Of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.
“If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
–Paul, Phillipians 3:4b-6
From the first time I read it, I’ve always loved Paul’s rant about his pedigree in Phillipians 3. Obviously Paul is trying to show the church in Phillipi that if anyone has any reason to brag about things of the “flesh” (Paul’s term for corruptibility or misuse of what is good) it’s him. What I was always intrigued about though is that Paul “claims his set” so to speak, by affirming allegiance to the Tribe of Benjamin. I often wondered what made the Tribe of Benjamin so special. Certainly in this passage Paul felt it was something to brag out. Well, after some due diligence I’ve come to learn a few things about this tribe of tribes.
First of all, I learned that way back in the book of Judges (Judges 19-20 somewhere) the Tribe of Benjamin was almost completely wiped out by Israel’s army, save for 600 hundred men. Seemingly, this was a conflict which was sparked because of a terrible rape and murder which occurred in a city of Benjamin (Judges 20:46-48). The Tribe of Benjamin never fully recovered from this conflict and always remained one of, if not the smallest and weakest Tribes of Israel.
Being weak and powerless, sinful, brash and embarisingly defeated to the point of near anialation is something to brag out? Probably not (although being weak and powerless is something God does seem to favor). Upon further investigation however, I did find more mention of this fascinating tribe, an account which probably defined the Tribe in Paul’s day.
In 2 Chronicles 11 we find that all the Tribes of Israel have revolted against King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, expect the Tribe of Judah which was his own tribe. However Judah isn’t the only tribe that sticks with Rehoboam, Benjamin, the smallest tribe, also stuck by the Davidic King’s side through the rebellion:
1. Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 3. “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4. “Thus says the LORD: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.”” Therefore they obeyed the words of the LORD, and turned back from attacking Jeroboam.
12. Also in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.
So Benjamin was one of the two Tribes whose leadership was faithful to the line of David. This was most likely Benjamin’s claim to fame. As time went on and the ten tribes of Israel became more and more corrupt and turned more and more away from God, the godly among them left the country and migrated to Judah, where the Lord was still worshipped. Yet only Judah and Benjamin had their tribal leadership remain loyal to the Davidic kings, and so these tribes were counted as being the most faithful and most loyal to God.
So it goes that even at the time of Paul when all Israel was united once again, Benjamin was considered the tribe that was most faithful to God’s plan, the line of Davidic kings that He had set up, and Judah, the leadership tribe that He had chosen. Thus to be a Benjamite marked one out as a special Israelite, one from perhaps the most prestigious tribe next to Judah. To be a part of this faithful tribe was indeed considered something one could brag about.
Painting above by Cory Corcoran
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