Genesis 35:23

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

Genesis 42:36

42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ¹  Simeon is gone. ²  And now you want to take ³  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

Genesis 48:5

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. ⁴  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.

[42:36]  ¹ tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ² tn Heb “is not.”

[42:36]  ³ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is desiderative here.

[48:5]  ¹ sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.