Benjamin

Benjamin is the younger son of Jacob and Rachel. He is one of the forefathers of Israel. Together with his full brother Joseph, he is a favourite of his father Jacob.

The name Benjamin means “son of the right hand” or “son of happiness”. When his mother Rachel senses that she will not survive the birth, she names her son “Benoni” which means “son of sorrow”. But his father Jacob gives him the name “Benjamin” (Genesis 35:16-18).
Benjamin is the youngest son of Jacob. Because Benjamin and Joseph are born when Jacob is already old, he loves them more than his other children (Genesis 37:3).

The ten other brothers are jealous of Joseph. Therefore, they sell him as a slave into Egypt. Years later, they go to Egypt to buy corn, but they do not know that Joseph, in the meantime, has become almost the most powerful man in the country and they do not recognise him.
On their first journey, the brothers do not take Benjamin with them, because their father is afraid that something will happen to him. But Joseph orders his brothers to bring Benjamin with them the next time.
In order to test his brothers, Joseph secretly hides a valuable cup in Benjamin’s bag. When it seems that Judah and the other brothers are prepared to defend Benjamin, Joseph tells his brothers who he is.

The name Benjamin may refer to the tribe of Benjamin, of which Benjamin is the forefather. But it is also a designation for the region where the descendants of Benjamin went to live. That region was in the centre of Israel, above the territory of Judah.

As one of the 12 sons of Jacob, Benjamin receives a blessing from Jacob when the latter is old. Jacob compares the descendants of Benjamin to a “vicious wolf” (Genesis 49:27).
The blessing of Benjamin is like that of Judah, who is compared to a lion. The two tribes often travel along together, which means that Judah is mostly the one who protects Benjamin. The territories of the two tribes are also close together, and together form the basic part of the region called the Southern Kingdom of Judah.