In brief
Benjamin is the twelfth and last son of Jacob and the second son of Rachel, after Joseph. His mother dies giving birth to him on the road to Ephrath. When Joseph is presumed dead, Benjamin becomes the son Jacob guards most closely. He stands at the heart of the brothers' second journey to Egypt, where Joseph tests them before revealing himself. Jacob blesses him at the end of his life, and he is the ancestor of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
What does the name Benjamin mean?
The name Benjamin is generally linked to Hebrew and understood as “son of the right hand,” or “son of the south.” The Bible explains that the dying Rachel named him Ben-Oni, usually understood as “son of my sorrow,” but that his father called him Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).
The world of Benjamin
The story of Benjamin takes place in the family of the patriarchs, which the usual reckoning places in the second millennium BC. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, is coming back from Paddan Aram, where he married Leah and Rachel, the two daughters of Laban, and where his sons were born to him by Leah, by Rachel and by their servants Bilhah and Zilpah. God has given him the name Israel and has renewed the promise of the land he gave to Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 35:10-12). The family is marked by the rivalry between the two sisters and by Jacob's preference for Rachel, then for Joseph, her elder son. When Benjamin's story begins, Rachel dies giving birth to him, and Jacob is left the father of twelve sons. Later a famine strikes Canaan and drives Joseph's brothers down to Egypt to buy grain, where Joseph, once sold by his brothers, is governor of the land (Genesis 42:6). Benjamin, the youngest, has stayed with his father. To understand his story, three things must be kept in mind: a family torn by jealousy, a father who believed he had lost Joseph, and a brother who has become powerful and whom no one recognizes. The Bible says almost nothing of Benjamin's own youth: it shows him through the eyes of Jacob, Joseph and Judah.
The story of Benjamin
A birth on the road to Ephrath
Genesis 35:16-20Jacob has left Bethel, where God renewed the promise of the land. There is still some distance to go to Ephrath when Rachel goes into labor. The delivery is hard. The midwife says to her: “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.” As she is dying, Rachel names the child Benoni, but his father names him Benjamin. She is buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and Jacob sets up a pillar over her grave, which was still there when the text was written. The twelfth son of Israel is therefore born in mourning, between the promise received at Bethel and the return to his father Isaac.
The last of the twelve sons
Genesis 35:22-26; 44:20The chapter lists the twelve sons of Jacob: six by Leah, two by Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, two by Bilhah, Rachel's servant, and two by Zilpah, Leah's servant. Benjamin closes the list. Later, when the brothers speak to Joseph without recognizing him, they describe their family: an old father and a young brother, “a child of his old age.” That child had a brother, from the same mother, who is dead, and he alone is left, and “his father loves him.” The text does not give Benjamin's age at that point, but it always presents him as the youngest, the one whom Jacob keeps close to him.
Jacob refuses to let him go
Genesis 42:1-4; 42:36-38There is famine in the land of Canaan. Jacob says to his sons: “Why do you look at one another?” Ten brothers go down to buy grain, but Jacob does not send Benjamin with them, for fear that harm may happen to him. In Egypt, Joseph, whom they do not recognize, takes them for spies, demands that the youngest brother be brought to him, and keeps Simeon. Back home, the brothers tell everything, and Jacob cries out: “Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away.” He refuses: “My son shall not go down with you,” for he fears he would bring down his gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
Judah pledges himself for Benjamin
Genesis 43:1-15The grain brought from Egypt is used up and the famine is severe. Jacob asks his sons to go back and buy a little more food, but Judah reminds him that the man told them they would not see his face unless their brother was with them. Judah pledges himself: “I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him.” Israel gives way, and he organizes the journey: a present of balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds, double the money, and a prayer: “May God Almighty give you mercy before the man.” The brothers set out with Benjamin and stand before Joseph.
