According to the Torah , the Tribe of Benjamin ( Hebrew : בִּנְיָמִן , romanized : Bīnyāmīn ) was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel . The tribe was descended from Benjamin , the youngest son of the patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel . In the Samaritan Pentateuch the name appears as Binyamēm ( Samaritan Hebrew : ࠁࠪࠍࠬࠉࠣࠌࠜࠉࠌࠬ ).
131-578: The Tribe of Benjamin, located to the north of the Tribe of Judah but to the south of the later Kingdom of Israel , is significant in biblical narratives as a source of various Israelite leaders, including the first Israelite king, Saul , as well as earlier tribal leaders in the period of the Judges . In the period of the Judges, they feature in an episode in which a civil war results in their near-extinction as
262-713: A 14th-century treatise, the " Kebre Negest ", assert descent from a retinue of Israelites who returned with the Queen of Sheba from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem , by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty's founder, Menelik I . Both Christian and Jewish Ethiopian tradition has it that these immigrants were mostly of the Tribes of Dan and Judah; hence the Ge'ez motto Mo`a 'Anbessa Ze'imnegede Yihuda ("The Lion of
393-519: A Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. Furthermore, according to Talmudic sources, Uriah's death was not murder, because Uriah had committed a capital offense by refusing to obey a direct command from the King. However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David expressed remorse over his transgressions and sought forgiveness. God ultimately forgave David and Bathsheba but would not remove their sins from Scripture. In Jewish legend , David's sin with Bathsheba
524-432: A chieftain over an area which cannot be described as a state or as a kingdom, but more as a chiefdom, much smaller and always overshadowed by the older and more powerful kingdom of Israel to the north. They posited that Israel and Judah were not monotheistic at the time and that later 7th-century redactors sought to portray a past golden age of a united, monotheistic monarchy in order to serve contemporary needs. They noted
655-639: A covenant with the house of David stating, "your throne shall be established forever". David wins additional victories over the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites , Amalekites, Ammonites and king Hadadezer of Aram-Zobah , after which they become tributaries. His fame increases as a result, earning the praise of figures like King Toi of Hamath , Hadadezer's rival. During a siege of the Ammonite capital of Rabbah , David remains in Jerusalem. He spies
786-550: A frequent subject for painters and sculptors. David was considered a model ruler and a symbol of divinely ordained monarchy throughout medieval Western Europe and Eastern Christendom . He was perceived as the biblical predecessor to Christian Roman and Byzantine emperors and the name "New David" was used as an honorific reference to these rulers. The Georgian Bagratids and the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia claimed direct biological descent from him. Likewise, kings of
917-491: A lack of archeological evidence for David's military campaigns and a relative underdevelopment of Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, compared to a more developed and urbanized Samaria, capital of Israel during the 9th century BCE. In 2010, Amihai Mazar wrote that the United Monarchy of the 10th century BCE can be described as a "state in development". He compared David to Labaya , a Caananite warlord living during
1048-514: A man skilled in playing the lyre . A servant proposes David, whom the servant describes as "skillful in playing, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him." David enters Saul's service as one of the royal armour-bearers and plays the lyre to soothe the king. War comes between Israel and the Philistines , and the giant Goliath challenges
1179-729: A marriage David respectfully declined. Saul then gave Merab in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. Having been told that his younger daughter Michal was in love with David, Saul gave her in marriage to David upon David's payment in Philistine foreskins (ancient Jewish historian Josephus lists the dowry as 100 Philistine heads). Saul became jealous of David and tried to have him killed. David escaped. Then Saul sent Michal to Galim to marry Palti, son of Laish . David then took wives in Hebron , according to 2 Samuel 3; they were Ahinoam
1310-507: A murderer, and a lifelong vassal of Achish , the Philistine king of Gath ; Steven McKenzie argues that David came from a wealthy family, and was an "ambitious and ruthless" tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his sons. Joel S. Baden has called him "an ambitious, ruthless, flesh-and-blood man who achieved power by any means necessary, including murder, theft, bribery, sex, deceit, and treason". William G. Dever described him as "a serial killer". Jacob L. Wright has written that
1441-405: A number of artifacts, including pottery, two Phoenician-style ivory inlays, a black-and-red jug, and a radiocarbon-dated bone, estimated to be from the 10th century. Dever, Amihai Mazar , Avraham Faust , and Nadav Na'aman have argued in favour of the 10th-century BCE dating and responded to challenges to it. In 2010, Eilat Mazar announced the discovery of part of the ancient city walls around
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#17327731990331572-452: A single contemporary reference to either David or Solomon," while noting, "against this must be set the evidence for substantial development and growth at several sites, which is plausibly related to the tenth century." In 2007, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman stated that the archaeological evidence shows that Judah was sparsely inhabited and Jerusalem no more than a small village. The evidence suggested that David ruled only as
1703-509: A temple to Yahweh, but is denied because of the bloodshed of his reign. He dies at age 70 and chooses Solomon , his son with Bathsheba, as his successor instead of his eldest son Adonijah . David is honored as an ideal king and the forefather of the future Hebrew Messiah in Jewish prophetic literature, and many psalms are attributed to him. David is also richly represented in post-biblical Jewish written and oral tradition and referenced in
1834-615: A tribe. After the brief period of the United Kingdom of Israel , Benjamin became part of the southern Kingdom of Judah following the split into two kingdoms. After the destruction of the northern kingdom, Benjamin was fully absorbed into the southern kingdom. After Judah's revolts against Babylon , it was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the early sixth century BCE, and its population deported , Benjamin as an organized tribe faded from history. Members of
1965-530: A woman, Bathsheba , bathing and summons her; she becomes pregnant. The text in the Bible does not explicitly state whether Bathsheba consented to sex with David. David calls her husband, Uriah the Hittite , back from the battle to rest, hoping that he will go home to have sex with his wife and the child will be presumed to be his. Uriah does not visit his wife, however, so David conspires to have him killed in
