One of the smallest of the 12 tribes of Israel, made up of descendants of Jacob’s youngest son (Numbers 1:36). In the Old Testament, the tribe is often referred to as simply “Benjamin.” Despite its small size, the tribe played an important role in Israel's history, particularly in their conduct as great warriors (Judges 20:13–16; 1 Chronicles 12:1–2).
The Territory of the Tribe of Benjamin
When the Israelites conquered Canaan, Benjamin was the first tribe to receive its land after Judah and Ephraim. Benjamin’s territory was located between the lands of Judah and Ephraim, stretching from the hills of Mount Ephraim to the Judean hills. The southern boundary with Judah was well-defined, running through the valley of Hinnom just south of Jerusalem to a point north of the Dead Sea. The eastern boundary was the Jordan River, and the northern border with Ephraim ran from the Jordan to Bethel to Ataroth-addar, which is south of Lower Beth-horon (Joshua 18:11–20).
Benjamin’s territory extended about 45.1 kilometers (28 miles) from west to east and 19.3 kilometers (12 miles) north to south. It was a hilly region, strategically placed to control key mountain passes but also with fertile valleys. Some of its important towns, mentioned in Joshua 18:21–28, included:
Not all of these towns were taken immediately from the people who used to live in them; for example, Jerusalem remained in the hands of the Jebusites until the time of David. The difficult environment produced a hardy people, described in Jacob’s blessing of Benjamin as “a ravenous wolf” (Genesis 49:27).
People from the Tribe of Benjamin
One of the early judges in Canaan, Ehud, was from the tribe of Benjamin. He delivered the Israelites by killing Eglon, the king of Moab (Judges 3:15). Members of the tribe later helped Deborah and Barak defeat Sisera (Judges 5:14). The tribe produced more great people:
Political leaders (1 Chronicles 27:21)
Captains in Saul’s army (2 Samuel 4:2) and David’s army (2 Samuel 23:29)
Skilled archers (1 Chronicles 8:40)
Leaders in Solomon’s labor force (1 Kings 4:18)
Benjamin’s descendants also showed less noble traits:
Palti, a Benjaminite, made a bad report when the 12 spies returned from exploring the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:1–2, 9, 31–33)
The tribe was disobedient and was not courageous when they failed to clear their inheritance of Canaanites (Judges 1:21)
the tribe defended the lewd behavior and murder of a concubine by some of its members, which led to a near-total destruction of the tribe in a war against the other tribe (Judges 19–20). To prevent the tribe from dying out, the other tribes allowed the surviving Benjaminites to take captive several hundred women who became their wives (Judges 21)
Benjamin’s tribe proved to be dependable in various ways:
During the exodus from Egypt, it took its place in the organization (Numbers 1:11) and the army (Numbers 2:22) and made its tribal offerings (Numbers 7:60)
It was very loyal to the throne, at first to Saul and his family (2 Samuel 2:8–31), but they also supported David and his descendants. Benjamin remained loyal to Solomon’s son Rehoboam when Jeroboam split from Judah (1 Kings 12:21–24)
Other men of Benjamin (often called Benjaminites) spoken of in the Old Testament include:
Jeremiah the prophet, who lived in Benjamin despite being a Levite (Jeremiah 1:1; 32:8)
Mordecai, uncle and adviser to Queen Esther (Esther 2:5)
The Tribe of Benjamin in the New Testament
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul was proudly a member of Benjamin, saying he was from Benjamin twice (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5). In his sermon at Antioch of Pisidia, Paul also mentioned Benjamin as the tribe of King Saul, in his brief account of Israel’s history (Acts 13:21). In one other New Testament reference, Benjamin is named with the other 11 tribes in John’s vision in the book of Revelation (Revelation 7:8).