Binyamin (Benjamin) was the youngest son of Yaakov and the second son of Rachel, after Yosef. He was born on the road between Beth El and Ephrat, near Bethlehem. His mother died giving birth to him and with her last breath named him Ben-Oni, "son of my pain"; Yaakov changed the name to Binyamin. According to the Book of Jubilees (Kahana edition) and Midrash Tadshe, he was born on 11 Cheshvan.

Yosef's only full brother, he stayed with his father when his brothers went down to Egypt for food. Yosef, still unrecognized by them, demanded that they bring him, then had his silver cup hidden in Binyamin's bag; it was Yehudah's plea, offering himself as a slave in Binyamin's place, that led Yosef to reveal himself.

He had ten sons, listed in the Torah among those who went down to Egypt: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. According to Rashi, he named them all in memory of his brother Yosef and the hardships he had suffered. The Talmud counts him among the four people who never sinned and died only because of the counsel of the serpent.

In his blessings Yaakov likened him to a wolf: "Binyamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he consumes the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil." From his tribe came Saul, the first king of Israel, as well as Mordechai and Esther.

There are several traditions about his burial place. Sefer HaYashar places it in Jerusalem, within his tribe's portion; another tradition identifies it with the Nabi Yamin shrine at Neve Yamin near Kfar Saba; others place it at Nabi Ukasha in Jerusalem or in the Lower Galilee.