2096-647: Is able to infiltrate Saul's camp on the hill of Hachilah and remove his spear and a jug of water from his side while he and his guards lie asleep. In this account, David is advised by Abishai that this is his opportunity to kill Saul, but David declines, saying he will not "stretch out [his] hand against the Lord's anointed". In the morning, David once again demonstrates to Saul that, despite ample opportunity, he did not deign to harm him. Saul, despite having already reconciled with David, confesses that he has been wrong to pursue David, and blesses him. In 1 Samuel 27:1–4, David begins to doubt Saul's sincerity, and reasons that
2227-538: Is an important figure in Rabbinic Judaism , with many legends about him. According to one tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. David's adultery with Bathsheba is interpreted as an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and the Talmud says it was not adultery at all, citing
2358-474: Is angered when Saul , Israel's king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice and later disobeys a divine command both to kill all of the Amalekites and to destroy their confiscated property. Consequently, God sends the prophet Samuel to anoint a shepherd, David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem , to be king instead. After God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul, his servants recommend that he send for
2489-551: Is anointed king by the tribe of Judah and eventually all the tribes of Israel. He conquers Jerusalem , makes it the capital of a united Israel , and brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and arranges the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite . David's son Absalom later tries to overthrow him, but David returns to Jerusalem after Absalom's death to continue his reign. David desires to build
2620-546: Is available. A number of scholars consider the David story to be a heroic tale similar to the legend of King Arthur or the epics of Homer , while others find such comparisons questionable. One theme paralleled with other Near Eastern literature is the homoerotic nature of the relationship between David and Jonathan . The instance in the Book of Jashar , excerpted in 2 Samuel 1 :26, where David "proclaims that Jonathan's love
2751-434: Is described as having a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God. Biblical literature and archaeological finds are the only sources that attest to David's life. Some scholars have concluded that this was likely compiled from contemporary records of the 11th and 10th centuries BCE, but that there is no clear historical basis for determining
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#17327731990332882-471: Is escorted across the River Jordan and back to Jerusalem by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin . When David is old and bedridden, Adonijah , his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king. Bathsheba and Nathan go to David and obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba's son Solomon as king, according to David's earlier promise, and the revolt of Adonijah is put down. David dies at
3013-519: Is in danger there. He goes next to the cave of Adullam , where his family joins him. From there he goes to seek refuge with the king of Moab , but the prophet Gad advises him to leave and he goes to the Forest of Hereth , and then to Keilah , where he is involved in a further battle with the Philistines. Saul plans to besiege Keilah so that he can capture David, so David leaves the city in order to protect its inhabitants. From there he takes refuge in
3144-409: Is little about David that is concrete and undisputed. Other scholars argue that, notwithstanding the apologetic tenor of the story, the authors of Samuel were also critical of David in several respects, suggesting that the text presents a complex portrait of him rather than a purely propagandistic one. Some other studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured him as a brutal tyrant,
3275-515: Is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of his sons in 2 Chronicles 11:18. His daughter Tamar , by Maachah, is raped by her half-brother Amnon. David fails to bring Amnon to justice for his violation of Tamar, because he is his firstborn and he loves him, and so Absalom (her full brother) kills Amnon to avenge Tamar. Despite the great sins they had committed, David showed grief at his sons' deaths, weeping twice for Amnon [2 Samuel 13:31–26] and seven times for Absalom. God
3406-474: Is now one of the southernmost butts and bounds of Benjamin's territory is "the spring of the waters of Nephtoah" (Joshua 18:15) , a place identified as Kefar Lifta ( كفر لفتا ), and situated on the left-hand side of the road as one enters Jerusalem. It is now an abandoned Arab village. The word Lifta is merely a corruption of the Hebrew name Nephtoah, where a natural spring still abounds. Although Jerusalem
3537-555: Is referred to the men of Shiloh who stole their wives (Judges xxi.) or to Ehud or to Saul. By others it is referred to Mordecai and Esther (Gen. R. xcix. and Tan., Wayeḥi, 14; so also in the original text of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs [Benjamin ii]; whereas a Christian interpolation refers it to Paul). One interpretation refers the blessing to the early ripening of the fruits in the territory of Benjamin, and
3668-425: Is the punishment for David's excessive self-consciousness. He had besought God to lead him into temptation so that he might give proof of his constancy like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who successfully passed the test and whose names later were united with God's, while David failed through the temptation of a woman. According to midrashim , Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David. Also, according to
3799-440: Is to be identified as part of a northern Israelite polity. In 2018, Avraham Faust and Yair Sapir stated that a Canaanite site at Tel Eton , about 30 miles from Jerusalem, was taken over by a Judahite community by peaceful assimilation and transformed from a village into a central town at some point in the late 11th or early 10th century BCE. This transformation used some ashlar blocks in construction, which they argued supports
3930-460: Is translated as " House of David " by most scholars. The Mesha stele , erected by King Mesha of Moab in the 9th century BCE, may also refer to the "House of David", although this is disputed. Apart from this, all that is known of David comes from biblical literature, the historicity of which has been extensively challenged , and there is little detail about David that is concrete and undisputed. Debates persist over several controversial issues:
4061-543: Is what kind of settlement Jerusalem was in Iron IIA: was it a minor settlement, perhaps a large village or possibly a citadel but not a city, or was it the capital of a flourishing—or at least an emerging—state? Assessments differ considerably". Isaac Kalimi wrote in 2018, "No contemporaneous extra-biblical source offers any account of the political situation in Israel and Judah during the tenth century BCE, and as we have seen,
