דברי הימים א, פרק ז׳, פסוק ו׳

Genealogical records serve to map the growth of families and tribes throughout biblical history. One such record details the family of a man named Benjamin, specifically listing his three sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The exact identity of this Benjamin is a subject of significant discussion among commentators.

The traditional approach identifies him as the well-known Benjamin, the son of Jacob [מצודת דוד, רד"ק]. According to this view, the text provides only a partial glimpse of his family here, reserving a much more detailed family tree that reaches all the way to King Saul for the following chapter [רד"ק]. Because the name Jediael does not appear in other early records of Benjamin's family, this perspective suggests that he is actually Ashbel, a son of Benjamin mentioned earlier in the book of Genesis [רש"י, רד"ק].

However, an alternative perspective argues that the man mentioned is not Jacob’s son at all. Instead, he is an individual from the tribe of Issachar, and his family line serves as a direct continuation of the Issachar families detailed just before this point [רד"ק, מלבי"ם]. This alternative approach is based on several difficulties that arise if one assumes the text is speaking about the son of Jacob. For instance, it is highly unusual for the family line of a single tribe to be split across two adjacent chapters. Furthermore, the names of Bela’s sons listed shortly after this point differ entirely from those recorded in the subsequent chapter.

Another major issue involves the son named Becher. Earlier biblical censuses do not list a family line for him because he died without children, making it impossible for his descendants to be counted here. Finally, it is difficult to explain why Ashbel would suddenly be called Jediael in this passage, only to be called Ashbel again in the very next chapter. Because of these inconsistencies, this view concludes that the individual in question is a completely different Benjamin belonging to the tribe of Issachar, whose three sons went on to establish numerous prominent family households [מלבי"ם].