Reubenites

Roo´bi-nits

The tribe that carried the name of the firstborn of Jacob and Leah, Reuben (Gen 29:32). As such the tribe is mentioned first in the list of those who leave Egypt (Exod 6:14), in the list of the tribal leaders in the desert (Num 1:5) and the census there (Num 1:20-21, Num 26:5-10), in the blessing of Moses (Deut 33:6), and in the apportionment of the land by Joshua (Josh 13:15-23; Num 2:10; Num 2:16; Num 7:30; Num 18:18; Deut 13:4; Ezek 48:31). The history of the tribe is difficult to reconstruct, but Jacob’s rebuke (Gen 49:4; 1Chr 5:1) and Moses’s blessing (Deut 33:6) indicate that Reuben, once a strong tribe, became weak over time.