Tribal Characteristics of Benjamin
PART OF PROJECT BENJAMIN
Note: If you are interested in the Rabbis Quoted short biographical sketches are to be found at:
Rabbis Quoted.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/sources/rabbisquoted.html
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Contents:
1. Introduction. The Project
2. Background. The Ten Tribes and Benjamin
3. Background. Benjamin East of the Jordan and with the Ten Tribes.
4. The Grandfather of Saul. A Generous Publicly Conscious Benefactor.
5. Rachel and Benjamin
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1. Introduction. The Project
In the past we made a cursory analysis of the Tribal Characteristics of Benjamin. We wrote several articles on this subjcts along with Brit-Am Videotaped Talks about it.
e.g.
Are you from Benjamin?
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/bnj.html
According to the Bible much of Benjamin should be found together with Judah. Our audience generally consists mostly of non-Jews though many Jews are also interested. Whatever the reason, the discussions concerning Benjamin were quite popular. Quite a few found the characteristics described as pertinent to themselves and to members of their families. King Saul was from the Tribe of Benjamin and he was the first King of Israel. Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai in the Book of Esther were descendants of Saul. We would often extrapolate from descriptions of Saul and his family using them as prototypes for the Tribe as a whole. A few readers were critical of this approach because of what they considered to be an unwarranted generalization.
Nevertheless, the technique proved itself and we will continue to use it.
A Special Request was made of us to continue the studies concerning Saul and Benjamin (in Hebrew, "Binyamin") and we have decided to answer it.
This will be an ongoing Project progressing as we go and open to queries, criticism, and suggestions.
The request also included the wish that relevant Jewish Rabbinical sources be provided. Even if one finds it hard to believe literally in all the sources quoted they are still worthwhile. Apart from anything else they demonstrate penetrating insights of value into the subject matter.
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2. Background. The Ten Tribes and Benjamin
The Ten Tribes under Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim seceded from Judah.
The polity known as "Judah" included the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
1-Kings (NASB) 12:
21 Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the House of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the House of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 'Tell Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying, 24 'This is what the LORD says: 'You shall not go up nor fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return, every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.''' So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned to go their way in accordance with the word of the LORD.
We see here that Benjamin alone (at least at the beginning) was together with Judah. All the other Tribes had separated. Later most of the Tribe of Levi returned to Judah together with minoirty elements from the other Tribes. The majority of Israelites remained with the Ten tribes and they exiled and lost consciounsness of their ancestry.
The Hebrews were descended from the forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Jacob was re-named Israel (Genesis 32:28; 35:10). He had 12 sons. They became the forefathers of 12 Tribes of Israel (Genesis 35:22).
Isaac had blessed his son Jacob:
# May God Almighty bless you,
And make you fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples [Genesis 28:3] #
The word translated above as 'multiply you' also connotes 'make you great.'
What does becoming an 'Assembly of Peoples' Mean? A great Rabbinical Commentator, 'HANATZIV,' opined that this referred expressly to the Ten Tribes (headed by Joseph) who separated from Judah.
The Commentary of the NATZIV [Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin,1816 - 1893, "Ha-Emek Davar"] says:
# An Assembly of Peoples: An Assembly [Hebrew, "Kahal"] is ten (Talmud, Ketubot 7;b) ... and Amim [Peoples] denotes peoples who are each recognizable in their individual folk distinctions even though they may be under one government and speak the same language .... He was saying that from the Seed of Jacob would emerge Ten Peoples. This means that each Tribe would have its own mannerisms and be a folk in its own right. This is despite them having one Law [Torah] and one king. They would nevertheless be differentiated in their ways of life.
# Only the Tribe of Benjamin and the Tribe of Judah had one mutual mode of living while Levi was encompassed by all the other Tribes.
#This is the meaning of an Assembly of Peoples [Kahal Amim]. #
The NATZIV (Genesis 28:3) explained that Judah and Benjamin became the One People of Judah while Levi was scattered among all the Tribes. That means we had one People of Judah (i.e. the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin joined together) on one side and Ten Tribes on the other. The Ten Tribes each were to become separate nations in their own right, every one distinguished in its characteristics from the other.
Judah and Benjamin however were to be counted together as One Tribe.
Saul, from the Tribe of Benjamin, was the first King. After Saul came DAVID, from Judah. Solomon the son of David built the First Temple. Solomon started well but was led astray by the foreign women he married. It was decreed that following Solomon the Kingdom would be divided into two:
1-Kings (NASB) 11:
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, Since you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give ONE TRIBE to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.
Solomon is told that the Kingdom would be taken away from his son and given to another. One Tribe however would be left for his son to rule over. The Commentator, Yehudah Kiel (in 'DAAT MIKRA') says that the expression 'One Tribe' hints at the one special Tribe of Judah, as it says,
Psalms 114:
1 When Israel went forth from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of a foreign language,
2 Judah became His sanctuary;
Israel, His dominion.
Kiel quotes 'RAMEZ' that since the 'ONE' Tribe spoken of is associated with David and with Jerusalem ('give ONE TRIBE to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem') then it must have been referring to Judah. The RADAK (1160-1235) explained that 'One Tribe' encompassed both Judah and Benjamin together since they both participated in Jerusalem the territory of which came from them both. The expression 'ONE TRIBE' is found again:
1-Kings (NASB) 11:
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you TEN TRIBES 32 (but he shall have ONE TRIBE, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel)....
