The Land of Gilead – Obadiah
Question
Hello! I was pushing myself outside my comfort zone recently and decided to start memorizing the Tanak. To start out I went small and one of the books I now have memorized is Obadiah. It’s really incredible the things you pick up on as you’re committing these things to memory. It allows the brain to chew on a lot of different aspects of Scripture.
So here are my questions. Why does Benjamin possess Gilead at the end of Obadiah? Why would it not be one of the 2 1/2 tribes that Moshe assigned the land to, *or* why would it not be Judah? And why is Benjamin the only tribe mentioned by name in this account of the People returning to the Promised Land?
I’ve been mulling this over and I can’t figure it out. Thanks for the help on this!
Answers
What a wonderful accomplishment! I wish you every success in memorizing even more Books of the Tanach!
The commentaries explain that because the Benjamin will grow tremendously numerically the land allotted to them will need expand equally. Thus, they will inherit the land of Gilead, and Menashe, whose land it was originally, will be given land further out that will suffice for their growing numbers as well.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team