Genesis 29:32-35

32And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,
 Reuben means See, a son
for she said, “Because the Lord bhas looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”
33She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
 Simeon sounds like the Hebrew for heard
34Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be dattached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
 Levi sounds like the Hebrew for  attached
35And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name fJudah.
 Judah sounds like the Hebrew for  praise
Then she ceased bearing.

Genesis 30:5-20

5And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6Then Rachel said, “God has hjudged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
 Dan sounds like the Hebrew for  judged
7Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings
Hebrew  With wrestlings of God
I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name kNaphtali.
 Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling


9When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and mgave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11And Leah said, n“Good fortune has come!” so she called his name oGad.
 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for  good fortune
12Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women qhave called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.
 Asher sounds like the Hebrew for  happy


14In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found smandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.
 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for  wages, or hire


19And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name uZebulun.
 Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for  honor

Genesis 35:17-26

17And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for wyou have another son.” 18And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;
 Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength
ybut his father called him Benjamin.
 Benjamin means son of the right hand
19So aaRachel died, and she was buried on the way to abEphrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is acthe pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and adlay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
23The sons of Leah: aeReuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Genesis 46:8-24

8 afNow agthese are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. ahReuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11The sons of aiLevi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12The sons of ajJudah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but akEr and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of alPerez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 amThe sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15These are the sons of Leah, anwhom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 aoThe sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 apThese are the sons of Zilpah, aqwhom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacobsixteen persons.

19The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20And arto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of asOn, bore to him. 21And atthe sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacobfourteen persons in all.

23The son
Hebrew sons
of Dan: Hushim.
24 avThe sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

Genesis 49

Jacob Blesses His Sons

1 awThen Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you axin days to come.

2 Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are aymy firstborn,
my might, and the azfirstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you bawent up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 bbSimeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons bcof violence are their swords.
6Let my soul come not into their council;
bdO my glory, bebe not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they bfhamstrung oxen.
7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will bgdivide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, bhyour brothers shall praise you;
biyour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
bjyour father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9Judah is bka lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
blHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10The bmscepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff bnfrom between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum)  until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12His bpeyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 bqZebulun shall dwell at the brshore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 bsIssachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
Or  between its saddlebags

15He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and bubecame a servant at forced labor.
16 bvDan shall bwjudge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan bxshall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18I bywait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 bzRaiders shall raid caGad,
 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for  raiders and raid

but he shall raid at their heels.
20 ccAsher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 cdNaphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.
Or he gives beautiful words, or  that bears fawns of the fold

22 Joseph is cfa fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
Or  Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall

23The archers chbitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24yet cihis bow remained unmoved;
his arms
Hebrew the arms of his hands
were made agile
by the hands of the ckMighty One of Jacob
(from there is clthe Shepherd,
Or by the name of the Shepherd
cnthe Stone of Israel),
25 coby the God of your father who will help you,
by cpthe Almighty
Hebrew Shaddai
crwho will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties csof the everlasting hills.
A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint)  the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills

May they be cuon the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 cvBenjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening cwdividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be cxgathered to my people; cybury me with my fathers czin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, dawhich Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 dbThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There dcthey buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah 32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ddwas gathered to his people.

Numbers 2:10

10“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur,

Numbers 7:30

30On the fourth day deElizur the son of Shedeur, the chief of the people of Reuben:

Numbers 10:18

18And dfthe standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was dgElizur the son of Shedeur.
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