The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Genesis 35 has just recorded Rachel's death and Reuben's sin against his father. At that low point the text stops to list Jacob's twelve sons by their mothers — so why name this family right after such shame, and why is Reuben still called the firstborn?
A register kept after failure
This list comes when the family has nothing to boast about. One commentator finds that moving:
William KellyThe listing of the family is moving at this point in the patriarchal story. No human being will boast. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. Yet God takes pleasure in recording their names, both early and late in the Old Testament, and at last in the final book of the New Testament. He does it with instructive variations.
Another writer notes which of the father's two names heads the list:
L. M. GrantWe are then told the names of the sons of Jacob (vv. 22-26). He is not called Israel here. His sons are to be known as coming from the same sin-infected stock as their father. Despite this inherited sinful nature, God had ordained that the twelve tribes of the nation Israel would come from these twelve men. They were not chosen because they were any better than others. They were chosen only as a sample of all mankind, an object lesson to teach us two things: our actual sinful condition, and our need of a Saviour. No doubt each one of these brothers pictures a distinct feature of the ruin of mankind, and also of God's grace in providing salvation, as Genesis 49:2-27 indicates.
Not the order they were born in
These sons are not listed in the order they were born. One writer reads their birth order as a record of human scheming:
H. L. RossierThis order speaks to us of man's plans, following his own thoughts, outside the thoughts of God. We see these plans when Laban gives his daughters to Jacob, and when Rachel and Leah give Jacob their maidservants.
Here the list groups them by mother, and the same writer points to who stands at the front of it:
H. L. RossierThe first three sons of Jacob had shown themselves to be murderers and incestuous. Their only guarantee for entering into Canaan lies in the promise given to Abraham and in the free election of grace. Here we find these three guilty sons at the head of the list.
The firstborn who cannot excel
Reuben still comes first here, one chapter after the sin that cost him the position. The title stays; the standing does not.
William KellyThe man who dishonoured his father — and in a way not even found among the nations that do not know God — was forgiven. But he lost his birthright. He could have no pre-eminence, either now or when God's kingdom comes for the earth.
What he lost did not vanish; it passed to another son:
Morrish Bible DictionaryWhen Jacob was dying he said of Reuben, "You are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power." That is what he was as the firstborn. In himself he was unstable as water, and he should not excel. He forfeited his birthright for defiling his father's bed, and it passed to Joseph, who had a double portion among the tribes through Ephraim and Manasseh.
Four names that tell a story
Each of the names Leah gave her first four sons carries a meaning, and one writer lines them up in order:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe names of the sons of Leah are interesting. Reuben (behold a Son!); Simeon (hearing); Levi (joined); Judah (praise). It is the order of the gospel.
Judah was Leah's fourth son, and his naming is the highest point she reaches:
William KellyWe never hear of her soul rising so high. The sorrow-stricken woman breaks out in praise of the LORD, and her fourth son carries that praise in the name she gave him that day. Yes, from Judah came, according to the flesh, the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever.
Punishment turned to blessing
Levi joined in the killing at Shechem, and he is still counted here. See what God did with his punishment:
George C WillisLevi was scattered in Israel as a punishment for that terrible sin, committed centuries before at Shechem. But now, for our encouragement, see the grace of God. The very punishment, the scattering in Israel, becomes an unspeakable blessing. God chooses this tribe to come near to Him. They are scattered through Israel, so that the knowledge of God and His Word spreads through them across the whole nation.
Summary
- Failure named. The list comes straight after Reuben's sin. Scripture calls the father Jacob here, not Israel: his sons share his stock.
- Grace records. No one in the family can boast here, yet God takes pleasure in writing down their names, early and late in Scripture.
- Grace reorders. Human scheming set the birth order. This list changes it, and the three guilty sons come first, held there only by promise and free election.
- Grace withholds. Reuben keeps the word "firstborn." He loses the birthright and all pre-eminence, and Joseph receives it.
- Grace ends in praise. Leah's names run from "behold a son" to "praise" — and from Judah, according to the flesh, came the Christ.