Benjamin, twelfth and last son of Jacob, born of Rachel, had lived a hundred and twenty-five years. He kissed his sons and began to speak.
"As Isaac was born to Abraham in his old age, so also was I to Jacob. Since Rachel my mother died giving me birth, I had no milk. I was suckled by Bilhah, her handmaid. For Rachel remained barren for twelve years after she bore Joseph. She prayed to the Lord with fasting for twelve days, and she conceived and bore me. My father loved Rachel dearly and prayed that he might see two sons born from her. Therefore I was called Benjamin, that is, a son of days" (Genesis 35:16-18).
Benjamin then revealed a conversation with Joseph in Egypt that his brothers never knew about.
When Benjamin went to Egypt, Joseph recognized him and asked: "What did they tell our father when they sold me?" Benjamin answered: "They dabbled your coat with blood and sent it, saying: Know whether this be your son's coat" (Genesis 37:32). Joseph replied carefully: "Even so, brother. The Canaanite merchants stole me by force. They concealed my garment as though a wild beast had met me and slain me. And so their associates sold me to the Ishmaelites."
Joseph was lying. Deliberately. He wished to conceal from Benjamin what his brothers had actually done. He called the brothers to him privately and said: "Do not tell my father what you have done to me, but tell him as I have told Benjamin." Even after everything they had done to him, Joseph shielded them.
"Do you also, my children, love the Lord God of heaven and earth, and keep His commandments, following the example of the good and holy man Joseph," Benjamin urged. "Let your mind be unto good, for he that has his mind right sees all things rightly. Fear the Lord, and love your neighbor. Even though the spirits of Beliar claim you to afflict you with every evil, they shall not have dominion over you, even as they had not over Joseph."
He said that Joseph besought their father to pray that the Lord would not impute to his brothers whatever evil they had done. And Jacob cried out: "My good child, you have prevailed over the bowels of your father Jacob!" He embraced Joseph and kissed him for two hours.
Benjamin then taught the nature of the good person. "The good man has not a dark eye. He shows mercy to all, even to sinners. Though they devise evil intent against him, by doing good he overcomes evil, shielded by God. He loves the righteous as his own soul. If anyone is glorified, he envies not. If anyone is enriched, he is not jealous. If anyone is valiant, he praises him. The virtuous he lauds. On the poor he has mercy. On the weak he has compassion. Unto God he sings praises."
"If you have a good mind," Benjamin said, "then wicked men will be at peace with you. The profligate will reverence you and turn to good. The covetous will cease from desire. Where there is reverence for good works and light in the mind, even darkness flees."
The inclination of the good person is not in the power of Beliar's deceit. The angel of peace guides such a soul. The good mind has not two tongues: one of blessing and one of cursing, one of honor and one of contempt. It has one disposition, uncorrupt and pure. No double sight, no double hearing. In everything it does, speaks, and sees, it knows the Lord looks upon the soul.
"Flee the malice of Beliar," Benjamin warned, "for he gives a sword to those who obey him, and the sword is the mother of seven evils: bloodshed, ruin, tribulation, exile, famine, panic, and destruction." He invoked Cain, who was delivered over to seven vengeances by God for the murder of his brother Abel. Every hundred years the Lord brought a plague upon him. Those who follow Cain in envy and hatred of brothers shall be punished with the same judgment.
"Flee evil-doing, envy, and hatred of brethren, and cleave to goodness and love," Benjamin commanded. "He that has a pure mind in love looks not after a woman for fornication, for he has no defilement in his heart, because the Spirit of God rests upon him. As the sun is not defiled by shining on dung and mire, but rather dries them up and drives away the stench, so also the pure mind, though encompassed by the defilements of earth, rather cleanses them and is not itself defiled."
He foresaw that the Temple of God would be in their portion, and the last Temple would be more glorious than the first. The twelve tribes would be gathered together, and the Most High would send forth His salvation.
"I command you, my children, carry up my bones out of Egypt and bury me at Hebron, near my fathers." Benjamin died at a hundred and twenty-five years, at a good old age. They placed him in a coffin, and in the ninety-first year after the children of Israel entered Egypt, they carried up the bones of their fathers secretly during the Canaanite war and buried them in Hebron, by the feet of their fathers.