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REUBEN (Person)
Eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gn 29:32; 46:8) and forefather of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Reuben was involved in the mandrake incident (30:14) and had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (35:22). But he emerges into full adulthood as one of the more honorable of Jacob’s sons. Reuben objected to the plot to kill Joseph and planned to rescue him from the pit (37:22-35). He moralized about the brothers’ imprisonment in Egypt (42:22) and guaranteed the safety of Benjamin at immense risk to his own family. Yet at Jacob’s pronouncement of blessing, Reuben is declared unstable and his birthright forfeited (49:3-4). He fathered four sons (1 Chr 5:3).
See also Reuben (Place); Reuben, Tribe of.