Illustration created for this project.

Benjamin

Youngest son of Jacob, born to Rachel; ancestor of King Saul and of the apostle Paul.

Lived: c. 1740 BC – ?

Belonged to: Israelites (Hebrews), Tribe of Benjamin

Tribe/lineage: Benjamin

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 2 Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2

Family & lineage

BibleThe youngest son of Jacob, born to Rachel, and full brother of Joseph.

Genesis 35:18

↳ Jacob · Joseph · Rachel

ScholarlyThe 18th-century BCE archives from Mari repeatedly name a tribal confederation, the Binu-yamina ('sons of the right/south,' i.e. 'southerners'), a close linguistic counterpart to the name Benjamin. This is a name parallel that illuminates the naming pattern, not evidence for the biblical individual, since the Mari group predates him by centuries and is a distinct people.

The Mari tablets (Archives royales de Mari); the Binu-yamina/'Yaminites' parallel is widely discussed in Amorite onomastic scholarship. Offered strictly as a linguistic parallel.

Tribe & people

BibleFrom his tribe came Israel's first king, Saul, and the apostle Paul.

Philippians 3:5

↳ Paul the Apostle · Saul

Name & titles

ScholarlyThe name Binyamin means 'son of the right hand,' i.e. 'son of the south' (the right hand facing east). Genesis reports that the dying Rachel called him Ben-oni ('son of my sorrow') but that Jacob renamed him Binyamin.

Hebrew onomastics (yamin = 'right hand/south'); the double naming is explicit in the Masoretic text of Gen 35:18.