Begat Search

Reuben

Born 1757 BC traditional (Jones)

Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22, brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

Father
Jacob
Mother
Leah
Children
Carmi, Hanoch, Hezron, Pallu
Siblings
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah
Half-siblings
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin
Tagged in
19 verses

Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).

Family

Two generations up and the children; a button shows the grandchildren. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.

Stories

5 events in which Reuben takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).

  1. 1757 BCBirth of ReubenGen 29:32
  2. 1727 BCJoseph sold to EgyptGen 37:3-36
  3. 1717 BCJoseph imprisonedGen 39:20–41:14
  4. 1707 BC7 years of famineGen 41:54–43:34
  5. 1705 BCJoseph's brothers return to EgyptGen 43:1–45:28

Places

Places named in the same verses as Reuben, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification. A dashed ring on the map marks a region, river, or mountain rather than a town.

  1. location not graded: Egypt2

Timeline

The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1782–1663 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 5 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.

Mentions

19 tagged verses in 4 books. Select a book to read its verses.

  1. Genesis13
  2. Exodus1
  3. Judges2
  4. 1 Chronicles3

Later verses tagged with Reuben are about the tribe of Reuben, not the man: 51 verses, counted separately.

The name in each translation

TextOccurrences of each name
BSBReuben 51
KJVReuben 74
ASVReuben 74

Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts

Every verse

All 19 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.

Genesis13 verses
  1. 29:32

    And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”

  2. 30:14

    Now during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

  3. 35:22

    While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

  4. 35:23

    The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

  5. 37:21

    When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said.

  6. 37:22

    “Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father.

  7. 37:29

    When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

  8. 42:22

    And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

  9. 42:37

    Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

  10. 46:8

    Now these are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

  11. 46:9

    The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

  12. 48:5

    And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

  13. 49:3

    Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

Exodus1 verse
  1. 1:2

    Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Judges2 verses
  1. 5:15

    The princes of Issachar were with Deborah, and Issachar was with Barak, rushing into the valley at his heels. In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

  2. 5:16

    Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.

1 Chronicles3 verses
  1. 2:1

    These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,

  2. 5:1

    These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright.

  3. 5:3

    The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.

Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22, brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4). He showed kindness to Joseph, and was the means of saving his life when his other brothers would have put him to death (37:21, 22). It was he also who pledged his life and the life of his sons when Jacob was unwilling to let Benjamin go down into Egypt. After Jacob and his family went down into Egypt (46:8) no further mention is made of Reuben beyond what is recorded in ch. 49:3, 4.