101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

yth #67:
Benjamin was born in Canaan.
The Myth: And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to
come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass,
when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have
this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she
called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. (Gen. 35:16–18)
The Reality: Benjamin’s original name of Ben-oni indicates a connection to the
Egyptian city of Heliopolis, known as On in the Bible.
Earlier, we discussed the location of Rachel’s tomb (see Myth #60), noting alternative
traditions about where she died. Implicit in both claims was the idea that she
gave birth to Benjamin in Canaan.
Benjamin was the twelfth child of Jacob but the second child of Rachel. He was
Joseph’s only full brother. After Joseph’s brothers secretly delivered him into slavery,
Benjamin became Jacob’s favorite.
The naming of Benjamin presents an interesting question of tribal origins. His
father called him Benjamin but his mother called him Ben-oni, which means“Son of
On,” and On was the biblical name for the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. That city, one
of the main cult centers in Egypt, had an important connection to Joseph, Benjamin’s
only full brother. When Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt, he married Asenath,
daughter of the chief priest of Heliopolis. (Her name means something like“She
belongs to the goddess Neith.”) She was the mother of his two sons, Ephraim and
Manasseh. The Joseph branch of Rachel, which formed the central core of Israel and
which shared borders with Benjamin, had its roots in the city of Heliopolis.
If the main branch of Rachel had Heliopolitan associations, it would not be unexpected
for the minor branch to also have an Heliopolitan connection. That Rachel
called her younger child“Son of Heliopolis” indicates that Benjamin’s roots sprouted
in Egypt soil.
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