Series: Namesakes~Reuben

Our names are more than just what we are called. They can reveal a lot about our character. When God gave names, or changed names, in Scripture, it signified that a change was about to take place in the lives of those whose names were changed. Do you have a Scripture-based name? Are you living up to the character of that name? Or, do you feel a name-change is in order?


Reuben
“Look: a son!”


Hebrew Transliteration: Re'uven

Hebrew Spelling: רְאוּבֵן


Anyone with the name “Reuben” can look very much like his namesake in Scripture. Here are a few examples of the characteristics of the name.

Genesis 29:32

Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, "Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. Now my husband will love me."

Leah, the unloved wife of Jacob, was so pleased that she had birthed a son, that she gave him a name so that, every time that it was spoken, that fact would resonate.

Genesis 49:3-4

Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

The firstborn always gets the bulk of chores and responsibilities as they mature. And, as a result, the reward that is strictly reserved for the adult is thought to be deserved. Hence Reuben taking Jacob’s concubine to bed, and hindering himself from receiving a more befitting blessing as the firstborn.

Deuteronomy 27:13

These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

The tribe of Reuben was one of the six chosen to speak out the curses to the people, as a witness that they had been told how to live in the Promised Land, and what would happen if they failed to do so. So, by extension, a “Reuben” may be used in that same way in today’s world.

Deuteronomy 33:6

Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.

This is the blessing spoken over the families descended from Reuben, spoken by Moses. The fact that he asked for the tribe of Reuben to “live” and that his numbers not diminish says that his descendants must have been in danger of doing just that.

Genesis 37:21-22, 29

Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life." Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father... Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

Reuben took the responsibility for his younger brother seriously. He did this because, deep down, he loved his brother, even if he was irritated by him. And, he loved his father, despite the fact that it was common knowledge that Joseph and Benjamin were the father’s favorites.