Reuben

Family: Jacob household · Role: Leah's son · First appears: Genesis 29

Reuben was Leah’s son in the Jacob household, born after Leah conceived and gave him his name. In Genesis 35, he lay with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine, and Israel heard of it; he was also one of Jacob’s twelve sons, alongside Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

At Dothan in Genesis 37, Reuben intervened when his brothers sought to kill Joseph, urging them not to shed blood and proposing a pit instead so Joseph could be returned to Jacob. In Genesis 46, Reuben was the father of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; later, Eliab was named as the father of Dathan and Abiram, Reuben’s sons.

In Genesis 48, Jacob counted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, equal to Reuben and Simeon. In Genesis 49, Jacob blessed his sons but declared that Reuben would not excel because he had defiled his father’s bed, and he also charged them concerning his burial. Before his death, Moses blessed Israel and told Reuben, “Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.”