Ancient History Reconsidered

The Tribe of Benjamin:

Benjamin was the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob. He was the brother of Joseph and the second of Rachel’s children. The Patriarch Jacob blessed this family as follows:-

“Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” (Gen. 49:27.)

In The Forgotten Tribe of Naphtali & the Phoenicians we demonstrate that the tribe of Benjamin became judges who dealt with judicial matters including the distribution of land and possessions. This explains the blessing that Moses bestowed on that tribe:

“And of Benjamin he said, ‘The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders’.” (Deut. 33:12.)

Dwelling “between His shoulders” means that they were to be renowned as law-givers. The tribe of Benjamin was split so that some settled amongst the House of Israel whilst others remained with the House of Judah.

Benjamin’s Stone

Each of the stones on the priestly breastplate, which was worn by the High Priest, represented one of the twelve tribes. The stone which represented the tribe of Benjamin is called יָשְׁפֵה yashpeh, a word which is usually translated as jasper. (Exod. 28:20 & 39:13) The jasper is usually a red stone. The rabbinical writers seem to think that this stone has been confused with the yahalom, which stone is generally applied to the tribe of Zebulun.¹

Ginzberg wrote:

“Jasper was Benjamin’s stone, and as this stone turns color, being now red, now green, now even black, so did Benjamin’s feelings vary to his brothers. Sometimes he was angry with them for having sold into slavery Joseph, the only other brother by his mother Rachel, and in this mood he came near betraying their deed to his father; but, that he might not disgrace his brothers, he did not divulge their secret. To this discretion on his part alludes the Hebrew name of his stone, Yashpeh, which signifies, ‘There is a mouth,’ for Benjamin, though he had a mouth, did not utter the words that would have covered his brothers with disgrace.” ²

These, however, are not the characteristics of the jasper. Because of these comments, the Temple Institute believe that the stone in question was actually the opal.³ The Book of Revelation gives amethyst as the twelfth stone (Rev. 21:20), this usually being a purple stone. Assuming, however, that the stone truly is the jasper, the aforesaid Book of Revelation describes the jasper as being a clear stone:

“and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;” (Rev. 21:11.)

It should be noted, however, that the Book of Revelation makes the Jasper (Greek (Yaspis) the first stone (Rev. 21:19), thereby making it belong to the tribe of Reuben.

If it were not for the fact that it was a fairly late discovery, I would be inclined to identify this stone as the Alexandrite, a stone which is clear but “has the ability to change from green/bluish to red/purplish red and can change color as the light source changes. It is said to be one of the most valuable gemstones in the world. It contains iron and titanium, as well as chromium, which provides the color changing abilities. It is a fairly hard stone”.⁴ It has been discovered in the Ural Mountains in Russia, as well as in India, Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka.⁵ This does not mean, however, that the stone was not unknown to the early Israelites and was rediscovered at a later date. The metals used in Noah’s Ark, for example, included alumina and aluminium,⁶ metals which were not ‘rediscovered’ until the 16^th century of the Common Era.⁷ Traces of titanium and magnesium were also found to be used in the metal rivets.⁸ There are attempts to discredit these dicoveries, but the fact remains that the structure which has been identified as Noah’s Ark is both ancient and man-made. The full story can be read in the Newsletters at http://www.arkdiscovery.com/napart1.htm.

“Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isa. 6:10.)

This blindness which prevents people from seeing the truth is therefore from the Lord.

1.	Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, entry under Gems (Ring-Stone), Isidore Singer et al, New York 1900. [Return]
2.	Legends of the Jews Vol. 3, (From the Exodus to the Death of Moses) pp.171-2 - The Stones in the Breastplate, Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Philadelphia 1911. [Return]
3.	www.templeinstitute.org: Priestly Garments. [Return]
4.	http://innerprints.org/2009/10/03/stones-minerals-and-gemstones/. [Return]
5.	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysoberyl#Alexandrite. [Return]
6.	Noah’s Ark Newsletter at http://www.arkdiscovery.com/napart4.htm. [Return]
7.	All About Aluminium, http://www.aluminiumleader.com/en/facts/history/. [Return]
8.	See section headed Metal Used in the Ark! under Noah’s Ark Overview at www.arkdiscovery.com/noah's_ark.htm. [Return]

Dated 9 Jan 2014.
^©AHR Researches.