In the New Testament there is no mention of the Magdalene's tribal affiliation, however, she is said to have royal lineage. And there are other traditions that state specifically she was of the Tribe of Benjamin. This could be a very important piece of information.
Deuteronomy 33 contains the blessing on the patriarchs of each of the twelve tribes of Israel by Moses. Of Benjamin he said:
"The beloved of the Lord Shall dwell safely by Him,
Who shelters him all the day long;
And he shall dwell between His shoulders."
Deuteronomy 33:12
Benjamin and his descendants were singled out for a very special and exhaulted blessing. That much is clear. However, what is the meaning of of the Lord dwelling between Benjamin's shoulders?
The second biblical reference in Joshua 18 is more clear and deals with the arrival of Moses' people in the Promised Land and the division of the land. According to the apportionment the territory of the Tribe of Benjamin included what subsequently became Jerusalem even before it became the capital of David and Solomon. According to Joshua 18:28 the birthright of Benjamin encompased "Zehah, Eleph, Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families."
The third biblical reference is in Judges 19, 20, and 21. A Levite traveling through the Benjamin territory is assaulted and his concubime ravished by the worshipers of Belial -- similar to the Sumarian mother goddess known as Istar by the Babylonians and Astarts by the Phoenicians. The Levite calls representaives of the twelve tribes of Israel to witness and demand vengeance for the atrocity. The Benjamites are instructed to deliver the criminals to justice. One would think the Benjamites would comply, however, for some reason they do not and take up arms to protect the sons of Belial. The result is a bitter and bloody war between the Benjamites and the remaining eleven tribes. When the war is over most of the Benjamites have been killed or fled the area, few remaining. A curse was pronounced by the eleven tribes on any man who gave his daughter to a Benjamite -- but the victorious Israelites repent of their malediction which cannot be retracted.
Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying "None of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife." Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly, and said, "O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there shall be one tribe missing in Israel?" Judges 21:1-3
A few verses later the lament is repeated:
And the children of Israel grieved for Benjamin their brother, and said, "One tribe is cut off from Israel today. What shall we do for wives for those who remain, seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them our daughters as wives?" Judges 21:6-7
And again . . .
And the people grieved for Benjamin because the Lord had made a void in the tribes of Israel. Then the elders of the congregation said, "What shall we do for wives for those who remain, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?" And they said "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe may not be destroyed from Israel. However, we cannot give them wives from our daughters, for the children of Israel have sworn an oath, saying, 'Cursed be the one who gives a wife to Benjamin.'" Judges 21:15-18
Confronted by the possible extinction of the entire tribe, the elders quickly devised a solution. There is to be a festival in Bethel at Shiloh and the women of Shiloh -- whose menfolk had remained neutral in the war -- are to be considered fair game. The remaining Benjamites are instructed to go to Shiloh and wait in ambush in the vineyards. When the women of the town congregate to dance in the festival, the Benjamites are to catch a wife for himself from the daughters of Shiloh.
The Benjamites are clearly important as far as biblical history is concerned. Despite the devastation of the war they quickly recover in prestige, if not in numbers. Whatever recovery the Benjamites may have made, however, the war over the followers of Belial was a crucial turning point. It would appear that in the wake of the conflict, many, if not most, Benjamites went into exile. Their exile supposedly took them to Greece, to the central Pelopponesus--to Arcadia where they supposedly became aligned with the Arcadian royal line. They then migrated up the Danube and the Rhine, intermarrying with certain Teutonic tribes and eventually engendering the Sicambrian Franks--the immediate forebearer of the Merovingians.
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Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln |
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| Mary Magdalene | ||
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |
| Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |
| References | Magdalene Links | |
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