BENJAMIN (Tribe)
Name of the families that descended from Benjamin, and the territory that was assigned to them. After the distribution of the land, in Shiloh, after Judah and Ephraim, the first lot fell to Benjamin, who received the district located between these two tribes.
Its northern border ran through Bethel, and went from the Jordan to Atarot-adar, south of Beth-horon below. Leaving there, the western boundary of it went to Kiriath-jearim. From this place the southern border ran to the valley of Ben-Hinnom, directly south of Jerusalem, reaching the northern end of the Dead Sea.
The eastern border was the Jordan (Josh. 18:11-20). The space thus delimited measured 45 km from east to west, and just over 20 km from north to south. Although it was mountainous, it was a very fertile district, and there were many cities, among which the main ones were Jerusalem, Bethel, Gibeon, Gibeah, Mizpah (Josh. 18:21-28).
This tribe gave a liberator to Israel when they groaned under foreign oppression (Judg. 3:15), and was nearly exterminated for protecting the inhabitants of Gibeah, who had committed an execrable crime (Judg. 19-21). The first king of Israel was a Benjaminite, and the tribe of Benjamin was long tied to the house of Saul (2 Sam. 2:9, 15; 1 Chron. 12:29).
After David’s accession to the throne, the Benjamites expressed their discontent on various occasions (2 Sam. 16:5; 20:1-22; Ps. 7:1), however a large part of Benjamin remained faithful to the house of David when, led by Jeroboam, the ten tribes separated from Judah (1 Kings 12:21). This faction faithful to David followed the fate of the tribe of Judah to the end (Ezra 4:1).
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was from the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5).
Two gates of Jerusalem were named after Benjamin. The upper gate, or the great gate of Benjamin, was inside the temple (Jer. 20:2). For the other gate, see JERUSALEM.