BENJAMIN

Lehite PN

1.

Son of MOSIAH I, prophet-king in ZARAHEMLA, ca. 200–121 BC (Omni 1:23; Helaman 5:9)

For the etymology of BENJAMIN see the standard biblical commentaries, which usually suggest the meaning “son of the right (hand)” (Genesis 35:18). This interpretation is derived from the usual word in Hebrew for “right,” yāmîn and the Hebrew for “son,” bēn. However, because the Middle Bronze Age tribes attested in the archives of Mari, the Sim’al and Yamina (the former cognate with the Hebrew word for “left,” śĕmōʾl, and the latter cognate with the Hebrew word for “right,” yāmîn) occupied the land north and south of each other respectively in the Euphrates River valley, it has been popular to interpret Hebrew yāmîn as “south,” yielding the meaning for BENJAMIN of “son of the south.” The fact that Benjamin was the only son of Israel to be born in what became the land of Israel, which is south of Aram-Naharaim, has been seized upon to support the idea that BENJAMIN means “son of the south.”

If the usual etymology of BENJAMIN (binyāmîn < bēn yāmîn), “son of the right (hand),” is accepted, and given the fact that the Hebrews used many puns and plays on words (at least in parts of the Old Testament), then a possible play on words appears in King BENJAMIN’s speech: “Ye shall be called the children of CHRIST [the possibly Vorlage on the plates, bĕnê ham-māšîaḥ, contains a near homonym to MOSIAH’s name], his sons, and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7); “whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand [possible Vorlage, bîmīn] of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called” (Mosiah 5:9); “whosoever shall not . . . he findeth himself on the left hand of God” (Mosiah 5:10). In Ezekiel 21:22 (21:27 in the Hebrew text), “at his right hand” is bîmînô. However, in other passages in Hebrew Bible, “at the right hand” is rendered differently. In Psalms 109:31, “at the right hand” is written lîmîn, not bîmîn. And in Zechariah 3:1, “at his right hand” is ʿal-yĕmînô.