We are still in chapter 49 of Genesis with our word for today. טָרַף tear, rend, pluck, separate or cause to separate abruptly or violently, pull, tear up food. It is used 25 times in the Old Testament. It is used to describe being torn apart by an animal. Genesis 37:33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has טָרֹ֥ף devoured him. Joseph has surely been טֹרַ֖ף torn to pieces.” Exodus 22:13 If it was טָרֹ֥ף torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the יִטָּרֵ֖ף remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the הַטְּרֵפָ֖ה torn animal. Ezekiel 22:7 Her princes in her midst are like wolves טֹ֣רְפֵי tearing the טָ֑רֶף prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. This is the same sense our word is used today. We see Jacob speaking to his last son before his death. Genesis 49:27 Benjamin is a יִטְרָ֔ף ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.
You would expect Jacob to say more to and about his youngest son Benjamin, the “son of his right hand,” but his words were few and puzzling. Why compare Benjamin to a “ravenous wolf”? The men of Benjamin were brave and helped defeat Sisera (Judges 5:14), but when you read Benjamin’s tribal history in Judges 19 and 20, you see the ravenous wolf in action. Saul, the first king of Israel, was from Benjamin. During his career, he more than once tried to kill David (1 Samuel 19:10), and he ruthlessly murdered everybody in the priestly city of Nob (1 Samuel 22:6ff). Other Benjamites known for their ferocity were Abner (2 Samuel 2:23), Sheba (2 Samuel 20), Shimei (2 Samuel 16:5–14) and Saul of Tarsus (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5). It’s remarkable that Moses’ words about Benjamin say nothing about the ferocious behavior of an animal (Deuteronomy 33:12). Instead, Moses called him “the beloved of the Lord” and promised him constant protection from God. In fact, Benjamin shall “rest between His shoulders”, which suggests either being carried on his back or over his heart. When the nation divided after Solomon’s death, the tribe of Benjamin remained faithful to the Davidic line and stayed with Judah. Together they formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
This reminds us that because God has us close to his heart he still cares about us even when we are acting like a wild wolf that wants to tear and destroy. I’ll close with these verse about Saul of Tarsus from this ravenous wolf tribe of Israel. When he was acting like a wild animal, when he persecuted the church and tracked down Christians to imprison them, God stepped in and changed him. Acts 26:9-18 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities… At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