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4192-474: The Seder Olam Rabbah , Seder Olam Zutta , and Sefer ha-Qabbalah (all written over a thousand years later), David ascended the throne as the king of Judah in 885 BCE. The Tel Dan stele , an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damascus in the late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE to commemorate a victory over two enemy kings, contains the phrase bytdwd ( 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ), which
4323-700: The Blessing of Jacob , Benjamin is referred to as "a ravenous wolf "; traditional interpretations often considered this to refer to the might of a specific member of the tribe, either the champion Ehud , King Saul , or Mordecai of the Esther narrative , or in Christian circles, the apostle Paul . The Temple in Jerusalem was traditionally said to be partly in the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin (but mostly in that of Judah), and some traditional interpretations of
4454-420: The Book of Judges ). The Book of Judges recounts that the rape of the concubine of a member of the tribe of Levi by a gang from the tribe of Benjamin resulted in a battle at Gibeah , in which the other tribes of Israel sought vengeance, and after which members of Benjamin were killed, including women and children. Almost the entire tribe of Benjamin was wiped out by the other Israelites. Six hundred men from
4585-698: The Frankish Carolingian dynasty frequently connected themselves to David; Charlemagne himself occasionally used "David" his pseudonym. David (Arabic: داوود Dā'ūd or Dāwūd ) is an important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets God sent to guide the Israelites . He is mentioned several times in the Quran with the Arabic name داود, Dāwūd or Dā'ūd , often with his son Solomon . In
4716-558: The Hasmonean period. In the biblical narrative of the Books of Samuel , David is described as a young shepherd and harpist whose heart is devoted to Yahweh , the one true God. He gains fame and becomes a hero by killing Goliath . He becomes a favorite of Saul , the first king of Israel, but is forced to go into hiding when Saul suspects David of plotting to take his throne. After Saul and his son Jonathan are killed in battle, David
4847-781: The Israelite tribes (the Jebusites still held Jerusalem ), Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judah's portion is described in Joshua 15 as encompassing all the Southern Land of Israel , specially the Negev , the Wilderness of Zin and Jerusalem. However, the consensus of modern scholars is that this conquest never occurred. Other scholars point to extra-biblical references to Israel and Canaan as evidence for
4978-535: The Levites and Kohanim were preserved, but Jerusalem became the sole place of worship and sacrifice among the returning exiles, northerners and southerners alike. According to the biblical account, at its height, the tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom, except for a small region in the northeast occupied by Benjamin , and an enclave towards
5109-520: The Mesha Stele from Moab , dating from the 9th century, also contain the words "House of David" at the end of Line 31, although this was considered as less certain than the mention in the Tel Dan inscription. In May 2019, Israel Finkelstein , Nadav Na'aman , and Thomas Römer concluded from the new images that the ruler's name contained three consonants and started with a bet , which excludes
5240-615: The New Testament . Early Christians interpreted the life of Jesus of Nazareth in light of references to the Hebrew Messiah and to David; Jesus is described as being directly descended from David in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke . In the Quran and hadith , David is described as an Israelite king as well as a prophet of Allah . The biblical David has inspired many interpretations in art and literature over
5371-628: The Talmud identifies her as Nitzevet , a daughter of a man named Adael, and the Book of Ruth claims him as the great-grandson of Ruth , the Moabite , by Boaz . David is described as cementing his relations with various political and national groups through marriage . According to 1 Samuel 17:25, King Saul said that he would make whoever killed Goliath a very wealthy man, give his daughter to him and declare his father's family exempt from taxes in Israel. Saul offered David his oldest daughter, Merab ,
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5502-590: The Talmud Yerushalmi , David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven. The Messiah concept is fundamental in Christianity. Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment ("the anointed one", as the title Messiah had it), in the last two centuries BCE the "son of David" became
5633-819: The feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord ) and on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (Sunday before the Nativity ), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus . He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of
5764-401: The "united monarchy" are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the "united monarchy" never existed at all. Disagreeing with the latter view, Old Testament scholar Walter Dietrich contends that the biblical stories of circa 10th-century BCE monarchs contain a significant historical kernel and are not simply late fictions. On the accession of Rehoboam , Solomon 's son, in c. 930 BCE,
5895-527: The 10th century BCE and that proof of the existence of a strong, centralized kingdom at that time remains "tenuous." Excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa by archaeologists Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor found an urbanized settlement radiocarbon dated to the 10th century, which supports the existence of an urbanised kingdom. The Israel Antiquities Authority stated: "The excavations at Khirbat Qeiyafa clearly reveal an urban society that existed in Judah already in
6026-477: The Bible. The relief claims that Shoshenq raided places in Palestine in 925 BCE, and Kitchen interprets one place as "Heights of David", which was in southern Judah and the Negev where the Bible says David took refuge from Saul. The relief is damaged and interpretation is uncertain. Of the evidence in question, John Haralson Hayes and James Maxwell Miller wrote in 2006: "If one is not convinced in advance by
6157-630: The Blessing consider the ravenous wolf to refer to the Temple's altar which devoured biblical sacrifices . According to the Hebrew Bible , following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Kenneth Kitchen dates this conquest to just after 1200 BCE. However the consensus of modern scholars, the conquest as described in
6288-638: The Book of Judges is a reliable historical account. The Book of Samuel describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the Southern Tribe of Benjamin due to the sinfulness of King Saul , which was then bestowed onto the tribe of Judah for all time in the person of King David . In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose David as its king. However, after
6419-570: The City of David , which she believes date to the 10th century BCE. According to Mazar, this would prove that an organized state did exist in the 10th century. In 2006, Kenneth Kitchen came to a similar conclusion, arguing that "the physical archaeology of tenth-century Canaan is consistent with the former existence of a unified state on its terrain." Scholars such as Israel Finkelstein , Lily Singer-Avitz, Ze'ev Herzog and David Ussishkin do not accept these conclusions. Finkelstein does not accept
