Thematic Bible: The tribe of Reuben


Thematic Bible



In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and captured Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.


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 east land of Gilead.

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear shield and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. And they made war with the Hagrites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he heeded their prayer; because they put their trust in him. read more.
And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of donkeys two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand. For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their place until the captivity.


Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the officer of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maachah:

And his brethren, men of valor, were two thousand and seven hundred heads of the fathers' houses, whom king David made officials over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, for every matter pertaining to God, and affairs of the king.


Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the leaders of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
Even the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle: Therefore, said they, if we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given unto your servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here? And why discourage you the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and he swore, saying, Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. And, behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. For if you turn away from following him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you shall destroy all this people. And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones: But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of Jordan, and beyond; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of Jordan eastward. And Moses said unto them, If you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the LORD to war, And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, And the land is subdued before the LORD: then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke unto Moses, saying, your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord says. So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD has said unto your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of Jordan may be ours. And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof within the borders, even the cities of the surrounding country.

And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it: you shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are fit for war. But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that you have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you; Until the LORD has given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God has given them beyond the Jordan: and then shall you return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.


Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it: he went up to my couch.

Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.


And the sons of Pallu; Eliab. And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, who were representatives of the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:

Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, of the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites: Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.


Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, who were representatives of the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD: And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.


And on the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for battle, a hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war, that could keep ranks, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.


And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; The plain also, with the Jordan as the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.


Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,


And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.


In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel: and Hazael defeated them in all the territory of Israel; From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.


And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they built.


And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to see. And the children of Israel were told, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar near the border of the land of Canaan, in the area of the Jordan, on the side of the children of Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. read more.
And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, And with him ten leaders, of each chief house a leader throughout all the tribes of Israel; and every one was a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that you have built you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, But that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD'S tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knows, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,) That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require an account; And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel? For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad; you have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD. Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice: But that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, you have no part in the LORD. Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you. God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.


On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, leader of the children of Reuben, did offer: His offering was one silver charger, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering: One golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense: read more.
One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for a burnt offering: One kid of the goats for a sin offering: And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five lambs of the first year: this was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.


And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, individually, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.


And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great resolves of heart. Why abode you among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.


And the standard of the camp of Reuben moved forward according to their armies: and over its host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.


Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, And said unto them, you have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: You have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. read more.
And now the LORD your God has given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of Jordan. But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents. Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side of Jordan, westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, And he spoke unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with bronze, and with iron, and with very much clothing: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.


And Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD has looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.


And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.


These are the families of the Reubenites: and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.


On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.


And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.