With her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

Rachel’s sons were
Joseph and Benjamin.

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!”

May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”

The men took this gift, double the amount of money, and Benjamin. They made their way down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.”

When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank, and they got intoxicated with Joseph.

The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

Look! Your eyes and my brother Benjamin’s eyes can see that it is I , Joseph, who am speaking to you.

Then Joseph threw his arms around Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder.

He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes, but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.

The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey.
In the morning he devours the prey,
and in the evening he divides the plunder.”

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Abidan son of Gideoni from Benjamin;

The descendants of Benjamin: according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral houses, counting the names of those 20 years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army,

those registered for the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.

The tribe of Benjamin will be next. The leader of the Benjaminites is Abidan son of Gideoni.

and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

Palti son of Raphu from the tribe of Benjamin;

Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:
the Belaite clan from Bela;
the Ashbelite clan from Ashbel;
the Ahiramite clan from Ahiram;

Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin;

“When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

He said about Benjamin:

The Lord’s beloved rests securely on Him.
He shields him all day long,
and he rests on His shoulders.

The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.

The Jordan formed the border on the east side.

This was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.

These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:

Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

From the tribe of Benjamin they gave:

Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,

Those with their roots in Amalek came from Ephraim;
Benjamin came with your people after you.
The leaders came down from Machir,
and those who carry a marshal’s staff came from Zebulun.

The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim. Israel was greatly oppressed,

So they continued on their journey, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.

The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I went to Gibeah in Benjamin with my concubine to spend the night.

We will take 10 men out of every 100 from all the tribes of Israel, and 100 out of every 1,000, and 1,000 out of every 10,000 to get provisions for the people when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for all the horror they did in Israel.”

Then the tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What is this outrage that has occurred among you?

The Israelites, apart from Benjamin, rallied 400,000 armed men, every one an experienced warrior.

The men of Israel went out to fight against Benjamin and took their battle positions against Gibeah.

The Lord defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and on that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men of Benjamin; all were armed men.

Then the Benjaminites realized they had been defeated.

The men of Israel had retreated before Benjamin, because they were confident in the ambush they had set against Gibeah.

the men of Israel would return to the battle. When Benjamin had begun to strike them down, killing about 30 men of Israel, they said, “They’re defeated before us, just as they were in the first battle.”

But when the column of smoke began to go up from the city, Benjamin looked behind them, and the whole city was going up in smoke.

Then the men of Israel returned, and the men of Benjamin were terrified when they realized that disaster had struck them.

There were 18,000 men who died from Benjamin; all were warriors.

Then Benjamin turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel killed 5,000 men on the highways. They overtook them at Gidom and struck 2,000 more dead.

Benjamin returned at that time, and Israel gave them the women they had kept alive from Jabesh-gilead. But there were not enough for them.

The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.

The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”

They said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.

Watch, and when you see the young women of Shiloh come out to perform the dances, each of you leave the vineyards and catch a wife for yourself from the young women of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

There was an influential man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite.

“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, for their cry has come to Me.”

Today when you leave me, you’ll find two men at Rachel’s Grave at Zelzah in the land of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you went looking for have been found, and now your father has stopped being concerned about the donkeys and is worried about you, asking: What should I do about my son?’

Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected.

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him.

He chose 3,000 men from Israel for himself: 2,000 were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

Then Samuel went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul registered the troops who were with him, about 600 men.

Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines were camped at Michmash.

When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.

Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin: Is Jesse’s son going to give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel.

So they got up and were counted off—12 for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and 12 from David’s soldiers.

Abner also informed the Benjaminites and went to Hebron to inform David about all that was agreed on by Israel and the whole house of Benjamin.

Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding parties: one named Baanah and the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjaminites. Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin,

There were 1,000 men from Benjamin with him. Ziba, an attendant from the house of Saul, with his 15 sons and 20 servants also rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king.

and buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan at Zela in the land of Benjamin in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. They did everything the king commanded. After this, God answered prayer for the land.

Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized 180,000 choice warriors from the entire house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.

“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

Then King Asa gave a command to everyone without exception in Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had built it with. Then King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah with them.

Dan, Joseph, Benjamin,
Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

From the tribe of Benjamin they were given Geba and its pasturelands, Alemeth and its pasturelands, and Anathoth and its pasturelands. They had 13 towns in all among their families.

Three of Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.

Jediael’s son: Bilhan.
Bilhan’s sons: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.

Benjamin fathered Bela, his firstborn; Ashbel was born second, Aharah third,

Ulam’s sons were warriors and archers. They had many sons and grandsons—150 of them.
All these were among Benjamin’s sons.

These people from the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh settled in Jerusalem:

They were archers who could use either the right or left hand, both to sling stones and shoot arrows from a bow. They were Saul’s relatives from Benjamin:

But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the king’s command was detestable to him.

for half the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo son of Zechariah;
for Benjamin, Jaasiel son of Abner;

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 choice warriors—to fight against Israel to restore the reign to Rehoboam.

“Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people:

Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin.

He also put large shields and spears in each and every city to make them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

Rehoboam also showed discernment by dispersing some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortified cities. He gave them plenty of provisions and sought many wives for them.

Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 from Benjamin bearing regular shields and drawing the bow. All these were brave warriors.

So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Asa and all Judah and Benjamin, hear me. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.

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 renovated the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.

Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

from Benjamin, Eliada, a brave warrior, and 200,000 with him armed with bow and shield;

Then Amaziah gathered Judah and assembled them according to ancestral house, according to commanders of thousands, and according to commanders of hundreds. He numbered those 20 years old or more for all Judah and Benjamin. He found there to be 300,000 choice men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.

When all this was completed, all Israel who had attended went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, to the last one. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

So they went to Hilkiah the high priest, and gave him the money brought into God’s temple. The Levites and the doorkeepers had collected money from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the entire remnant of Israel, and from all Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

So the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone God had motivated—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord’s house in Jerusalem.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel,

So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. On the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.