Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob and the second son born to Rachel, who died while giving birth to him (Genesis 35:19, Genesis 35:24). She gave him the name Benoni (son of my sorrow), but Jacob wisely renamed the boy Benjamin (son of the right hand, Genesis 35:18).

Benjamin’s genealogy is segmented (lists the generation of each of Benjamin’s sons) and is structured around the material in 1 Chronicles 7:7–11. Benjamin had three sons, Bela, Beker, and Jediael (1 Chronicles 7:6). Bela had five sons; Beker, nine sons; and Jediael, only one (Bilhan), who in turn had seven. These segmented genealogies echo those of the clans of Issachar (1 Chronicles 7:1–5) by identifying these sons of Benjamin as leaders (ra’shim).¹

There are some peculiarities regarding the genealogy of Benjamin that have led some scholars to suggest that this section has suffered textual corruption either through scribal error or editorial rearrangement.²

First, the genealogy of Benjamin lacks the characteristic phrase the sons of (1 Chronicles 7:6). The Hebrew Text commences simply with the word Benjamin, thus deleting the words the sons of... These introductory words were lost, probably due to haplography (where a copyist accidentally omits a repeated letter or letters in a text in the ancient versions but have been restored by most modern versions (e.g., ESV, NIV, NKJV).

Second, the inclusion of a genealogical list of Benjamin in 1 Chronicles 7:1–40 seems out of place because the genealogy continues in 1 Chronicles 8:1–40, after the register of the rest of the northern tribes. Each list, however, has a different purpose. While 1 Chronicles 7:6–12 serves a military purpose, 1 Chronicles 8:1–40 serves a settlement purpose and enables the Chronicler to prepare us for the reign of Saul in 1 Chronicles 10:1–14.³

Finally, it should also be noted that there is little correspondence between the Chronicler’s register of names and those of Genesis 46:21 and Numbers 26:38–41. Bela is the only name common to all three resources. It does seem likely that the names Shuppim and Huppim in 1 Chronicles 7:12 are the Muppim and Huppim in Genesis 46:21 and the Shephupham and Hupham in Numbers 26:39.⁴

Rather than assume that scribal errors have corrupted the text, it may well be that the Chronicler’s variation was intentional, to emphasize the entry into the list of the northern tribes. The tribe of Benjamin was a transitional group in a couple of ways. First, in terms of Israelite geography, it would be a buffer zone between Judah to the south and the rest of the tribes to the north. Second, the highlighting of Benjamin at this point in the list also marks a transition of Israel’s kingship from Saul who was a Benjaminite to the Davidic dynasty.⁵

As with 1 Chronicles 7:1–5, the Benjaminite names were probably gleaned from a military census list, as evidenced by the repeated numbers of fighting men (1 Chronicles 7:7, 1 Chronicles 7:9 NIV). There is minimal reference to Genesis 46:21 and Numbers 26:38–40. This probably implies that the list is Davidic in origin; if the census was based on David’s numbering of the available troops at Hebron who were armed and ready for battle, the number of Benjaminites included is very small because most were still loyal to the house of Saul who himself was a Benjaminite (1 Chronicles 12:29).⁶ This continued allegiance to Saul explains why few Benjamite clans are listed here as compared with 1 Chronicles 8:1–40, Genesis 46:21, and Numbers 26:38–40, other than the first son, Bela.⁷

Benjamin is given three distinct genealogies (1 Chronicles 7:6–12; 1 Chronicles 8:1–40; 1 Chronicles 9:35–44).⁸ Johnstone explains that the repeated portion concerns, on the one hand, the population of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 8:1–40), and, on the other, the family of Saul (1 Chronicles 9:35–44). Both, however, are Benjamite: Jerusalem is a Benjamite city (Joshua 18:11–28) and Saul a Benjamite king. The two lists—the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the family of Saul—fit into the general Benjamite genealogy of 1 Chronicles 8:1–40. Yet both receive a supra-Benjamite significance. In the immediately ensuing chapter (1 Chronicles 10:1–14), in which the Chronicler begins his historical narrative proper, tracing the theme of guilt and atonement, it is Saul, the Benjamite, who provides the Chronicler with his first example of מעל [unfaithfulness]. Yet this first breakdown is associated with Jerusalem, the place where the new centralized atonement cult will be introduced. This is the message: "where Israel falls into guilt, there God provides the means of atonement. The reason that Benjamin appears last in the tribal genealogies is, therefore, not merely that Benjamin, as one of the last survivors, constitutes an enclosing bracket around the more vulnerable northern tribes; rather, it is that Benjamin provides the Chronicler with the double link of both guilt and atonement forward into this account of Israel’s history."⁹