1 Chronicles 5:1-10

5. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF REUBEN (1 Chronicles 5:1-10)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 5:1. And the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's couch, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the prince; but the birthright was Joseph'S), 3. the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4. The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his Song of Solomon, 5. Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his Song of Solomon, 6. Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites. 7. And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8. and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baal-meon: 9. and eastward he dwelt even unto the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10. And in the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 5:1. The oldest son of Israel was Reuben, but since he dishonored his father by sleeping with one of his father's wives, his birthright was given to his half brother, Joseph. So the official genealogy doesn-'t name Reuben as the oldest Song of Song of Solomon 2. Although Joseph received the birthright, yet Judah was a powerful and influential tribe in Israel, and from Judah came a Prince. 3. The sons of Reuben, Israel's son, were: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi. 4. Joel's descendants were his son Shemaiah, his grandson Gog, and his great-grandson Shime-i. 5. Shime-i's son was Micah; his grandson was Reaiah; and his great-grandson was Baal. 6. Baal's son was Beerah. He was a prince of the tribe of Reuben and was taken into captivity by King Tilgath-pilneser of Assyria. 7, 8. His relatives became heads of clans and were included in the official genealogy: Je-iel, Zechariah, Bela (the son of Azaz, grandson of Shema, and great grandson of Joel). These Reubenites lived in Aroer and as far distant as Mount Nebo and Baal-meon. 9. Joel was a cattle man, and he pastured his animals eastward to the edge of the desert and to the Euphrates River, for there were many cattle in the land of Gilead. 10. During the reign of King Saul, the men of Reuben defeated the Hagrites in war and moved into their tents on the eastern edges of Gilead.

COMMENTARY

Once more the natural law of the first-born is violated as the chronicler has already given attention to Judah and Simeon. Reuben was Jacob's first son borne by Leah (Genesis 29:32). This son, who was the hope of Jacob's family, proved unworthy of the trust when he dared to sin sexually with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). In the patriarchal meeting (Genesis 49:3-4), Reuben was disinherited. Genesis, chapter 48, describes the blessings pronounced on Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The record would indicate that Reuben's blessing was shared with the sons of Joseph. Judah, however, received a blessing and a responsibility which was greater than Reuben's and which also exceeded that of the sons of Joseph. Reuben's sons are listed in Numbers 26:5-7 when in the second census his warriors numbered 43,730. These sons are Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. The names that follow in 1 Chronicles 5:4-10 are Reuben's descendants. Reuben's territory lay beyond the Jordan to the south and east. These tribes suffered at the hands of the Assyrians when Tilgath-pilneser and his armies overthrew Samaria and scattered the tribes of Israel in 722-21 B.C. Aroer and Nebo were located beyond the Jordan eastward. Nebo was the region from which Moses once viewed Canaan. The Gilead country bordered the Jordan river on the east and pertained to the territory of Reuben. The Hagrites may have derived from Hagar. There was a tribe by this name in northern Arabia. At some time the Reubenites fought with these people and displaced them in the Gilead region.