6550-503: The House of David. These tribes formed the Kingdom of Judah , which existed until Judah was conquered by Babylon in c. 586 BCE and the population was deported. When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile , residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, probably because of the impossibility of reestablishing previous tribal land holdings. However, the special religious roles decreed for
6681-507: The Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul's army, declares that he can defeat Goliath. Refusing the king's offer of the royal armour, he kills Goliath with his sling . Saul inquires the name of the young hero's father. Saul sets David over his army. All Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him ("What else can he wish but
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#17327731990336812-540: The Kingdom of Judah, Benjamin escaped the destruction of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in c. 740 BCE. The Kingdom of Judah, that included Benjamin, continued until it was conquered by Babylon in c. 586 BCE and the population deported, and was subjected to the Babylonian captivity . When the captivity ended, the distinction between Benjamin and Judah was lost in favour of a common identity as Judah, though in
6943-783: The Land of Israel, occupying its Southern part. Jesse and his sons, including King David , belonged to this tribe. The Tribe of Judah played a central role in the Deuteronomistic history , which encompasses the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings . After the death of King Solomon , the Tribe of Judah, along with the Tribe of Benjamin , the Tribe of Dan and the Levites formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah , with Jerusalem as its capital. The kingdom lasted until its conquest by Babylon in c. 586 BCE. The tribe's symbol
7074-681: The Lord and on 26 December (Synaxis of the Mother of God). In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages , David was made a member of the Nine Worthies , a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry . His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of David in the Nine Worthies was popularised first through literature, and thereafter adopted as
7205-405: The Philistines march against Saul. David returns to Ziklag and saves his wives and the citizens from an Amalekite raid. Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle with the Philistines, and after hearing of their deaths, David travels to Hebron, where he is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, and war ensues until Ish-Bosheth is murdered. With
7336-640: The Philistines, David and his men raid the Geshurites , the Girzites, and the Amalekites , but lead the royal court to believe they are attacking the Israelites, the Jerahmeelites , and the Kenites . While Achish comes to believe that David had become a loyal vassal , the princes (or lords) of Gath remain unconvinced, and at their request, Achish instructs David to remain behind to guard the camp when
7467-572: The Philistines, Saul heads to Ein Gedi in pursuit of David. Needing privacy " to attend to his needs ", Saul enters the cave where, as it happens, David and his supporters are hiding. David realises he has an opportunity to kill Saul, but instead, he secretly cuts off a piece of Saul's robe. When Saul leaves the cave, David comes out to pay homage to the king, and to demonstrate using the piece of robe that he holds no malice towards him. The two are thus reconciled and Saul recognises David as his successor. A similar passage occurs in 1 Samuel 26, when David
7598-472: The Quran of the wrong David did to Uriah nor any reference to Bathsheba , Muslims reject this narrative. Muslim tradition and the hadith stress David's zeal in daily prayer as well as in fasting . Quran commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous Stories of the Prophets elaborate upon David's concise quranic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms, his beautiful recitation, and his vocal talents. His voice
7729-564: The Quran, David killed Goliath ( Q2:251 ), a giant soldier in the Philistine army. When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforced it ( Q38:20 ). David was made God's " vicegerent on earth" ( Q38:26 ) and God further gave David sound judgment ( Q21:78 ; Q37:21–24 , Q26 ) as well as the Psalms , regarded as books of divine wisdom ( Q4:163 ; Q17:55 ). The birds and mountains united with David in uttering praise to God ( Q21:79 ; Q34:10 ; Q38:18 ), while God made iron soft for David ( Q34:10 ), God also instructed David in
7860-577: The Shekinah dwell in his territory because all the other tribes (that is, fathers of the tribes) had taken part in the selling of Joseph. For God said: "If they—the Israelites—build me a Temple in some other place and seek my mercy, I can show them as little mercy as they showed their brother Joseph." Origen ("In Genesim," xlii. 6), gives another reason, probably based on Jewish tradition (compare Esther R. on iii. 4), viz.: Because Benjamin did not bow down before Esau as did his brothers and his father (Gen. xxxiii. 3–7), nor before Joseph (ib. xlii. 6), his territory
7991-458: The Ten Northern Tribes of Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim split from the House of David to create the Northern Kingdom in Samaria . The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north and understands its conquest by Assyria in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry. The Tribes of Judah, Southern Dan and Benjamin remained loyal to
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#17327731990338122-460: The Tribe of Judah has conquered"), one of many names for Jesus of Nazareth. David (Italics indicate a disputed reign or non-royal title) David ( / ˈ d eɪ v ɪ d / ; Biblical Hebrew : דָּוִד , romanized: Dāwīḏ , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy , according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament . According to Jewish works such as
8253-764: The Yizre'elite; Abigail , the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; Maacah , the daughter of Talmay, king of Geshur ; Haggith ; Abital ; and Eglah . Later, David wanted Michal back and Abner , Ish-bosheth's army commander, delivered her to him, causing Palti great grief. The Book of Chronicles lists his sons with his various wives and concubines . In Hebron , David had six sons: Amnon , by Ahinoam ; Daniel , by Abigail ; Absalom , by Maachah ; Adonijah , by Haggith ; Shephatiah , by Abital ; and Ithream , by Eglah . By Bathsheba, his sons were Shammua , Shobab, Nathan , and Solomon . David's sons born in Jerusalem of his other wives included Ibhar , Elishua, Eliphelet , Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama and Eliada. Jerimoth , who