Joseph sees his brother
Genesis 43:16-34As soon as Joseph sees Benjamin with them, he has a meal prepared in his house. The brothers, at first afraid because of the money found in their sacks, are reassured by the steward, who brings Simeon out to them. When Joseph arrives, he asks about their old father, then looks at Benjamin, “his mother’s son,” and says: “God be gracious to you, my son.” His heart yearns over his brother, and he goes into a room and weeps there. At the table the brothers are seated by age, which amazes them, and Benjamin's portion is five times as much as any of theirs.
The cup in the sack
Genesis 44:1-13Joseph orders his steward to fill the men's sacks with food, to put each man's money back in his sack, and to put his silver cup in the sack's mouth of the youngest. The brothers have barely gone out of the city when the steward catches up with them and accuses them. They protest their innocence and pronounce the sentence themselves: “With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.” The steward searches, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup is found in Benjamin's sack. The brothers tear their clothes and return to the city.
Judah pleads for Benjamin
Genesis 44:14-34Before Joseph, Judah acknowledges: “God has found out the iniquity of your servants.” Joseph answers that only the man in whose hand the cup is found will be his slave, and that the others may go up in peace to their father. Judah then comes near and pleads at length: he recalls the old father's love for the boy and the word he himself has given, then asks: “Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers.” He cannot bear to see the sorrow that would come on his father.
Joseph makes himself known
Genesis 45:1-15; 45:22Joseph can no longer control himself. He has everyone sent out and says to his brothers: “I am Joseph!” He explains to them that God sent him before them to preserve life. He says: “Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.” Then he falls on his brother Benjamin's neck and weeps, and Benjamin weeps on his neck. Before they leave, Joseph gives each one of them changes of clothing, and to Benjamin he gives three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
Benjamin's family goes down to Egypt
Genesis 46:1-4; 46:19-22Israel sets out with all that he has. At Beersheba, God speaks to him in a vision: “Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.” Benjamin is among the seventy persons of the house of Jacob who go into Egypt. The text gives the names of his sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, are counted together: fourteen persons in all, including Joseph's children born in Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim.
The blessing of Jacob and that of Moses
Genesis 49:27-28; Deuteronomy 33:12Before dying, Jacob blesses each of his sons, according to his own blessing. He says of Benjamin: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.” The image describes a fighting tribe. Much later, Moses also blesses the tribes before his death. He says of Benjamin: “The beloved of Yahweh will dwell in safety by him.” Between these two words, the tribe of Benjamin takes its place among the twelve tribes of Israel, with a strength and a nearness to God that are both acknowledged.
Benjamin's family
- father
- Jacob Genesis 35:18
- mother
- Rachel Genesis 35:16-19
- grandfather
- Isaac Genesis 35:27
- brother
- Joseph Genesis 35:24
- half-brother
- Reuben Genesis 35:23
- half-brother
- Judah Genesis 35:23
- half-sister
- Dinah Genesis 34:1
- nephew
- Manasseh Genesis 46:20
- nephew
- Ephraim Genesis 46:20
- son
- Bela Genesis 46:21
- son
- Becher Genesis 46:21
- son
- Gera Genesis 46:21
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What Benjamin teaches us
- God stays faithful in the midst of grief: Benjamin's birth is tied to Rachel's death, yet the story of God's people goes on.
- A father sometimes has to entrust what is dearest to him to God, as Jacob does when he finally lets Benjamin go while praying to God Almighty.
- Standing surety and taking another's place is an act of love, which Judah carries out for Benjamin.
- God leads a family's trials toward reconciliation, and Benjamin stands at the center of that reunion.
Key verses
Rachel names the child Ben-Oni as she dies, and then Jacob calls him Benjamin. The verse shows a father turning a name of sorrow into a name carried by an entire tribe.
Joseph sees Benjamin and cannot hold back his emotion. He is deeply moved and weeps in a private room. This passage prepares the moment when he will reveal his identity to his brothers.
Judah asks to stay as a slave in the boy's place so that Benjamin can go back up with his brothers. This act of substitution shows a heart deeply changed since the sale of Joseph.
