Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. New Living Translation “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power. English Standard Version “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Berean Study Bible Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. King James Bible Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: New King James Version “Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. New American Standard Bible “Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. NASB 1995 “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. NASB 1977 “Reuben, you are my first-born; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Amplified Bible “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might, the beginning of my strength and vigor, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power [that should have been your birthright]. Christian Standard Bible Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. Holman Christian Standard Bible Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. American Standard Version Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength; The pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power. Aramaic Bible in Plain English Rubil my first born, you are my power and beginning of my strength, the foundation of exaltation and the foundation of strength Brenton Septuagint Translation Ruben, thou art my first-born, thou my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, hard and self-willed. Contemporary English Version Reuben, you are my oldest, born at the peak of my powers; you were an honored leader. Douay-Rheims Bible Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command. Good News Translation "Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength And the first child of my manhood, The proudest and strongest of all my sons. International Standard Version "Reuben, you're my firstborn, my strength, and the first fruit of my vitality. You excel in rank and excel in power. JPS Tanakh 1917 Reuben, thou art my first-born, My might, and the first-fruits of my strength; The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Literal Standard Version Reuben! You [are] my firstborn, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; New American Bible “You, Reuben, my firstborn, my strength and the first fruit of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power! NET Bible Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power. New Revised Standard Version Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power. New Heart English Bible Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, and the the firstfruits of my virility, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. World English Bible "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. Young's Literal Translation Reuben! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; Additional Translations ... Context Jacob Blesses His Sons…2Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. 3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. 4Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.… Cross References Revelation 3:14 To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God's creation. Deuteronomy 21:17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father's strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him. Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few." Psalm 78:51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham. Psalm 105:36 Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor. Treasury of Scripture Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: my firstborn. Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. Genesis 46:8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. Genesis 48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. my might. Deuteronomy 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. Psalm 78:51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: Psalm 105:36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.
(3) The beginning of my strength.--In Genesis 35:18, the word oni means "my sorrow," and it is so translated here by the Vulg., Aquila, and Symmachus. But in this verse Jacob magnifies the prerogatives of the firstborn, and our version is undoubtedly right in deriving oni from a different and not uncommon word signifying strength. It occurs in Deuteronomy 21:17; Job 40:16; Psalm 78:51; Psalm 105:36, &c. The excellency . . . --We must here supply, "And therefore to thee as the firstborn belonged," first, the excellency of dignity, that is, the priesthood; and secondly, the excellency of power, that is, the kingly office. As a matter of history no king, judge, or prophet is recorded as having sprung from the tribe of Reuben. . . . Verses 3, 4. - Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: - Jacob's patriarchal benediction takes the form of an elevated poem, or sublime religious hymn, exhibiting the well-known classes of parallelism, the synthetic the antithetic, and the synonymous, not alone in its separate clauses, but sometimes also in its stanzas or verses. As was perhaps to be expected, it begins with Reuben, who is characterized by a threefold designation, viz.,(1) by his position in the family, as Jacob's firstborn; (2) by his relation to Jacob, as the patriarch's "might," כּחַ, or robur virile, and "the beginning" of his "strength," not "of his sorrow" (Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus), though און might be so translated (cf. Genesis 35:18), and the sense would sufficiently accord with the allusion of ver. 4, but, as required by the parallelism, "of his vigor," און being here equivalent to כּחַ (Rosenmuller, Kalisch, Keil, 'Speaker's Commentary,' et alii); and (3) by the natural prominence which as Jacob's eldest son belonged to him, "the excellency of dignity" or "elevation," i.e. the dignity of the chieftainship, and "the excellency of power," or authority, which the first born claimed and received as his prerogative. Yet the natural advantages enjoyed by Reuben as Jacob's firstborn were to be taken from him, as the patriarch proceeded to announce - Unstable as water, - literally, boiling over like water, the import of which is not effusus es sicut aqua (Vulgate), but either ἐξύβρισας ὡς ὑδωρ (LXX.), or lasciviousness (sc. was to thee) as the boiling of water (Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, etc.), the same root in Arabic conveying the notion of pride, and in Syriac that of wantonness - thou shalt not excel; - literally, thou shalt not have the ישׂנךללךשׂצך רו יֶרֶת (ver. 3), i.e. the pre-eminence belonging to the firstborn, a sense which the versions have more or less successfully expressed: μὴ περισσεύσης (Aquila), οὐκ ἔση περισσότερος (Symmachus), μὴ ἐκζέσης (LXX.), non crescas (Vulgate) - because thou wentest up to thy father's bed (vide Genesis 35:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1); then defiledst thou it: - the verb is used absolutely, as meaning that Reuben had desecrated what ought to have been regarded by him as sacred (cf. Deuteronomy 27:20) - he went up to my couch - literally, my couch he ascends; the order of the words and the change from the second to the third person helping to give expression to the horror and indignation with which, even at that distance of time, the venerable patriarch contemplated the shameful deed. Hebrew Reuben,רְאוּבֵן֙ (rə·’ū·ḇên) Noun - proper - masculine singular Strong's 7205: Reuben -- 'behold a son!' oldest son of Jacob, also his desc you אַ֔תָּה (’at·tāh) Pronoun - second person masculine singular Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you are my firstborn, בְּכֹ֣רִי (bə·ḵō·rî) Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular Strong's 1060: Firstborn, chief my might, כֹּחִ֖י (kō·ḥî) Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular Strong's 3581: A small reptile (of unknown species) and the beginning וְרֵאשִׁ֣ית (wə·rê·šîṯ) Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Strong's 7225: The first, in place, time, order, rank of my strength, אוֹנִ֑י (’ō·w·nî) Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular Strong's 202: Ability, power, wealth excelling יֶ֥תֶר (ye·ṯer) Noun - masculine singular construct Strong's 3499: An overhanging, an excess, superiority, remainder, a small rope in honor, שְׂאֵ֖ת (śə·’êṯ) Noun - feminine singular Strong's 7613: An elevation, leprous scab, elation, cheerfulness, exaltation in rank, character excelling וְיֶ֥תֶר (wə·ye·ṯer) Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct Strong's 3499: An overhanging, an excess, superiority, remainder, a small rope in power. עָֽז׃ (‘āz) Adjective - masculine singular Strong's 5794: Strong, vehement, harsh Jump to Previous Abundance Beginning Dignity Exaltation Excellence Excellency Excelling First Firstborn First-Born First-Fruit Firstfruits First-Fruits Fruits Honor Oldest Power Pre-Eminence Preeminent Pre-Eminent Pride Reuben Sign Strength VigourJump to Next Abundance Beginning Dignity Exaltation Excellence Excellency Excelling First Firstborn First-Born First-Fruit Firstfruits First-Fruits Fruits Honor Oldest Power Pre-Eminence Preeminent Pre-Eminent Pride Reuben Sign Strength VigourLinks Genesis 49:3 NIVGenesis 49:3 NLT Genesis 49:3 ESV Genesis 49:3 NASB Genesis 49:3 KJV Genesis 49:3 BibleApps.com Genesis 49:3 Biblia Paralela Genesis 49:3 Chinese Bible Genesis 49:3 French Bible Genesis 49:3 Catholic Bible OT Law: Genesis 49:3 Reuben you are my firstborn my might (Gen. 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