8384-528: The age of 70 after reigning for 40 years, and on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to take revenge on his enemies. The Book of Samuel calls David a skillful harp (lyre) player and "the sweet psalmist of Israel." Yet, while almost half of the Psalms are headed "A Psalm of David" (also translated as "to David" or "for David") and tradition identifies several with specific events in David's life (e.g., Psalms 3 , 7 , 18 , 34 , 51 , 52 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 63 and 142 ),
8515-446: The apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom. This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus "by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man". The early Church believed that "the life of David foreshadowed
8646-428: The archaeological remains themselves cannot provide any unambiguous evidence of events." The view of Davidic Jerusalem as a village has been challenged by Eilat Mazar 's excavation of the Large Stone Structure and the Stepped Stone Structure in 2005. Mazar proposed that these two structures may have been architecturally linked as one unit and that they date to the time of King David. Mazar supports this dating with
8777-408: The art of fashioning chain mail out of iron ( Q21:80 ); this knowledge gave David a major advantage over his bronze and cast iron -armed opponents, not to mention the cultural and economic impact. Together with Solomon, David gave judgment in a case of damage to the fields ( Q21:78 ) and David judged the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber ( Q38:21–23 ). Since there is no mention in
8908-404: The biblical book of Esther, Mordecai is referred to as being of the tribe of Benjamin, and as late as the time of Jesus of Nazareth some (notably Paul the Apostle ) still identified their Benjamite ancestry: If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning
9039-460: The biblical profile, then there is nothing in the archaeological evidence itself to suggest that much of consequence was going on in Palestine during the tenth century BCE, and certainly nothing to suggest that Jerusalem was a great political and cultural center." This echoed the 1995 conclusion of Amélie Kuhrt , who noted that "there are no royal inscriptions from the time of the united monarchy (indeed very little written material altogether), and not
9170-443: The book of Joshua did not occur. The Bible recounts that Joshua assigned to Benjamin the territory between that of the Tribe of Ephraim to the north and Judah to the south, with the Jordan River as the eastern border, and included many historically important cities, such as Bethel and Gibeah, and encroached on the northern hills of Jerusalem . ( Joshua 18:11–28 ) According to rabbinical sources, only those towns and villages on
9301-407: The branches of a tree where, contrary to David's order, he is killed by Joab , the commander of David's army. David laments the death of his favourite son: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" until Joab persuades him to recover from "the extravagance of his grief" and to fulfill his duty to his people. David returns to Gilgal and
9432-566: The breakup of the united monarchy, Abijah , the second king of Judah, defeated Jeroboam of Israel and took back the towns of Bethel , Jeshanah and Ephron , with their surrounding villages. Ephron is believed to be the Ophrah that was also allocated to the Tribe of Benjamin by Joshua. The Blessing of Moses , portrayed in the Bible as a prophecy by Moses about the future situation of the twelve tribes, describes Benjamin as "dwelling between YHWH 's shoulders", in reference to its location between
9563-422: The capital of the united Kingdom of Israel. After the breakup of the united monarchy, Jerusalem continued as the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah . The ownership of Bethel is also ambiguous. Though Joshua allocated Bethel to Benjamin, by the time of the prophetess Deborah , Bethel is described as being in the land of Ephraim ( Judges 4:5 ). Then, according to the book of Chronicles, some twenty years after
9694-636: The centuries. The First Book of Samuel and the First Book of Chronicles both identify David as the son of Jesse , the Bethlehemite , the youngest of eight sons. He also had at least two sisters: Zeruiah , whose sons all went on to serve in David's army, and Abigail , whose son Amasa served in Absalom's army, Absalom being one of David's younger sons. While the Bible does not name his mother,
9825-476: The child will. In fulfillment of Nathan's words, the child born of the union between David and Bathsheba dies, and another of David's sons, Absalom , fueled by vengeance and lust for power, rebels. Thanks to Hushai , a friend of David who was ordered to infiltrate Absalom's court to successfully sabotage his plans, Absalom's forces are routed at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim , and he is caught by his long hair in
9956-625: The date of the story in the Persian or Hellenistic period" because a quarter-shekel was known to exist in Hasmonean times. The authors and editors of Samuel drew on many earlier sources, including, for their history of David, the "history of David's rise" and the "succession narrative". The Books of Chronicles , which tells the story from a different point of view, was probably composed in the period 350–300 BCE, and uses Samuel and Kings as its source. Biblical evidence indicates that David's Judah
10087-504: The dating of these structures to the 10th century BCE, based in part on the fact that later structures on the site penetrated deep into underlying layers, that the entire area had been excavated in the early 20th century and then backfilled, that pottery from later periods was found below earlier strata, and that consequently the finds collected by E. Mazar cannot necessarily be considered as retrieved in situ . Aren Maeir said in 2010 that he has seen no evidence that these structures are from
10218-403: The death of Ish-bosheth , Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the King of Judah, king of a single Re-United Kingdom of Israel. The Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the United Monarchy under King Solomon . A majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomon's territory in
10349-431: The death of Saul's son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all of Israel. He conquers Jerusalem , previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of David's sons. Nathan also prophesies that God has made
10480-639: The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Many more Jews migrated to Babylon in CE 135 after the Bar Kokhba revolt and in the centuries after. The triumph or victory of "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah", who is able to open the scroll and its seven seals , forms part of the vision of the writer of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. Ethiopia 's traditions, recorded and elaborated in
10611-402: The eighth, Muppim ("double mouth") because Joseph taught Benjamin the things he himself had learned from his father; the ninth, Ḥuppim ("whose wedding I have not seen"); and the tenth, Ard, because Joseph was like a rose. Benjamin's oath touched Joseph so deeply that he could no longer pretend to be a stranger, and so revealed himself to his brother (Tan., ed. Buber, Wayiggash, 7; the meanings of
