The Twelve Tribes · I of XII
ראובן
Reuben
The firstborn. He found mandrakes in the field at the wheat harvest and brought them to his mother. His tribe settled east of the Jordan.
- Mother
- Leah
- Born
- The first son of Jacob
- Stone
- אֹדֶם · ruby
- Banner
- Red
- Emblem
- Mandrakes Genesis 30:14
- In the camp
- The south, at its head
Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; she said: Because the Lord saw [ra’a] my affliction; for now my husband will love me
וַתַּהַר לֵאָה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ רְאוּבֵן כִּי אָמְרָה כִּי־רָאָה יְהֹוָה בְּעׇנְיִי כִּי עַתָּה יֶאֱהָבַנִי אִישִׁי׃
Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the first of my potency; greater honor and greater power
impetuous as water, you shall not excel, because you mounted your father’s bed, Then you desecrated he who ascended my couch
רְאוּבֵן בְּכֹרִי אַתָּה כֹּחִי וְרֵאשִׁית אוֹנִי יֶתֶר שְׂאֵת וְיֶתֶר עָז׃
פַּחַז כַּמַּיִם אַל־תּוֹתַר כִּי עָלִיתָ מִשְׁכְּבֵי אָבִיךָ אָז חִלַּלְתָּ יְצוּעִי עָלָה׃
May
Reuben live and not die. And may his people be numerous.
יְחִי רְאוּבֵן וְאַל־יָמֹת וִיהִי מְתָיו מִסְפָּר׃
The English is the Steinsaltz Tanakh, the words of the verse only; the Hebrew is the Masoretic text. The banner, the stone and the emblem follow Bamidbar Rabbah 2:7.