Genesis 49:27

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning devouring the prey, and in the evening dividing the plunder.”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

בִּנְיָמִין֙ זְאֵ֣ב יִטְרָ֔ף בַּבֹּ֖קֶר יֹ֣אכַל עַ֑ד וְלָעֶ֖רֶב יְחַלֵּ֥ק שָׁלָֽל

Transliteration

binyāmîn zəʾēb yiṭrāp in-the-bōqer yōʾkal ʿad and-to-the-ʿereb yəḥallēq šālāl

Grammar Details

• *binyāmîn*: proper noun, masculine singular - Benjamin
• *zəʾēb*: noun masculine singular - wolf
• *yiṭrāp*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - he will tear
• *bōqer*: noun masculine singular with definite article - the morning
• *yōʾkal*: Qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - he will devour
• *ʿad*: noun masculine singular - prey
• *ʿereb*: noun masculine singular with definite article - the evening
• *yəḥallēq*: Piel imperfect 3rd masculine singular - he will divide
• *šālāl*: noun masculine singular - spoil/plunder

Word Meanings

• *zəʾēb yiṭrāp*: ravenous wolf/wolf that tears
• *yōʾkal ʿad*: will devour prey/will eat spoil
• *yəḥallēq šālāl*: will divide spoil/will distribute plunder