10742-472: The exact date of compilation. Other scholars believe that the Books of Samuel were substantially composed during the time of Josiah , king of Judah, at the end of the 7th century BCE, extended during the Babylonian captivity and substantially complete by about 550 BCE. Old Testament scholar A. Graeme Auld contends that further editing was done even after then—the silver quarter- shekel Saul's servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9:8 "almost certainly fixes
10873-414: The exact timeframe of David's reign and the geographical boundaries of his kingdom; whether the story serves as a political defense of David's dynasty against accusations of tyranny, murder and regicide; the homoerotic relationship between David and Jonathan; whether the text is a Homer -like heroic tale adopting elements from its Ancient Near East parallels; and whether elements of the text date as late as
11004-529: The existence of the tribe of Benjamin was necessary (Yer. Ta'anit iv. 69c; Lam. R., lntroduction, 33). The day on which the reconciliation took place between the tribes is said to have been the fifteenth of Ab, and for this reason it was made a festive day (ib.; compare Ab, Fifteenth Day of). On another occasion, however, the Benjamites showed themselves worthy of their pious ancestor. When, at the Red Sea, all
11135-454: The future Messiah." In the Middle Ages , " Charlemagne thought of himself, and was viewed by his court scholars, as a 'new David'. [This was] not in itself a new idea, but [one whose] content and significance were greatly enlarged by him". Western Rite churches ( Lutheran , Roman Catholic ) celebrate David's feast day on 29 December or 6 October, Eastern-rite on 19 December. The Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate
11266-419: The great fertility of the region of Jericho and Beth-el, and another refers the expression "wolf" to the altar of the Temple, which devoured the sacrifices in the morning and in the evening (Gen. R. l.c.; Targ. O. and Yer.). The Tribe of Benjamin. The erection of the Temple on Benjamitic ground is explained in several ways. It is related that Benjamin (Sifre, Deut. 352, ed. Friedmann, 146a) was privileged to have
11397-533: The headings are late additions and no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty. Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from Abimelech (or King Achish ) by pretending to be insane. According to the parallel narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to leave, exclaiming, "Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" David
11528-404: The heat of battle. David then marries the widowed Bathsheba. In response, Nathan, after trapping the king in his guilt with a parable that actually described his sin in analogy, prophesies the punishment that will fall upon him, stating "the sword shall never depart from your house." When David acknowledges that he has sinned , Nathan advises him that his sin is forgiven and he will not die, but
11659-410: The instrument the whereabouts of his lost brother. To Joseph's astonishment Benjamin declared that the man on the throne was his brother, and Joseph revealed himself to Benjamin, telling him what he meant to do with the brothers. His intention was to try them and thus to learn whether they would act in a brotherly manner toward Benjamin if he were in danger of losing his liberty. The Rabbis lay stress on
11790-478: The king will eventually make another attempt on his life. David appeals to king Achish of Gath to grant him and his family sanctuary. Achish agrees, and upon hearing that David has fled to Philistia, Saul ceases to pursue him, though no such pursuit seemed to be in progress at the time. Achish permits David to reside in Ziklag , close to the border between Philistia and Judah. To further ingratiate himself to Achish and
11921-564: The king, particularly Hezekiah . After the Assyrians destroyed their cities, survivors fled to Jerusalem and fully assimilated with the inhabitants by 538 BC, when the Babylonian exiles returned to Jerusalem. Many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the literary prophets Isaiah , Amos , Joel , Micah , Obadiah , Zechariah , and Zephaniah , all belonged to
12052-466: The kingdom?"). Saul plots his death, but Saul's son Jonathan , who loves David , warns him of his father's schemes and David flees. He goes first to Nob , where he is fed by the priest Ahimelech and given Goliath's sword, and then to Gath , the Philistine city of Goliath, intending to seek refuge with King Achish there. Achish's servants or officials question his loyalty, and David sees that he
12183-450: The late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE. It commemorates the king's victory over two enemy kings, and contains the phrase 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 , bytdwd , which most scholars translate as "House of David". Other scholars have challenged this reading, but this is likely a reference to a dynasty of the Kingdom of Judah which traced its ancestry to a founder named David. Two epigraphers , André Lemaire and Émile Puech , hypothesised in 1994 that
12314-401: The late eleventh century BCE. It can no longer be argued that the Kingdom of Judah developed only in the late eighth century BCE or at some other later date." But other scholars have criticized the techniques and interpretations to reach some conclusions related to Khirbet Qeiyafa, such as Israel Finkelstein and Alexander Fantalkin of Tel Aviv University , who have instead proposed that the city
12445-542: The law, a Pharisee ; concerning zeal, persecuting the church ; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Several passages in the Bible describe the tribe of Benjamin as being pugnacious , for example in the Song of Deborah , and in descriptions where they are described as being left handed fighters, ( Judges 3:15–21 , 20:16 , 1 Chronicles 12:2 ) and where they are portrayed as being brave and skilled archers ( 1 Chronicles 8:40 , 2 Chronicles 14:8 ). In
12576-484: The leading tribe of the Kingdom of Israel (Ephraim), and the leading tribe (Judah) of the Kingdom of Judah . The name "Benjamin" is given various meanings by the Rabbis. According to some, is equivalent to ("son of days"), because Benjamin was born to his father in his old age (Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Benjamin i. υἱὸσ ἡμερῶν; Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob; and Rashi, ed. Berliner, on Gen. xxxv. 18). Other rabbis interpret
12707-593: The life of Christ; Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd ; the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are typical of the five wounds ; the betrayal by his trusted counsellor, Ahitophel , and the passage over the Cedron remind us of Christ's Sacred Passion . Many of the Davidic Psalms, as we learn from the New Testament, are clearly typical of
12838-421: The loss of his brother. The first was called Belah ("swallow"), because Joseph had disappeared; the second, Becher, because Joseph was his mother's first-born; the third, Ashbel ("capture"), because Joseph was made a captive; the fourth, Gera, because he lived in a foreign land; the fifth, Naaman (grace), on account of Joseph's graceful speech; the sixth, Eḥi ("my only full brother"); the seventh, Rosh ("the older");
