Let Reuben live, and not die; And let his men be few.
Moses blesses the tribes one by one. He begins with Reuben, the firstborn whose sin had already cost him his place. The prayer over him is bare: that he stay alive. The last clause is disputed. Some translators read it as a promise of growth, others as a warning that his men will be few.
Reuben's failure is on record in Genesis. Moses does not raise it.
There is nothing here about Reuben's instability, nothing about his sin. Grace has the upper hand. Blessings flow in rich abundance from the loving heart of the One who delights to bless. He delights to surround Himself with hearts overflowing with the sense of His goodness.
Scripture records two blessings on this son: one from his father Jacob in Genesis 49, one here from Moses. They do different work. The closing line below follows an older English version of our verse.
Jacob, when blessing his sons, said, "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it" (Gen. 49:3-4). This speaks of failure in the firstborn, and implies loss of his birthright. (Joseph, a type of Christ separated from His brothers, had the birthright.) Moses, when he blessed the tribes — showing more their relationship with God according to His government — said, "Let Reuben live, and not die: and let not his men be few."
Older English versions read "let not his men be few," which makes the line a promise of growth. Several writers call that added "not" a translator's guess. The ESV drops it and reads "but let his men be few."
Our translators, thinking there must be some mistake, inserted the word not — "let not his men be few." But Moses knew perfectly well what he was saying. Let Reuben live and not die: to just exist without dying out was all that could be expected or desired for him. But let his men be few — the fewer the better.
Commentators differ, and the dictionary quoted above keeps the older wording. The case for the shorter reading rests on grammar.
The blessing of the tribes follows, beginning with Reuben, the rejected firstborn, who, as in Jacob's prophecy, receives what seems very little. He is to live and not die, and his men be countable. No one doubts that this is the regular force of the words, though exceptions have been argued. The argument for the opposite thought, "Let not his men be few," is simply that it looks more like a blessing. When we take the whole prophecy into account, however, the grammatical meaning justifies itself.
So the blessing asks only that Reuben stay alive. That is more than it sounds, because the nation had no claim to life of its own.
We have already seen in Genesis 49 how the firstborn of nature stands for the nation on the ground of the first covenant, which was really "natural," fleshly, because it was legal. Here nothing but the blessing of God — which of course is grace — could have preserved the existence of the nation at all. Under the sentence of the law, and rejecting their Deliverer, they have still been kept from extinction in a remarkable way. They have also been the objects of constant persecution — "a sword drawn out after them" — and that has fulfilled the latter part of the prediction just as clearly.
The New Testament has a parallel: a huge nation narrowed down to a saved remnant.
Reuben was the beginning of Jacob's strength (Gen. 49:3) — that is, the strength of the flesh. Such strength must be brought down to nothing, yet grace would preserve his life: he would not die. Yet his men would be few, as is the proper translation (J. N. Darby). This reminds us of Romans 9:27, quoting Isaiah: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved."
One writer sees the whole gospel in this short prayer. What Reuben lost by falling, faith receives back on far better terms.
This is what man was before the fall, fresh from the hand of God. But he showed himself unstable as water. Like Reuben, he fell. Yet Moses can say, "Let Reuben live and not die." Though worthy of death, the way of life has been opened to sinful man, and now by faith in Christ Jesus he receives a sonship of higher order and richer blessing than the dignity lost through sin.
- Sin — Reuben lost the firstborn's place by defiling his father's bed. Jacob says so in Genesis 49.
- Silence — Moses names him first and says nothing of that sin; the blessing runs on grace, not on record.
- Survival — Moses asks only that Reuben live and not die. That bare survival is itself the gift, since nothing but God's blessing kept the nation from extinction.
- Smallness — the last clause reads best as "let his men be few": a remnant kept, not a multitude promised. Commentators differ, and older versions add "not."
- Sonship — what the firstborn lost by falling, faith in Christ receives back in richer form. God gives life to those who deserved death.
And this of Judah; and he said, Hear, Jehovah, the voice of Judah, And bring him unto his people; May his hands strive for them; And be thou a help to him against his oppressors.
Moses' words over Judah are a prayer. He asks God to hear him, bring him back to his people, and stand by him against his enemies. That raises two questions: why does the royal tribe need rescuing, and where has he gone?
Moses blesses the same twelve tribes Jacob had blessed, but with a different aim. One writer sets the two lists side by side:
Jacob's blessings were more like history told ahead of time. These blessings are about relationship with God under His government. There are still twelve tribes. Simeon is left out to make room for two tribes from Joseph's line, because Joseph, not Reuben, held the firstborn's right to the inheritance. So everything here goes by God's blessing, not by natural rights.
Judah's place right after Reuben looks odd. One writer says the reason lies ahead of Judah, not behind him:
The next name looks like a strange choice, but divine wisdom set the order. It brings forward the tribe that would take Reuben's place — soon in the life of the nation, and in the end according to God's own purposes. For Christ was to be born of Judah as to His human descent.
That family line runs through open sin. Another writer sees God's grace shining exactly there:
Judah is the royal line. "Our Lord was descended from Judah." That shows in a wonderful way how God's grace rises in majesty above human sin, and wins over circumstances that expose how weak man is. "And Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar!" Who but the Holy Spirit could have written those words?
Because Christ comes from this tribe, one writer takes the prayer for Judah's voice much further than one tribe. He walks through the verse clause by clause:
God would hear Judah's voice, just as He hears every prayer of His beloved Son. He will bring Him to His people at the very time they are completely helpless. His hands will be enough for him. That can only be said of Christ, whose hands do perfect work. God would also be His help against His enemies, defeating them in the day of His glory.
A note on wording: the translation quoted here reads this line as "let his hands be sufficient for him." The ESV reads, "With your hands contend for him."
The prayer assumes Judah is away from his own people. One writer traces where that scattering ends:
The words "bring him in to his people" deserve careful notice. Think of the dealings there have been between that people and God. Think of Judah's place in their history under God's government, and of Judah's scattering today. Then think of what is still to come, when the whole people will be one again in their own place.
Kelly expects the same reunion:
We know that the Jews have long had a separate place. But the day is coming when Judah and Israel will be joined into one people, pictured by Ezekiel's vivid symbol, which may throw light on what Moses says here.
Moses says far less over Judah than Jacob had. One writer says that drop tells its own story:
Judah, on the other hand, has fallen from the place Jacob pictured for him — though with a possible limit, "until Shiloh comes." Shiloh, we know, has come, and Judah's staff of rule has been taken away. They did not recognise the day when God visited them. Moses' blessing implies the disastrous results.
The same writer reads Judah's long history in those words, and finds a purpose in the order of the tribes:
Judah, then, has been a wanderer, cut off from his people. His own hand has brought him no help that was enough, and his enemies have kept busy with him. All this fits what has long been history, and it foretells the deliverance waiting for them in the near future… Reuben stands first for the survival of the people, and Judah then for their deliverance.
- Cry. Judah's blessing starts with a plea, not a promise. Moses asks God to hear him.
- Heard. God hears that voice because of Who came from Judah — He hears every prayer of His beloved Son.
- Gathered. "Bring him in to his people" looks past today's scattering to the day the whole nation is one again in its own place.
- Strengthened. Only Christ's hands are enough for the work. Judah's own hand left him a wanderer with enemies busy against him.
- Delivered. Reuben's blessing keeps the people alive; Judah's brings their rescue in the day of Christ's glory.