Genesis 49:3-4

49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

49:4 You are destructive ¹  like water and will not excel, ² 

for you got on your father’s bed, ³ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ⁴ 

Genesis 49:8

49:8 Judah, ⁵  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

Numbers 32:31-32

32:31 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has spoken. ⁶  32:32 We will cross armed in the Lord’s presence into the land of Canaan, and then the possession of our inheritance that we inherit will be ours on this side of the Jordan River.” ⁷ 

Joshua 22:1-9

Joshua Sends Home the Eastern Tribes

22:1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh 22:2 and told them: “You have carried out all the instructions of Moses the Lord’s servant, and you have obeyed all I have told you. ⁸  22:3 You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites ⁹  this entire time, ¹⁰  right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God. ¹¹  22:4 Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure, ¹²  just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes ¹³  in your own land ¹⁴  which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan. 22:5 But carefully obey the commands and instructions Moses the Lord’s servant gave you. Love ¹⁵  the Lord your God, follow all his instructions, ¹⁶  obey ¹⁷  his commands, be loyal to him, ¹⁸  and serve him with all your heart and being!” ¹⁹ 

22:6 Joshua rewarded ²⁰  them and sent them on their way; they returned to their homes. ²¹  22:7 (Now to one half-tribe of Manasseh, Moses had assigned land in Bashan; and to the other half Joshua had assigned land on the west side of the Jordan with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, ²²  he rewarded ²³  them, 22:8 saying, “Take home ²⁴  great wealth, a lot of cattle, ²⁵  silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of ²⁶  clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.” 22:9 So the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and headed home to their own land in Gilead, ²⁷  which they acquired by the Lord’s command through Moses.

[49:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ² tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ³ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ⁴ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.

[49:8]  ⁵ sn There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb translated praise (יוֹדוּךָ, yodukha). The wordplay serves to draw attention to the statement as having special significance.

[32:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “that which the Lord has spoken to your servants, thus we will do.”

[32:32]  ⁷ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “You have kept all which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice, to all which I commanded you.”

[22:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “your brothers” (also in vv. 4, 7), but this does not refer to siblings or necessarily even to relatives. It refers to the Israelites of the remaining tribes.

[22:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “these many days.”

[22:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you have kept the charge of the command of the Lord your God.”

[22:4]  ¹² tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.”

[22:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “tents.”

[22:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the land of your possession.”

[22:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “But be very careful to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, to love.”

[22:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “walk in all his paths.”

[22:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “keep.”

[22:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hug him.”

[22:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “soul.”

[22:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given.

[22:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “and they went to their tents.”

[22:7]  ²² tn Heb “to their tents.”

[22:7]  ²³ tn Heb “blessed.”

[22:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “return to your tents with.”

[22:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “very many cattle.”

[22:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “very much clothing.”

[22:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “returned and went from the sons of Israel, from Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession.”