12969-468: The men by killing the men from Jabesh-Gilead who had not shown concern for the almost lost tribe of Benjamin as they did not come to grieve with the rest of Israel. 400 virgin women from Jabesh-Gilead were found and given in marriage to the Benjaminite men. There were still 200 men who were without a wife, so it was agreed that they could go to an Israelite festival, hide in the vineyards, and wait for
13100-415: The most popular legends about David, including his killing of Goliath, his affair with Bathsheba , and his ruling of the unified Kingdom of Israel rather than just Judah, are the creation of those who lived generations after him, in particular those living in the late Persian or Hellenistic periods. The Tel Dan stele , discovered in 1993, is an inscribed stone erected by Hazael , a king of Damascus in
13231-547: The mountainous Wilderness of Ziph . Jonathan meets with David again and confirms his loyalty to David as the future king. After the people of Ziph notify Saul that David is taking refuge in their territory, Saul seeks confirmation and plans to capture David in the Wilderness of Maon, but his attention is diverted by a renewed Philistine invasion and David is able to secure some respite at Ein Gedi . Returning from battle with
13362-526: The name Benjamin as "son of the South," since he was the only son born to Jacob in Israel, the others having been born in Mesopotamia, north of Israel (Rashi ad loc.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," Wayishlaḥ, ed. Leghorn, p. 56b). Benjamin was not granted to his parents until after Rachel had prayed and fasted for a second son a long time (Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, l.c.; Num. R. xiv. 8), and not until Jacob
13493-489: The name, "beloved of the Lord," by which Benjamin is distinguished (Deut. xxxiii. 12; Sifre, l.c.). He is counted among the four men who died by the poison of the serpent in Paradise; i.e., without sin of his own, the other three being Amram, the father of Moses; Jesse, the father of David; and Kileab, the son of David (Shab. 55b). His comparison to the ravening wolf (Cant. R. to viii. 1), "who devours his enemy" (Gen. xlix. 27)
13624-523: The names are also given in Soṭah 36b; Gen. R. xciv. 8). According to another Haggadah (known to so early a work as the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Benjamin ii.), Joseph makes himself known to Benjamin before his reconciliation with the other brothers. The "Sefer ha-Yashar" (Miḳḳeẓ 89) narrates that Joseph caused a kind of astrolabe to be brought, and asked Benjamin whether he could not discover by means of
13755-426: The northernmost and southernmost territorial boundary lines, or purlieu, are named in the land allocation. In actuality, all unnamed towns and villages in between these boundaries would still belong to the tribe of Benjamin. The Babylonian Talmud names three of these cities, all of which were formerly enclosed by a wall, and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin: Lod , Ono ( Kafr 'Ana ), and Gei Ha-ḥarashim. Marking what
13886-453: The other tribes stood in desperation only the tribe of Benjamin trusted in God and leaped into the sea (Mekilta, Beshallaḥ, Wayiḳra 5; Sotah 36b). Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible , the tribe of Judah ( שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה , Shevet Yehudah ) was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel , named after Judah , the son of Jacob . Judah was the first tribe to take its place in
14017-474: The phrase "House of David". Replying to Langlois, Na'aman argued that the "House of David" reading is unacceptable because the resulting sentence structure is extremely rare in West Semitic royal inscriptions. Besides the two steles, Bible scholar and Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen suggests that David's name also appears in a relief of the pharaoh Shoshenq I , who is usually identified with Shishak in
14148-505: The potential historicity of the conquest. In the opening words of the Book of Judges , following the death of Joshua , the Israelites "asked the Lord" which tribe should be first to go to occupy its allotted territory, and the Tribe of Judah was identified as the first tribe. According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the Tribe of Judah invited the Tribe of Simeon to fight with them in alliance to secure each of their allotted territories. However, many scholars do not believe that
14279-476: The reading "House of David" and, in conjunction with the monarch's city of residence "Horonaim" in Moab, makes it likely that the one mentioned is King Balak , a name also known from the Hebrew Bible . Later that year, Michael Langlois used high-resolution photographs of both the inscription itself, and the 19th-century original squeeze of the then still intact stele to reaffirm Lemaire's view that line 31 contains
14410-454: The same time quietly tolerated the idolatry which Micah (Judges xvii.) was spreading among them (Pirḳe R. El. xxxviii.). At first the intention of the other tribes was to efface Benjamin completely, since the number of twelve tribes could be preserved through Ephraim and Manasseh; but they remembered God's promise to Jacob shortly before Benjamin's birth (Gen. xxxv. 11), that "a nation and a company of nations shall be of him"; and they decided that
14541-589: The south" from the perspective of the northern Kingdom of Israel, as the Benjamite territory was at the southern edge of the northern kingdom. From after the conquest of the Promised Land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel , the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges (see shophetim and
14672-500: The south-west which was occupied by Simeon . Bethlehem and Hebron were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe. The size of the territory of the tribe of Judah meant that in practice it had four distinct regions: According to the Torah , the Tribe consisted of Descendants of Judah , the fourth son of Jacob and of Leah . Some biblical scholars view this as an etiological myth created in hindsight to explain
14803-594: The southern kingdom being too far away to be involved in the battle, but Israel Finkelstein et al. claim the alternative explanation that the southern kingdom was simply an insignificant rural backwater at the time the poem was written. Professor Aaron Demsky argues that the genealogical record of Shelah and his sons was an allegory of the history of Shelanite clans in Shephelah (i.e. Judean foothills). These clans established cities such as Lecah (or Lachish ) and Mareshah . They also worked as potters and craftsmen for
14934-596: The time of Pharaoh Akhenaten . While Mazar believes that David reigned over Israel during the 11th century BCE, he argues that much of the Biblical text is of "literary-legendary nature". According to William G. Dever, the reigns of Saul , David and Solomon are reasonably well attested, but "most archeologists today would argue that the United Monarchy was not much more than a kind of hill-country chiefdom". Lester L. Grabbe wrote in 2017: "The main question
15065-419: The time was the smallest of the tribes. He reigned from Gibeah for 38 years ( 1 Samuel 8:31 ). After Saul died, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul and to Ish-bosheth , Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, but war ensued between the House of Saul and the House of David . The account in 2 Samuel 3 stresses that Israel's military commander Abner , negotiating with