Referenced Verses

• Gen 35:18 : 18 With her dying breath, she named him Ben Oni. But his father called him Benjamin instead.
• Judg 20:21 : 21 The Benjaminites attacked from Gibeah and struck down twenty-two thousand Israelites that day.
• Judg 20:25 : 25 The Benjaminites again attacked them from Gibeah and struck down eighteen thousand sword-wielding Israelite soldiers.
• Ezek 22:27 : 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit.
• Hos 13:7-8 : 7 So I will pounce on them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the path. 8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs– I will rip open their chests. I will devour them there like a lion– like a wild animal would tear them apart.
• Zeph 3:3 : 3 Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.
• Matt 7:15 : 15 A Tree and Its Fruit“Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.
• Matt 10:16 : 16 Persecution of Disciples“I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
• Acts 8:3 : 3 But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
• Acts 9:1 : 1 The Conversion of Saul Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest
• Acts 20:29 : 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
• Phil 3:5 : 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee.
• 1 Sam 11:4-9 : 4 When the messengers went to Gibeah(where Saul lived) and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly. 5 Now Saul was walking behind the oxen as he came from the field. Saul asked,“What has happened to the people? Why are they weeping?” So they told him about the men of Jabesh. 6 The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 7 He took a pair of oxen and cut them up. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, who said,“Whoever does not go out after Saul and after Samuel should expect this to be done to his oxen!” Then the terror of the LORD fell on the people, and they went out as one army. 8 When Saul counted them at Bezek, the Israelites were 300,000 strong and the men of Judah numbered 30,000. 9 They said to the messengers who had come,“Here’s what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead:‘Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.’” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy. 10 The men of Jabesh said,“Tomorrow we will come out to you and you can do with us whatever you wish.” 11 The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.
• 1 Sam 14:1-9 : 1 Then one day Jonathan son of Saul said to his armor bearer,“Come on, let’s go over to the Philistine garrison that is opposite us.” But he did not let his father know. 2 Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men. 3 Now Ahijah was carrying an ephod. He was the son of Ahitub, who was the brother of Ichabod and a son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. The army was unaware that Jonathan had left. 4 Now there was a steep cliff on each side of the pass through which Jonathan intended to go to reach the Philistine garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, the other Seneh. 5 The cliff to the north was closer to Micmash, the one to the south closer to Geba. 6 Jonathan said to his armor bearer,“Come on, let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will intervene for us. Nothing can prevent the LORD from delivering, whether by many or by a few.” 7 His armor bearer said to him,“Do everything that is on your mind. Do as you’re inclined. I’m with you all the way!” 8 Jonathan replied,“All right! We’ll go over to these men and fight them. 9 If they say to us,‘Stay put until we approach you,’ we will stay right there and not go up to them. 10 But if they say,‘Come up against us,’ we will go up. For in that case the LORD has given them into our hand– it will be a sign to us.” 11 When they made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said,“Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves.” 12 Then the men of the garrison said to Jonathan and his armor bearer,“Come on up to us so we can teach you a thing or two!” Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer,“Come up behind me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel!” 13 Jonathan crawled up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer following behind him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines, while his armor bearer came along behind him and killed them. 14 In this initial skirmish Jonathan and his armor bearer struck down about twenty men in an area that measured half an acre. 15 Then fear overwhelmed those who were in the camp, those who were in the field, all the army in the garrison, and the raiding bands. They trembled and the ground shook. This fear was caused by God.
• 1 Sam 17:1-9 : 1 David Kills Goliath The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them. 4 Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels. 6 He had bronze shin guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer was walking before him. 8 Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops,“Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me! 9 If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said,“I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid. 12 Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons, and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest. 14 Now David was the youngest. While the three oldest sons followed Saul, 15 David was going back and forth from Saul in order to care for his father’s sheep in Bethlehem. 16 Meanwhile for forty days the Philistine approached every morning and evening and took his position. 17 Jesse said to his son David,“Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods. 19 They are with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.” 20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines opposite one another. 22 After David had entrusted his cargo to the care of the supply officer, he ran to the battlefront. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, and David heard it. 24 When all the men of Israel saw this man, they retreated from his presence and were very afraid. 25 The men of Israel said,“Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.” 26 David asked the men who were standing near him,“What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?” 27 The soldiers told him what had been promised, saying,“This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down.” 28 When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry with David and said,“Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the wilderness? I am familiar with your pride and deceit! You have come down here to watch the battle!” 29 David replied,“What have I done now? Can’t I say anything?” 30 Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question, but they gave him the same answer as before. 31 When David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, he called for him. 32 David said to Saul,“Don’t let anyone be discouraged. Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” 33 But Saul replied to David,“You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!” 34 David replied to Saul,“Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. For he has defied the armies of the living God!” 37 David went on to say,“The LORD who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David,“Go! The LORD will be with you.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him. 39 David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. David said to Saul,“I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them. 40 He took his staff in his hand, picked out five smooth stones from the stream, placed them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag, took his sling in hand, and approached the Philistine. 41 The Philistine kept coming closer to David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy. 43 The Philistine said to David,“Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David,“Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!” 45 But David replied to the Philistine,“You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! 46 This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God, 47 and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves! For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will deliver you into our hand.” 48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine. 49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground. 50 David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand. 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s sword, drew it from its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. They chased the Philistines to the valley and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his tent. 55 Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army,“Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied,“As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.” 56 The king said,“Find out whose son this boy is!” 57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him,“Whose son are you, young man?” David replied,“I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.”
• Jer 5:6 : 6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the rift valley they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.
• Ezek 22:25 : 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it.
• Gen 46:21 : 21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
• Num 23:24 : 24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness, and like a lion raises himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”
• Deut 33:12 : 12 Blessing on Benjamin Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the LORD will live safely by him; he protects him all the time, and the LORD places him on his chest.
• Judg 3:15-29 : 15 When the Israelites cried out for help to the LORD, he raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud son of Gera the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent him to King Eglon of Moab with their tribute payment. 16 Ehud made himself a sword– it had two edges and was eighteen inches long. He strapped it under his coat on his right thigh. 17 He brought the tribute payment to King Eglon of Moab.(Now Eglon was a very fat man.) 18 After Ehud brought the tribute payment, he dismissed the people who had carried it. 19 But he went back once he reached the carved images at Gilgal. He said to Eglon,“I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon said,“Be quiet!” All his attendants left. 20 When Ehud approached him, he was sitting in his well-ventilated upper room all by himself. Ehud said,“I have a message from God for you.” When Eglon rose up from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, pulled the sword from his right thigh, and drove it into Eglon’s belly. 22 The handle went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for Ehud did not pull the sword out of his belly. 23 As Ehud went out into the vestibule, he closed the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. 24 When Ehud had left, Eglon’s servants came and saw the locked doors of the upper room. They said,“He must be relieving himself in the well-ventilated inner room.” 25 They waited so long they were embarrassed, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. Finally they took the key and opened the doors. Right before their eyes was their master, sprawled out dead on the floor! 26 Now Ehud had escaped while they were delaying. When he passed the carved images, he escaped to Seirah. 27 When he reached Seirah, he blew a trumpet in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country, with Ehud in the lead. 28 He said to them,“Follow me, for the LORD is about to defeat your enemies, the Moabites!” They followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Moab, and did not let anyone cross. 29 That day they killed about ten thousand Moabites– all strong, capable warriors; not one escaped.