Benjamin is the English version of the Hebrew name Binyamin (בִּנְיָמִין), from the word ben (בן), meaning "son (of)," and yamin (ימין), meaning "right" or "right hand." So Benjamin is "the son of the right hand"—literally, one's "right-hand man." In the Hebrew Bible, Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob's 13 named children, and the second-born of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel.