Benjamin
Also called Ben-oni
Benjamin (patriarch)
Born 1738 BC traditional (Jones)
The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 24th generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of the Patriarchs, 1996–1707 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Joseph, Ephraim, Rehoboam, Bela, Jacob, Solomon, Asa, and Ashbel.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
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Stories
1 event in which Benjamin takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 1738 BCRachel dies giving birth to BenjaminGen 35:16-27
Places
Places named in the same verses as Benjamin, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1763–1663 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 4 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
37 tagged verses in 9 books. Select a book to read its verses.
Later verses tagged with Benjamin are about the tribe of Benjamin, not the man: 120 verses, counted separately.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Benjamin 133Ben-oni 1 |
| KJV | Benjamin 166Ben-oni 0 |
| ASV | Benjamin 168Ben-oni 1 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 37 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis16 verses
- 35:18
And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
- 35:24
The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
- 42:4
But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.”
- 42:36
Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- 43:14
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- 43:15
So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
- 43:16
When Joseph saw Benjamin with his brothers, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they shall dine with me at noon.”
- 43:29
When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”
- 43:34
When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
- 44:12
The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest—and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
- 45:12
Behold! You and my brother Benjamin can see that I, Joseph, am the one speaking with you.
- 45:14
Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.
- 45:22
He gave new garments to each of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
- 46:19
The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
- 46:21
The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
- 49:27
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
Exodus1 verse
- 1:3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
Judges2 verses
- 1:21
The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.
- 5:14
Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun.
2 Samuel1 verse
- 2:9
and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel.
1 Kings2 verses
- 12:21
And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
- 12:23
“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the rest of the people
1 Chronicles6 verses
- 2:2
Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
- 7:6
The three sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.
- 8:1
Benjamin was the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
- 8:40
The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and they had many sons and grandsons—150 in all. All these were the descendants of Benjamin.
- 12:2
they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):
- 12:16
Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.
2 Chronicles5 verses
- 11:1
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
- 11:3
“Tell Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin
- 15:2
So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
- 15:8
When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
- 15:9
And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
Ezra3 verses
- 1:5
So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.
- 4:1
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,
- 10:9
So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
Psalms1 verse
- 80:2
before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 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 (Gen. 49:27; Deut. 33:12; Josh. 18:21).
The tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus was the smallest but one (Num. 1:36, 37; Ps. 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 (Gen. 49:27) that the figure of a wolf was on the tribal standard. This tribe is mentioned in Rom. 11:1; Phil. 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 Josh. 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 (Judg. 20:20, 21; 21:10).
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 Sam. 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 Sam. 20:20, 36; 2 Sam. 1:22; 1 Chr. 8:40; 12:2) and slingers (Judge. 20:6).
The gate of Benjamin, on the north side of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; 38:7; Zech. 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.)