Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul
2 Samuel 2:9; 2 Samuel 2:15; 2 Samuel 2:31; 1 Chronicles 12:29

Subsequently joins David
2 Samuel 3:19; 2 Samuel 19:16-17

Loyal to Rehoboam
1 Kings 12:21; 2 Chronicles 11:1

Military forces of, in the reign of Asa
2 Chronicles 14:8

Military forces of, in the reign of Jehoshaphat
2 Chronicles 17:17

Skill in archery and as slingers of stones
Judges 3:15; Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 8:40; 1 Chronicles 12:2

Return to Palestine from the exile in Babylon
Ezra 1:5

Saints of, seen in John's vision
Revelation 7:8

Paul, of the tribe of
Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5
Israel

3. Grandson of Benjamin
1 Chronicles 7:10

4. A son of Harim, probably identical with the man mentioned in Nehemia 3.23
Ezra 10:32; Nehemiah 3:23

5. A Jew who assisted in purifying the wall of Jerusalem
Nehemiah 12:34

6. A gate of Jerusalem
Jeremiah 20:2; Jeremiah 37:13; Jeremiah 38:7; Zech 14:10

(son of the right hand, fortunate).

1. The youngest of the children of Jacob. His birth took place on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, near the latter, B.C. 1729. His mother, Rachel, died in the act of giving him birth, naming him with her last breath Ben-oni (son of my sorrow). This was by Jacob changed into Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16,18) Until the journeys of Jacob's sons and Jacob himself into Egypt we hear nothing of Benjamin. Nothing personal is known of him. Henceforward the history of Benjamin is the history of the tribe.
2. A man of the tribe of Benjamin, son of bilhan, and the head of a family of warriors. (1 Chronicles 7:10)
3. One of the "sons of Harim," an Isr'lite in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:32)

BEN'JAMIN, noun A tree, the Laurus Benzoin, a native of America, called also spicebush. It grows to the height of 15 or 20 feet, with a very branchy head.

1. A gum or resin, or rather a balsam. [See Benzoin.]

(Jeremiah 20:2; 37:13; 38:7; Zechariah 14:10) [JERUSALEM]

The proximity of Benjamin to Ephraim during the march to the promised land was maintained in the territory allotted to each. That given to Benjamin formed almost a parallelogram, of about 26 miles in length by 12 in breadth, lying between Ephraim, the Jordan, Judah and Dan. The general level of this part of Palestine is not less than 2000 feet above the Mediterranean or than 3000 feet above the valley of the Jordan, the surrounding country including a large number of eminences

almost every one of which has borne some part in the history of the tribe

and many torrent beds and deep ravines.

The contrast between the warlike character of the tribe and the peaceful image of its progenitor comes out in many scattered notices. Benjamin was the only tribe which seems to have pursued archery to any purpose, and their skill in the bow, (1 Samuel 20:20,36; 2 Samuel 1:232; 1 Chronicles 8:40; 12:2; 2 Chronicles 17:17) and the sling, (Judges 20:16) is celebrated. The dreadful deed recorded in Judges 19 was defended by Benjamin. Later the tribe seems, however, to assume another position, as Ramah, (1 Samuel 9:12) etc., Mizpeh, (1 Samuel 7:5) Bethel and Gibeon, (1 Kings 3:4) were all in the land of Benjamin. After the struggles and contests which followed the death of Saul, the history of Benjamin becomes merged in that of the southern kingdom.