1 Samuel 9:21

the smallest of the tribes of Israel The warlike tribe of Benjamin, the smallest except Manasseh at the time of the numbering in the wilderness (Numbers 1:37), was reduced to insignificance by the terrible slaughter recorded in Judges 20:46.

of the tribe of Benjamin Heb. the tribes, If this reading is right, tribehere = clanor subdivision of a tribe, as in Numbers 4:18; Judges 20:12 (Heb. tribesof B.). But the Sept. and all ancient versions read "tribe" in the singular.