Tribe of Benjamin

Benjamin was Jacob's youngest son, born to Rachel as she died; she named him Ben-oni ("son of my sorrow"), but Jacob renamed him Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-18). His tribe's territory bordered Jerusalem and produced Israel's first king, Saul; it was nearly wiped out in a civil war recounted in Judges 19-21, and later stayed loyal to Judah's kings when the northern tribes broke away. The apostle Paul identifies himself as a Benjamite (Philippians 3:5).