Benjamin
(son of the right hand, fortunate). The youngest of the children of Jacob. His birth took place on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, near the latter, B.C. 1729. His mother, Rachel, died in the act of giving him birth, naming him with her last breath Ben-oni (son of my sorrow). This was by Jacob changed into Benjamin. ( Genesis 35:16 , 18 ) Until the journeys of Jacob’s sons and Jacob himself into Egypt we hear nothing of Benjamin. Nothing personal is known of him. Henceforward the history of Benjamin is the history of the tribe. A man of the tribe of Benjamin, son of bilhan, and the head of a family of warriors. ( 1 Chronicles 7:10 ) One of the “sons of Harim,” an Israelite in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. ( Ezra 10:32 )
Benjamin, The Tribe Of
The contrast between the warlike character of the tribe and the peaceful image of its progenitor comes out in many scattered notices. Benjamin was the only tribe which seems to have pursued archery to any purpose, and their skill in the bow, ( 1 Samuel 20:20 , 36 ; 2 Samuel 1:232 ; 1 Chronicles 8:40 ; 12:2 ; 2 Chronicles 17:17 ) and the sling, ( Judges 20:16 ) is celebrated. The dreadful deed recorded in Judges 19 was defended by Benjamin. Later the tribe seems, however, to assume another position, as Ramah, ( 1 Samuel 9:12 ) etc., Mizpeh, ( 1 Samuel 7:5 ) Bethel and Gibeon, ( 1 Kings 3:4 ) were all in the land of Benjamin. After the struggles and contests which followed the death of Saul, the history of Benjamin becomes merged in that of the southern kingdom.
Bethaven
(house of nothingness, i.e. of idols), a place on the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel, ( Joshua 7:2 ; 18:12 ) and lying between that place and Michmash. ( 1 Samuel 13:5 ; 14:28 ) In ( Hosea 4:15 ; 5:8 ; 10:5 ) the name is transferred to the neighboring Bethel,—once the “house of God” but then the house of idols of “naught.”
Bethel
(the house of God) well known city and holy place of central Palestine, about 12 mlles north of Jerusalem. If we are to accept the precise definition of ( Genesis 12:8 ) the name of Bethel would appear to have existed at this spot even before the arrival of Abram in Canaan. ( Genesis 12:8 ; 13:3 , 4 ) Bethel was the scene of Jacob’s vision. ( Genesis 28:11-19 ; 31:13 ) Jacob lived there. ( Genesis 35:1-8 ) The original name was Luz. ( Judges 1:22 , 23 ) After the conquest Bethel is frequently heard of. In the troubled times when there was no king in Israel, it was to Bethel that the people went up in their distress to ask counsel of God. ( Judges 20:18 , 26 , 31 ; 21:2 ) Authorized Version, “house of God.” Here was the ark of the covenant. ( Judges 20:26-28 ; 21:4 ) Later it is named as one of the holy cities to which Samuel went on circuit. ( 1 Samuel 7:16 ) Here Jeroboab placed one of the two calves of gold. Toward the end of Jeroboam’s life Bethel fell into the hands of Judah. ( 2 Chronicles 13:19 ) Elijah visited Bethel, and we hear of “sons of the prophets” as resident there. ( 2 Kings 2:2 , 3 ) But after the destruction of Baal worship by Jehu Bethel comes once more into view. ( 2 Kings 10:29 ) After the desolation of the northern kingdom by the king of Assyria, Bethel still remained an abode of priests. ( 2 Kings 17:27 , 28 ) In later times Bethel is named only once under the scarcely-altered name of Beitin . Its ruins still lie on the righthand side of the road from Jerusalem to Nablus. A town in the south part of Judah, named in ( Joshua 12:16 ) and 1Sam 30:27 In ( Joshua 15:30 ; 19:4 ; 1 Chronicles 4:29 , 30 ) the place appears under the name of Chesil , Bethul and Bethuel . Hiel the Bethelite is recorded as the rebuilder of Jericho. ( 1 Kings 16:34 ) In ( Joshua 16:1 ) and 1Sam 13:2 Mount Bethel, a hilly section near Beth-el, is referred to.