Bible verses to meditate on
Frequently asked questions
What does the name Benjamin mean?
The name Benjamin is generally linked to Hebrew and understood as “son of the right hand,” or “son of the south.” The Bible reports that Rachel named him Ben-Oni as she was dying, but that his father chose to call him Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).
Why did Jacob not want to let Benjamin go to Egypt?
Joseph had disappeared and Jacob believed him dead. Benjamin was the last son of Rachel still with him, and Jacob feared that harm would come to him on the way. He said he would go down to the grave in sorrow if he lost him too (Genesis 42:36-38).
Where can I find the story of Benjamin in the Bible?
His birth is told in Genesis 35:16-20. His role alongside Joseph appears in Genesis 42 to 44. Jacob blesses him in Genesis 49:27, and his tribe is mentioned throughout the later history of Israel.
Why did Joseph have his cup put in Benjamin's sack?
The Bible gives no explicit motive. It reports that Joseph orders his silver cup to be put in the mouth of the youngest brother's sack (Genesis 44:2), and then the brothers to be accused. What the text shows clearly is the result. Joseph offers them the chance to go up in peace, leaving Benjamin as a slave (44:17). Long before, the brothers had let Joseph go off to Egypt without defending him. This time, Judah refuses to abandon Benjamin and offers to take his place (44:33). The story brings to light a changed heart, before Joseph makes himself known in Genesis 45. It is better to keep to what the text says than to attribute intentions to Joseph.
How many sons did Benjamin have?
Genesis 46:21 names ten sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. This list belongs to the descendants of Jacob who came into Egypt, whose total is seventy persons (Genesis 46:27). It gives the starting point of the family that will become the tribe of Benjamin. The text also states that the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, amount to fourteen persons in all (46:22), counting the children of Joseph who were born in Egypt. The Bible does not say how old Benjamin was when these sons were born, so the list is best read as a family record.
What does “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf” mean?
In his blessing, Jacob compares Benjamin to a wolf that devours the prey in the morning and divides the plunder at evening (Genesis 49:27). The image suggests a warlike tribe. The book of Judges gives an illustration: when Israel marches against Gibeah, the Benjamites come out of their cities, twenty-six thousand men who draw the sword, with seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed and could sling a stone at a hair without missing (Judges 20:15-16). They defeat Israel twice at first (20:21,25). Scripture presents this strength as a real quality, but it does not protect the tribe from judgment.
What is the link between Benjamin and King Saul?
Saul is a descendant of Benjamin. The first book of Samuel introduces him like this: “a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish,” whose son Saul is a young man, impressive, taller than any of the people (1 Samuel 9:1-2). Yahweh tells Samuel that he will send him “a man out of the land of Benjamin” to anoint as prince over his people (9:16). Saul answers with humility: “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel?” (9:21). The tribe had indeed been severely tested after the affair of Gibeah told in chapter 20 of Judges. Yet God chooses a Benjamite to be the first king of Israel.
Why did the tribe of Benjamin almost disappear?
The book of Judges tells of a crime committed at Gibeah of Benjamin: the inhabitants rose up against a Levite who was passing through, and his concubine died (Judges 20:4-6). The tribes of Israel ask that the guilty men be handed over, but the Benjamites will not listen to the voice of their brothers (20:13). A war breaks out. After two defeats, Israel is given the victory by Yahweh, and twenty-five thousand Benjamites who draw the sword perish (20:46). Only six hundred men survive, at the rock of Rimmon (20:47). Chapter 21 then tells of Israel's grief over a tribe that has been cut off, and of the care taken for its survival.
Did the apostle Paul belong to the tribe of Benjamin?
Yes. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul lists what could have given him confidence in his own merits: “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5). He adds that he was a Pharisee and a persecutor of the assembly. But he then declares that these things, which were gain to him, he now counts as a loss for Christ (3:7-8). Belonging to the tribe of Benjamin therefore remains a fact of his history, but Paul puts his confidence in the righteousness that comes from God by faith (3:9).