“God said to him: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and an assembly of nations will be from you, and kings will emerge from your loins” (Genesis 35:11). “God said to him: I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply” – Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: I used to say: Reuben was already out.
Simeon was already out. Benjamin had already emerged from his loins and was still in his mother’s womb.6He used to wonder who this blessing referred to, given that Jacob’s sons were all born except for Benjamin, and Rachel was already pregnant with him, such that he had already emerged from Jacob’s loins. Then I said: “A nation” – this is Benjamin; “and an assembly of nations” – this is Manasseh and Ephraim, as it is written: “His descendants will be a plenitude of the nations” (Genesis 48:19).
Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Ḥelbo, and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: “And kings will emerge from your loins” – this is Yerovam and Yehu. The Rabbis say: Is it possible that Avner was a righteous man and he disputed that the kingdom [belonged to] the house of David? It is that he expounded a midrash, and crowned Ish Boshet.7See II Samuel 2:8–9. That is what is written: “And kings will emerge from your loins” – this is Saul and Ish Boshet.
What did they see that led them to draw near and ostracize in the case of the concubine in Giva?8See Judges chap. 20–21. It is, rather, that they read a verse and ostracized them, and read a verse and immediately welcomed them. They read a verse and ostracized them: “Ephraim and Manasseh will be like Reuben and Simeon for me” (Genesis 48:5).9They felt justified in ostracizing the tribe of Benjamin because Manasseh and Ephraim counted as two tribes, such that there would be twelve tribes even without Benjamin.
They read a verse and welcomed them: “A nation and an assembly of nations will be from you.”10As stated above, this refers to Benjamin as well as Manasseh and Ephraim, and therefore they welcomed Benjamin back and cancelled his ostracization.