15196-575: The tribe are referred to as Benjamites or Benjaminites. An account in Genesis explains the name of Benjamin due to the birth of the tribe's founder, Benjamin. According to Genesis, Benjamin was the result of a painful birth in which his mother died, naming him Ben-Oni, "son of my pain," immediately before her death. Instead, Jacob, his father, preferred to call him Benjamin, which can be read in Hebrew as meaning, "son of my right [hand]" (Genesis 35:16-18). In geographical terms, Benjamin can be read as "son of
15327-553: The tribe of Benjamin joined the northern Israelite tribes in making David king of the united Kingdom of Israel and Judah . On the accession of Rehoboam , David's grandson, in c. 930 BCE, the united Kingdom of Israel dissolved with the northern tribes splitting from the House of David to constitute the northern Kingdom of Israel . The Tribe of Benjamin remained a part of the southern Kingdom of Judah . The Davidic dynasty, which had roots in Judah, continued to reign in Judah. As part of
15458-463: The tribe of Benjamin survived by hiding in a cave for four months. The text refers several times to the Benjaminite warriors as "men of valour" despite their defeat. The other Israelite tribes were grieved at the near loss of the tribe of Benjamin. They decided to allow these 600 men to carry on the tribe of Benjamin, but no one was willing to give their daughter in marriage to them because they had vowed not to. To get around this, they provided wives for
15589-486: The tribe's name and connect it to the other tribes in the Israelite confederation. With Leah as a matriarch, biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been believed by the text's authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation. Like the other tribes of the Kingdom of Judah, the Tribe of Judah is entirely absent from the ancient Song of Deborah . Traditionally, this has been explained as being due to
15720-460: The tribe. The genealogies given in Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:23–34 in the New Testament describe Jesus as a Descendant of David, Matthew through Solomon and Luke through Nathan . As part of the Kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians , and instead was subjected to the Babylonian captivity ; when the captivity ended, the distinction between
15851-420: The tribes to secure a peace treaty with David, then king of Judah, held talks specifically with the house of Benjamin to secure their support. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges suggests that the tribe of Benjamin "was the most likely to offer opposition [to Abner] through fear of losing dignity and advantage by the transference of the royal house to the tribe of Judah". After the death of Ish-bosheth,
15982-573: The tribes were lost in favour of a common identity. Since Simeon and Benjamin had been very much the junior partners in the Kingdom of Judah, it was Judah that gave its name to the identity—that of the Jews . After the fall of Jerusalem, Babylonia (modern-day Iraq), would become the focus of Judaism for 1,000 years. The first Jewish communities in Babylonia started with the exile of the tribe of Judah to Babylon by Jehoiachin in 597 BCE as well as after
16113-487: The worship of Yahweh featured prominently in the Deuteronomistic history , encompassing the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings , which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahite reformer Josiah from 641–609 BCE. According to the account in the Book of Joshua , following a partial conquest of Canaan by
16244-409: The young unmarried women to come out and dance. They then grabbed a wife each and took her back to their land and rebuilt their houses ( Judges 19–21 ). Responding to a growing threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes formed a strong, centralised monarchy during the eleventh century BC. The first king of this new entity was Saul , from the tribe of Benjamin ( 1 Samuel 9:1–2 ), which at
16375-490: Was detained as the alleged thief of the cup, Joseph pretended that Benjamin had been instigated by his brothers. But Benjamin swore: "As truly as my brother Joseph is separated from me, as truly as he has been made a slave, I have not touched the cup, and my brothers did not want to make me steal." When asked for a proof that his brother's memory was so sacred that Joseph must believe this oath, Benjamin told Joseph how he had given his ten sons (Gen. xlvi. 21) names which referred to
16506-436: Was in the territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin ( Joshua 18:28 ), it remained under the independent control of the Jebusites . Judges 1:21 points to the city being within the territory of Benjamin, while Joshua 15:63 implies that the city was within the territory of Judah. In any event, Jerusalem remained an independent Jebusite city until it was finally conquered by David in c. 11th century BC and made into
16637-471: Was one hundred years old (Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, ib.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," Wayishlaḥ, ib.; compare Heilprin, "Seder ha-Dorot," i. 52, ed. Warsaw). Benjamin, Joseph's brother, took no part in the selling of Joseph (Sifre, Deut. 352); and in order to comfort Benjamin concerning his brother's fate, God showed him, while awake, Joseph's form and countenance (Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Benjamin x.; compare Tan., ed. Buber, Wayesheb, 8).When Benjamin
16768-433: Was reserved for the worship of God. The descendants of Benjamin, it is true, did not always show themselves worthy of their ancestor, especially in connection with the incident at Gibeah (Judges xix.). In spite of their wrong-doing the Benjamites were at first victorious (Judges xx. 21–25); but this was due to God's anger against all Israel because they had attacked all Benjamin on account of the crime of an individual, and at
16899-422: Was something less than a full-fledged monarchy: it often calls him nagid "prince, chief" (Hebrew: נָגִיד , romanized: nāgīḏ ), rather than melekh "king" ( מֶלֶךְ ); David sets up none of the complex bureaucracy that a kingdom needs. His army is made up of volunteers and his followers are largely relations or from his home region of Hebron . Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations
17030-475: Was sweeter to him than the love of a woman", has been compared to Achilles ' comparison of Patroclus to a girl and Gilgamesh 's love for Enkidu "as a woman". Others hold that the David story is a political apology—an answer to contemporary charges against him, of his involvement in murders and regicide. The authors and editors of Samuel and Chronicles aimed not to record history but to promote David's reign as inevitable and desirable, and for this reason there
17161-415: Was the lion, and it was often represented in Jewish art. After the Babylonian captivity , the distinction between the Tribes was largely lost, but the term "Judah" gave rise to the word " Jews " In later traditions, including Christianity and Ethiopian Judaism, the " Lion of the Tribe of Judah " became a messianic symbol. The tribe of Judah, its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for
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