Reuben
רְאוּבֵן · re.u.ven · H7205Ῥουβήν · Rhoubēn · G45021 other spelling“who sees the son; the vision of the son” Hitchcock's 186985 mentions in 10 books, most in Joshua (25)
Who he was
Reuben was the firstborn son of Israel (or 'Jacob') and Leah (Genesis 29:32). As the firstborn, he held a position of prominence and was entitled to a double portion of the inheritance (Genesis 49:3; Deuteronomy 21:17). However, Reuben lost his birthright due to his sin of sleeping with his father's concubine, Bilhah (Gen.35.22; 49.3-4; 1 Chronicles 5:1). Despite this, Reuben showed concern for his younger brother Joseph and tried to save him from their brothers' plot to kill him (Gen.37.21-22, 29). Later, he offered to bear the blame if harm came to Benjamin on their journey to Egypt (Genesis 42:37). When Jacob blessed his sons, he described Reuben as "unstable as water" and declared that he would not excel because of his past actions (Genesis 49:3–4). The tribe of Reuben, along with the tribes of Gad and half of Manasseh, settled in the land east of the Jordan River (Numbers 32; Joshua 13:15–23). They assisted the other tribes in conquering Canaan before returning to their inheritance (Joshua 22). In the time of the judges, the tribe of Reuben was criticized for not assisting Deborah and Barak in the fight against Sisera (Judges 5:15–16). The tribe of Reuben is mentioned in the visions of Ezekiel and Revelation, symbolizing its place among the restored tribes of Israel (Ezk.48.6-7, 31; Revelation 7:5).
Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Family
FatherIsraelMotherLeahSiblingsSimeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah, Joseph, BenjaminChildrenHanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi
Family relations: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0
Every mention
85 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
Genesis13 mentions
Genesis 29:32Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”Genesis 30:14Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”Genesis 35:22While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.Genesis 35:23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.Genesis 37:21Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.”Genesis 37:22Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.Genesis 37:29Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes.Genesis 42:22Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.”Genesis 42:37Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”Genesis 46:8These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.Genesis 46:9The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.Genesis 48:5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.Genesis 49:3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.
Exodus2 mentions
Numbers19 mentions
Numbers 1:5These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur.Numbers 1:20The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years…Numbers 1:21those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty-six thousand five hundred.Numbers 2:10“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.Numbers 2:16“All who were counted of the camp of Reuben were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their armies. They shall set out second.Numbers 7:30On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben,Numbers 10:18The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur the son of Shedeur was over his army.Numbers 13:4These were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.Numbers 16:1Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men.Numbers 26:5Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites;Numbers 26:7These are the families of the Reubenites; and those who were counted of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty.Numbers 32:1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock.Numbers 32:2Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,Numbers 32:6Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?Numbers 32:25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.Numbers 32:29Moses said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and the land is subdued before…Numbers 32:31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do.Numbers 32:33Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the…Numbers 32:37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
Deuteronomy7 mentions
Deuteronomy 3:12This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the…Deuteronomy 3:16To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the…Deuteronomy 4:43Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.Deuteronomy 11:6and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing…Deuteronomy 27:13These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.Deuteronomy 29:8We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.Deuteronomy 33:6“Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.”
Joshua25 mentions
Joshua 1:12Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying,Joshua 4:12The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them.Joshua 12:6Moses the servant of Yahweh and the children of Israel struck them. Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it for a possession to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.Joshua 13:8With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them:Joshua 13:15Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families.Joshua 13:23The border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and its villages.Joshua 15:6The border went up to Beth Hoglah, and passed along by the north of Beth Arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.Joshua 18:7However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the…Joshua 18:17It extended northward, went out at En Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.Joshua 20:8Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of…Joshua 21:7The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.Joshua 21:36Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,Joshua 22:1Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,Joshua 22:9The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the…Joshua 22:10When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the…Joshua 22:11The children of Israel heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar along the border of the land of Canaan, in the…Joshua 22:13The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest.Joshua 22:15They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,Joshua 22:21Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,Joshua 22:25For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ So your children might make our children cease from…Joshua 22:30When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of…Joshua 22:31Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not…Joshua 22:32Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the…Joshua 22:33The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and…Joshua 22:34The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar “A Witness Between Us that Yahweh is God.”
Judges2 mentions
Judges 5:15The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben, there were great resolves of heart.Judges 5:16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart.
1 Chronicles12 mentions
1 Chronicles 2:1These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,1 Chronicles 5:1The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the…1 Chronicles 5:3the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.1 Chronicles 5:6and Beerah his son, whom Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive. He was prince of the Reubenites.1 Chronicles 5:18The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, able to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand…1 Chronicles 5:26So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried away the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe…1 Chronicles 6:63To the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.1 Chronicles 6:78and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, were given them out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands,1 Chronicles 11:42Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite (a chief of the Reubenites), and thirty with him,1 Chronicles 12:37On the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all kinds of instruments of war for the battle: one hundred twenty thousand.1 Chronicles 26:32His relatives, men of valor, were two thousand seven hundred, heads of fathers’ households, whom King David made overseers over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the…1 Chronicles 27:16Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites, Eliezer the son of Zichri was the ruler; of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah;
Ezekiel3 mentions
Ezekiel 48:6“By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion.Ezekiel 48:7“By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion.Ezekiel 48:31and the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.
What the dictionary says
Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32).
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) · Public domain