Genesis 35.21-22-Incest and Rebellion of Reuben

Wednesday October 11, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 35:21-22-Incest and Rebellion of Reuben

Lesson # 219

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 35:1.

Last evening we read of the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel, which is recorded in Genesis 35:16-20.

According to Genesis 35:27, Jacob leaves Bethel in order to see his father at Mamre of Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron.

During this journey from Bethel to Hebron, Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel dies giving birth to his twelfth son Benjamin and also his oldest son Reuben commits incest with his concubine Bilhah.

Therefore, we see Jacob going from spiritual elation and euphoria at Bethel to heartache and sadness due to the death of Rachel but then joy due to the birth of Benjamin and back again to heartache and sadness due to his oldest son Reuben having sex with his concubine Bilhah.

This evening we will study Genesis 35:21-22, which records the incest of Reuben who has sex with his father’s concubine, Bilhah.

Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”

Genesis 35:2-3, “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.’”

Genesis 35:4, “So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

Genesis 35:5, “As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

Genesis 35:6, “So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.”

Genesis 35:7, “He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.”

Genesis 35:8, “Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.”

Genesis 35:9, “Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.”

Genesis 35:10, “God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. Thus He called him Israel.’”

Genesis 35:11, “God also said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you.”

Genesis 35:12, “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

Genesis 35:13, “Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.”

Genesis 35:14, “Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.”

Genesis 35:15, “So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.”

Genesis 35:16, “Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.”

Genesis 35:17, “When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, ‘Do not fear, for now you have another son.’”

Genesis 35:18, “It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.”

Genesis 35:19, “So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

Genesis 35:20, “Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.”

Genesis 35:21, “Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.”

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the narrator, Moses, employs the name “Israel” rather than “Jacob,” which is significant since it indicates that Jacob is living in a manner that is consistent with the meaning of his new name and is thus in the will of God.

The name “Israel” appears in Genesis 35:21 and 22 in order to establish Jacob’s authority over his household and nation, which is attacked by Reuben having sex with his concubine Bilhah.

The name yisra’el, “Israel” memorializes the historical event of Jacob wrestling the preincarnate Christ, and which wrestling match symbolized Jacob’s struggles in life with men, which in reality were with God.

“Israel” is the proper noun yisra’el (la@r*c+y!) (yis-raw-ale), which means, “one who fights and overcomes with the power of God” since the Lord states the reason for the name is that Jacob has fought with both God and men and has prevailed.

The name “Jacob” means, “heel catcher” (yah-ak-ove) (bq{u&y^) implying someone who is a “deceiver” and a “supplanter,” which is a person who takes the place of another by force, scheming or strategy.

Therefore, the name “Israel” represents the character of his new divine nature whereas the name “Jacob” represents the character of his old Adamic sin nature, which will be permanently eradicated at his physical death.

“The tower of Eder” (or Migdal Eder) was simply a watchtower built to help shepherds protect their flocks from robbers (v. 21; cf. 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chron. 26:10; 27:4). Since the time of Jerome, the early church father who lived in Bethlehem, tradition has held that Eder lay very close to Bethlehem ((Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Genesis 2005 Edition, page 224).

Genesis 35:22, “It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it.”

“Dwelling” is the verb shakhan (/k^v*), which means, “to temporarily dwell in a particular geographical location,” thus indicating Israel’s desire to stay at the tower of Eder on a temporary basis before he moved on to see his father at Hebron.

“Reuben” (/b@War+) (re’uven) (reh-oo-vane) was the first son that Leah bore to Jacob while in Paddan Aram according to Genesis 29:32 and his name means, “the Lord has seen my affliction.”

The name “Bilhah” bilhah (hh*l!B!) means, “carefree” and she was given to Jacob by Rachel to be used as a concubine and bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali according to Genesis 30:1-8.

Bilhah’s relationship to Jacob as his “concubine” is identified to the reader.

“Concubine” is the noun pileghesh (vg#l#P!) (pee-leh-ghesh) which refers to the fact that Bilhah was a second-class wife, acquired without payment of bride-money and possessing fewer legal rights (see Genesis 30:4; Judges 19:1-4).

