ETHIOPIA TEWAHEDO & THE NAME BINIAM / BEJAMIN

ETHIOPIA TEWAHEDO & THE NAME BINIAM / BEJAMIN

BINIAM, (Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox) OR BENJAMIN (Hebrew Name)בִּנְיָמִין|Biniam| Binyamin|Binyāmîn}}) was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and Rachel in Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Bible [tradition], Jewish and Christian. He was the founder of the [[Israelites|Israelite]] [[Tribe of Benjamin]]. In the [[Ethiopian Tewahdo Christians]], BINIAM is referred to as righteous young child.

Name
'''Ben its self means son in Hebrew, but BINIAM means son of my right hand (Favorite Son)''
According to the Ethiopian Tewahedo Christian's Bible, Benjamin's the [[etymology]] of the name ''Benjamin'' is a matter of fact, though most agree that, the literal translation of ''BINIAM'' is ''son of right'' (as opposed to ''left''), generally interpreted as meaning ''son of my right hand'', though sometimes interpreted as ''son of the right side''. Being associated with the right hand side was traditionally a reference to strength and virtue ,. This is, however, not the only literal translation, as the [root word|root] for ''right'' is identical to that for ''south'', hence ''Benjamin'' also literally translates as ''son of the south''. This meaning is advocated by several [classical rabbinical literature|classical rabbinical sources], which argue that it refers to the birth of Benjamin in south, as compared with the birth of all the other sons of Jacob. Modern scholars have instead proposed that, with the eponymous Benjamin being just a metaphor, ''son of the south''/''son of the right'' are references to the tribe's being subordinate to the more dominant tribe of Ephraim.

In the [Samaritan Pentateuch], the name is consistently written as, with a terminal, making it 'Biniam or Benjamim', and would literally translate as ''son of days''. Some [[classical rabbinical literature]] argues that this was the original form of the name and was a reference to the advanced age of Jacob when Benjamin was born.

According to classical rabbinical sources, Benjamin was only born after Rachel had [[fasted]] for a long time, as a religious devotion with the hope of a new child as a reward. By then Jacob had become over 100 years old. Benjamin is treated as a young child in most of the Biblical narrative, but at one point is abruptly described as the father of ten sons.{bibleverse||Genesis|46:21|HE},Textual scholars believe that this is the result of the genealogical passage, in which his children are named, being from a much later source than the [[Jahwist]] and [[Elohist]] narratives, which make up most of the Joseph narrative, and which consistently describe Biniam /Benjamin as a child.

==Israelites in Ethiopia==
In these sources, Biniam / Benjamin swore an oath, on the memory of Joseph, that he had named his sons in Joseph's these sources go on to state that Benjamin's oath touched Joseph so deeply that Joseph was no longer able to pretend to be a stranger.

In the narrative, just prior to this test, when Joseph had first met all of his brothers (but not identified himself to them), he had held a feast for them;{bibleverse||Genesis|43|HE}the narrative heavily implies that Biniam /Benjamin was Joseph's favorite brother, since he is overcome with tears when he first meets Benjamin in particular, {bibleverse||Genesis|43:30|HE}} and he gives Benjamin five times as much food as he apportions to the others. {bibleverse||Genesis|43:34|HE}. According to textual scholars, this is really the Ethiopian Tewahedo's account of the reunion after Joseph identifies himself, is just the Elohist's version of the same event, with the Elohist being more terse about Joseph's emotions towards Biniam /Benjamin, merely mentioning that Biniam /Benjamin was given five times as many gifts as the others.
Biblical scholars regard it as obvious, from their geographic overlap and their treatment in older passages, that, Biniam /Benjamin was also originally part of this single tribe, but the biblical account of Joseph as his father became lost. The description of Biniam /Benjamin being born after the arrival in Canan is thought by some scholars to refer to the tribe of Biniam /Benjamin coming into existence by branching from the Joseph group after the tribe had settled in Ethiopia. A number of biblical scholars suspect that the distinction of the ''Joseph tribes'' (including Benjamin) is that they were the only Israelites which went to [[Ethiopia]] [[the Exodus|and returned]]. According to this view, the story of Jacob's visit to (Bible) to obtain a wife originated as a [metaphor] for this migration, with the property and family which were gained from Bible representing the gains of the Joseph tribes by the time they returned from Ethiopia.