פירוש על בראשית 49:27

בנימן זאב יטרף means BENJAMIN IS A WOLF THAT TEARETH (i.e. “wolf” is not the object of the sentence but the word אשר must be supplied before יטרף). He prophesied that they (Benjamin’s descendants) will be “rapacious” in the time to come; thus the Benjamites were told (Judges 21:21) “and catch you every man his wife”, as you will find in the story of the concubine of Gibeah. Further he was prophesying concerning Saul (who was of this tribe) who vanquished his enemies on all sides, as it is said (1 Samuel 14:47) “So Saul took the kingdom… and fought on every side… against Moab… and against Edom… and whithersoever he turned himself he put them to the worse”.

בנימין זאב יטרף, Yaakov prophesies concerning the first crowned Jewish King, Sha-ul, member of the tribe of Binyamin. He would successfully deal with the enemies surrounding Israel as documented in Samuel I 14,47בכל אשר יפנה ירשיע, “wherever he turned he defeated them.” The tribe of Binyamin also remained loyal to the dynasty of David when the ten tribes split under Jerobam. When King Assa conducted wars against surrounding enemy states, Binyamin supported him. The same held true under the reign of the kings Yehoshaphat and Chizkiyah, both Kings of the Davidic dynasty.

זאב יטרוף, it is the custom of wolves to attack either early in the morning or in the evening, both periods when there is not much light. We find support for this in Chabakuk 1,8. Binyamin’s rise to power also occurred at the dawn of Jewish monarchies in the person of King Sha-ul, and once more near the end of Jewish one man rule under Mordechai. Subsequently, there was never again a true Jewish political independence, and the religious leadership was in the hands of the אנשי כנסת הגדולה, a college of 120 elders.