The Person : Jacob's first son by Leah, and the tribe descended from him. His name witnessed powerfully to the bitter jealousies between the two sisters who were Jacob's wives:
Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."
Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son (Gen 29:16-32).
By all accounts Reuben was an honourable man. Among all the brothers he stood alone in attempting to save Joseph from harm when they plotted to kill Joseph (Gen 37:17b-22; 29). Though the brothers did not, in the end, kill Joseph, Reuben seemed to have been kept out of the secret through all the years until Joseph revealed himself to them (Gen 37:29-30; 42: 21-22). He was also the first to offer his father the lives of his two sons as surety for the safe return of Benjamin when they needed to make a second journey down to Egypt to buy grain, though his offer was rejected off hand by Jacob (Gen 42:37-38).
Reuben, however, incurred the wrath of his father when he slept with Bilhah, the latter's concubine (Gen 35:22). Though he was not disowned, he lost his birthright as the firstborn son (43:3-4; 1 Chron 9:1).
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