רְאוּבֵן

From the study of Genesis 29:32

Range of meaning

A personal name, later also the name of a tribe. On its face it reads as 're'u ben', 'See! A son!', a cry of delight at a birth. Genesis explains many names by sound-play like this (Isaac/laughter, Jacob/heel), not by tracing where the word came from.

Against the English

English Bibles transliterate the name, so readers miss the pun. A few add a footnote ('Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery' in some versions, or 'see, a son').

Used elsewhere in the period

In Josephus (Antiquities 1.19.7) and the Syriac tradition the name appears as 'Roubel/Reubel', and Josephus links it to God's kindness toward her. Jerome explains it as 'son of vision'. The rabbis played on it too: in Talmud Berakhot 7b, Leah says 'See the difference between my son and my father-in-law's son', contrasting Reuben with Esau, who sold his birthright.

From the study of Genesis 48:5

Range of meaning

Ke ("like, as") marks equivalence of kind or rank. Reuben and Simeon are Jacob's first- and second-born by Leah (29:32–33).

Against the English

Most English versions say "as Reuben and Simeon are," which is accurate. What English cannot show by itself is that these names are ranks: the first two places in the order of sons.

Used elsewhere in the period

Birth order decided inheritance. The firstborn normally received a double share (Deut 21:17). 1 Chronicles 5:1–2 explains Genesis 48 directly: Reuben's birthright "was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel." Genesis 49:3–7 then demotes both Reuben (for sleeping with his father's concubine, 35:22) and Simeon (for the violence at Shechem, ch. 34).

From the study of 1 Chronicles 2:1

Range of meaning

A personal name and later a tribal name. Genesis 29:32 plays on it as "see, a son" and on "the LORD has seen (raʾah) my affliction."

Against the English

English versions simply carry the name over, so nothing is lost in the list itself. What English readers miss is that every name in the verse was a short sentence or wordplay remembered from Leah's story (Genesis 29–30).

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 29:32; 35:22–23; 49:3–4. Chronicles comments on him directly in 5:1–2: he was the firstborn, but his birthright went to Joseph's sons because he slept with his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22), and leadership went to Judah.