Here the RADAK says that Judah and Benjamin were considered ONE TRIBE since they shared their Tribal Inheritance and Jerusalem between them.
Cf.
1-Kings (NASB) 11:
34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom from his sons hand and give it to you; that is, TEN TRIBES. 36 But to his son I will give ONE TRIBE, so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name.
Who Were the Ten Tribes who seceded?
The Ten Tribes who joined Jeroboam and cut themselves off from Judah included Ephraim, Manasseh, Dan, Naphtali, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Reuben, and Simeon.
Even though Simeon was to the south it evidently was ruled over by Jeroboam in the north.
After the Ten Tribes had been exiled by the Assyrians King Josiah son of Amon who reigned over Judah went through the former region of the Ten Tribes and purified it.
2-Chronicles 34:
6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding spaces...
Here we have Simeon included together with the Ten Tribes. This is confirmed by additional Biblical Proofs, Midrashic sources, and archaeological evidence.
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3. Background. Benjamin East of the Jordan and with the Ten Tribes.
The Promised Land stretched from the River Nile in the south to the far north and Euphrates River in the east. It was divided into two sections, west of the Jordan and east of it.
The area east of the Jordan was initially given to the Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh.
Different sources (e.g. Malbim, Elyahu of Vilna) indicate that the area east of the Jordan beyond what had been initailly settled was later sub-divided among some of the Tribes. A group known as the Yamini from Benjamin was to be found in the far north.
It was mentioned in letters from Ugarit in North Syria.
More needs to be done on this matter.
At all events in one way or other contingents from Benjamin were also ultimately to be found among the Ten Tribes.
The Normans were partly from Benjamin. So were the Belgae elements of whom were to be found in Ireland, and in what is now England, as well as in North of France, and in Belgium.
The Normans were also scattered far and wide starting off in what is now Romania continuing to Denmark and Norway then to Northwest France and also to Ireland and England, Sicily, and Italy, and other places.
Belgium is divided by language: There are the Flemings who speak Dutch and the Walloons who use Franch. We find Benjamin among both of them but not necessarily in a majority.
Concerning the Flemings the following note (from Wikipedia) is of interest:
The Dutch-speaking Flemish Community constitutes about 60 %. The Bishop of Utrecht, Arnold-2, 1372-1375, noted that the Flemish people still believed in wearing amulets and charms ("phylacteries"); he defined them as amulets worn on the head or arms, sometimes made out of books or scripture.
This is in fact an old Hebrew practice (Exodus 13:9, 16, Deuteronomy 6:80, cf. 'you shall tie them for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as totafot [leather boxes with parchment scrolls inside them] of between your eyes' (Deuteronomy 11:18).
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4. The Grandfather of Saul. A Generous Publicly Conscious Benefactor.
1-Samuel (NASB) 9:
1 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite, a valiant mighty man. 2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.
cf.
1-Chronicles 8:
33 Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
from the quotes above, one source says the name of the father of Saul was Kish son of Abiel; another says it was Kish son of Ner.
The Talmud and Midrash say his real name was Kish son of Abiel.
The father of Kish was Abiel BUT he was referred to as "Ner," meaning "candle," "lamp," "illumination," because he would provide illumination in public places.
"Because he would light lamps in public places he was called Ner" (Talmud Yerushalmi, Sheviit, 3; Halachah 7).
# Said Rabbi Shimeon ben Lakish:
"Saul merited the monarchy by virtue of his grandfather who would light lamps for the public. It was said that dark alleyways led from his house to the Place of Study. He would light lamps to illuminate the way for the public." (Midrash VaYikra Rabah 9:2).
We see from this that the family of Saul were known and appreciated for their public consciousness and social responsibility. They were also generous. They saw a need and out of their own pocket they supplied the public with a needed service.
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5. Rachel and Benjamin
Jacob begat 12 sons and at least 1 daughter from 4 women (Genesis chs. 29, 30).
From Leah he begat Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Yehudah, isscahr, Zebulon.
From Zilpah (the handmaiden of Leah) he begat Asher and Gad.
From Rachel (the sister of Leah) he begat Joseph and Benjamin.
From Bilhah (the handmaiden of Rachel) he begat Dan and Naphtali.
Benjamin and Joseph were brothers. Joseph was destined to head the 10 Tribes whereas Benjamin stayed with Judah.
Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 36:19). This too indicates self-sacrifice and heroism.
Benjamin was born in the Land of Canaan, i.e. in the Holy Land. He was the only one of the sons not born outside of the Promised Land.
The Rabbinic researcher, Elyahu Yedid, author of "Shaul Bechir HaShem" ("Saul, Chosen of God"), Hebrew-language, Jerusalem, 2004, says that having been born in the Land bequeathed to Benjamin an aspect of Royalty.
Rachel for her part was known for her modesty and self-abnegation. Saul combined the attributes of bashfulness and royalty even though they superficially appear to be contradictory to each other.
CONTINUED.