showed that the king would die, with Hazael taking the kingship. The following day Hazael caused Benhadad to suffocate to death and then Hazael took the throne as king.—2 Ki. 8:7-15.

Ben-hadad II appears to be the Hadadezer (Assyr., Adad-ʼidri) referred to in the inscriptions of Shalmaneser III of Assyria. Some scholars suggest that Hadadezer was Ben-hadad’s “throne name,” similar to the name “Pul” used for Tiglath-pileser III, and the name Zedekiah given to Mattaniah when he was made king by Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Ki. 15:19; 24:17) Others offer the view that Ben-hadad’s full name was Ben-hadadezer and that both Ben-hadad (as in the Hebrew Scriptures) and Hadadezer (or Adad-ʼidri as in the Assyrian cuneiform texts) were shortened forms of this name. At any rate, an inscription of Shalmaneser III seems to confirm this identification when, after relating a conflict with the Syrians, it states: “Hadadezer (himself) perished. Hazael, a commoner (literally: son of nobody), seized the throne.”

3. The son of Hazael, king of Syria. (2 Ki. 13:3) Ben-hadad III was evidently associated with his father in the oppression of Israel in the days of Jehoahaz (c. 876-860 B.C.E.), and in the Syrian capture of Israelite cities. Jehovah, however, raised up “a savior” for Israel, apparently in the persons of Jehoahaz’ son Jehoash (c. 860-844 B.C.E.) and his successor Jeroboam II (c. 844-803 B.C. E.). (2 Ki. 13:4, 5) In fulfillment of Elisha’s final prophecy, Jehoash recaptured “from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz,” defeating the Syrian forces on three occasions. (2 Ki. 13:19, 23-25) Jeroboam II followed up his father’s victories over Syria, returning Israel’s boundaries to their former state, thus serving as a “savior” for Israel. (2 Ki. 14:23-27) Benhadad III is not mentioned in connection with Jeroboam’s conquests, and may not have been living by that time.

The Zakir Stele, discovered in 1903, describes a punitive effort launched by “Birhadad son of Hazael, king of Aram,” at the head of a coalition of Syrian kings against “Zakir king of Hamath and Luʽash,” thereby adding archaeological testimony to the existence of Ben-hadad III, son of Hazael.

The expression “the dwelling towers of Ben-hadad” used by the prophet Amos (who prophesied during Jeroboam II’s reign) to refer to the royal palaces in Damascus (Amos 1:3-5; compare 2 Kings 16:9), continued to be used in a similar way by Jeremiah some two centuries later.—Jer. 49:23-27.

BEN-HAIL

(Ben-haʹil) [son of strength].

One of the five princes sent by Jehoshaphat in the third year of his reign to teach the law to the inhabitants of Judah.—2 Chron. 17:7, 9.

BEN-HANAN

(Ben-haʹnan) [son of a gracious one].

One of the four sons of Shimon; descendant of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 20.

BENINU

(Be·niʹnu) [our son].

A Levite, or forefather of one, who attested by seal to Nehemiah’s “trustworthy arrangement.”—Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 13.

BENJAMIN

(Benʹja·min) [son of the right hand].

1. Jacob’s twelfth son and the full brother of Joseph. Benjamin appears to be the only son born to Jacob in the land of Canaan, the other sons being born in Paddan-aram. (Gen. 29:31–30:25; 31:18) Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, her second son, while on the way from Bethel to Ephrath (Bethlehem), achieving the difficult childbirth at the cost of her life. While dying, she called this son Ben-oni, meaning “son of my sorrow”; but her bereaved husband thereafter named him Benjamin, meaning “son of the right hand.”—Gen. 35:16-19; 48:7.

From the time of his birth nothing further is told us about Benjamin until after his brother Joseph’s being sold into slavery in Egypt. As Jacob’s youngest son by his beloved wife Rachel (Gen. 44:20), Benjamin was obviously the object of great affection by his father, particularly so now that Jacob assumed Joseph to be dead. Jacob was therefore extremely reluctant to let Benjamin go with his brothers to Egypt, doing so only after much persuasion. (Gen. 42:36-38; 43:8-14) It should be noted that, although Judah at this time referred to Benjamin as a “boy,” Benjamin by now was actually a grown man, perhaps in his early thirties, inasmuch as his brother Joseph was now nearly forty. (Gen. 41:46, 53; 45:6) The record at Genesis 46:8, 21 presents Benjamin as the father of children at the time of Jacob’s taking up residence in Egypt. Nevertheless, he was Jacob’s beloved “child of his old age,” upon whom the elderly parent leaned in many more ways than one. (Gen. 44:20-22, 29-34) Joseph also manifested deep affection for his younger brother.—Gen. 43:29-31, 34.

The genealogy of Benjamin’s descendants is presented in several places, some apparently more complete than others. Genesis 46:21 lists ten persons as “sons of Benjamin” and the absence of the names of several of these in succeeding lists has led some to suggest that certain sons may have died at an early age or may not have fathered sons who produced family lines. There are evidently some variations in spelling of the names in these lists (compare Ehi, Ahiram, Aharah), and some of those listed at Genesis 46:21 may be merely descendants. (Num. 26:38-40; 1 Chron. 7:6; 8:1) Objections have been raised to the possibility of Benjamin’s having so many sons or even having grandsons by this time, yet it should be kept in mind that the reference to them as among “the souls who came to Jacob into Egypt” does not necessarily require that they be born before actual entry into the country. They may have ‘come into Egypt’ by being born there during the seventeen years of Jacob’s residence in Egypt prior to his death, even as Joseph’s two sons born there are listed among “the souls of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt.” (Gen. 46:26, 27) By the time of his father’s death Benjamin was apparently in his late forties and hence of ample age to have grand-children.

The parental blessing pronounced upon Benjamin as one of the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel is considered below.—Gen. 49:27, 28.

2. The name Benjamin also designates the tribe descended from Jacob’s son. At the time of the exodus from Egypt it was the next smallest (after Manasseh) as to male population of all the tribes. (Num. 1:36, 37) In the census taken later on the Plains of Moab, the tribe of Benjamin had moved up to seventh place. (Num. 26:41) When encamped in the wilderness, the tribe occupied a place on the W side of the tabernacle, along with the tribes descended from Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim, and this three-tribe division occupied third place in the order of march.—Num. 2:18-24.

Within Canaan, the territory assigned to the tribe of Benjamin lay between that of the tribes of Ephraim and Judah, while the territory of Dan bordered it on the W. Its frontier in the N ran from the Jordan River near Jericho, crossed the mountainous terrain by Bethel and continued westward to a point near Lower Beth-horon; proceeding from there the western frontier ran down to Kiriath-jearim, then, on the S, turned eastward and passed Jerusalem through the Valley of Hinnom, wound down the rugged eastern slopes to the Jordan again at the N end of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River thus forming its eastern boundary. (Josh. 18:11-20; compare Judah’s N boundary at Joshua 15:5-9 and the S boundary of “the sons of Joseph” at Joshua 16:1-3.) From N to S the area measured about twelve miles (19 kilometers) and from E to W about twenty-eight miles (45 kilometers). With the exception of the portion of the Jordan valley around the Jericho oasis, the territory was hilly and broken, though having some