The people in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s culture regarded a concubine as a secondary wife with some, but not all, of the rights and privileges of the primary wife so in effect Bilhah became Jacob’s concubine.

In the Old Testament period, a concubine was a legal wife but one of secondary rank and she could be sent away with a small gift.

Therefore, the children of a concubine did not have the same legal rights as the wife and so the inheritance would go to the child of the wife rather than the concubine.

Having a concubine was often a sign of wealth and was recognized as a status symbol.

The following men had concubines: (1) Nahor (Gen. 22:24) (2) Abraham (Gen. 25:6) (3) Jacob (Gen. 35:22) (4) Eliphaz (Gen. 36:12) (5) Saul (2 Sam. 3:7) (6) David (2 Sam. 5:13; 15:16; 16:21) Solomon (1 Kings 11:3).

As we saw in our study of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar in Genesis 16, men and their wives sought concubines when the wife could not bear children.

In these situations, wives presented their maidservants to their own husbands.

As Genesis 22:24 records, children of a concubine were not viewed as illegitimate but were considered part of the family.

“Lay” is the verb shakhav (bk^v*) (shaw-kahv), which is used as a euphemism for sex and is never used for loving marital intercourse in Genesis but only for illicit or forced sex such as Lot’s daughters with Lot (19:32-35); the Philistines with Rebekah (26:10); Shechem with Dinah (34:2, 7); Reuben with Bilhah (35:22); Potiphar’s wife with Joseph (39:7, 10, 12, 14).

In Genesis 35:22, the verb shakhav indicates that Reuben and Bilhah had illicit sex in the sense that the two were not only committing adultery but also incest since Bilhah was Jacob’s concubine or secondary wife.

There is no indication from the original language of Genesis 35:22 or any other portion of Scripture that indicates that Bilhah was raped by Reuben since the verb `anah (hnu), “by force” is never employed by the writer indicating a rape had taken place as when Shechem raped Dinah.

The fact that Reuben had sex with his father’s wife was not only the sin of dishonoring his father but also an act of rebellion against his father’s authority.

Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.”

This incident between Reuben and Jacob’s concubine, Bilhah is motivated by Reuben’s love for his mother Leah rather than sexual lust since by defiling Bilhah, he makes certain that with Rachel’s death her maid cannot supplant Leah as chief wife (Compare 2 Samuel 15:16; 16:22; 20:3).

The Mosaic Law prohibited incest because it dishonors the father and required the death penalty for both the man and the woman (See Leviticus 18:8; 20:11; Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20).

Leviticus 20:11, “If there is a man who lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”

Furthermore, it is interesting that according to secular ancient Near Eastern culture, by having sex with his father’s concubine Reuben is attempting to usurp Jacob’s authority in his household (Compare 2 Samuel 3:7-8; 12:7-8; 16:21-22; 1 Kings 2:13-25).

Consequently, Reuben is deprived of leadership in the future as the firstborn of Jacob as reflected in the prophecy of Jacob concerning him (See Genesis 49:3-4).

As noted in Genesis 34, Simeon and Levi have also been disqualified for leadership because of massacring all the men of the city of Shechem and Hamor and his son Shechem for the rape of their sister Dinah.

Therefore, Leah’s fourth son, Judah will assume the leadership in the family and in fact would be the one to carry on the line of Christ.

The fact that Genesis 35:22 records Jacob, now Israel having heard of Reuben having sex with his concubine Bilhah appears to demonstrate once again his passiveness and lack of moral outrage towards this incident.

However, this is not the case since Genesis 49:3-5 reveals how Jacob feels about this incident and the use of the name “Israel” and not “Jacob” indicates that at this time he was living in a manner consistent with his new name.

Genesis 49:3-4, “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it -- he went up to my couch.”

The fact that Israel’s response to his son’s actions is delayed and not recorded until Genesis 49:3-4 reveals a spiritual principle expressed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 8:11-12.

Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.”

Ecclesiastes 8:12, “Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.”