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In Genesis, Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine Bilhah. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Shabbat says anyone who claims Reuben actually sinned is mistaken, interpreting the moment instead as Reuben rearranging his father’s couches in protest.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 35:22
Hebrew Bible
21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of the Flock.43 22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben went to bed with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons: 23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Shabbat 55b
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
Having mentioned the sins of some of the significant ancestors of the Jewish people, the Gemara now addresses several additional ancestors. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Anyone who says that Reuben sinned with Bilhah is nothing other than mistaken, as it is stated: “And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve” (Genesis 35:22). The fact that the Torah stated the number of Jacob’s sons at that point in the narrative teaches that, even after the incident involving Bilhah, all of the brothers were equal in righteousness. Apparently, Reuben did not sin. How then do I establish the meaning of the verse: “And he lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine”? The plain understanding of the verse indicates sin. This verse teaches that Reuben rearranged his father’s bed in protest of Jacob’s placement of his bed in the tent of Bilhah and not in the tent of his mother Leah after the death of Rachel. And the verse ascribes to him liability for his action as if he had actually lain with Bilhah. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: This righteous person, Reuben, was saved from that sin of adultery, and that action did not come to be performed by him? Is it possible that his descendants are destined to stand on Mount Eival and say: “Cursed be he that lies with his father’s wife; because he uncovers his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, amen” (Deuteronomy 27:20), and this sin will come to be performed by him? Is it conceivable that the members of a tribe would curse their ancestor? How then do I establish the meaning of the verse: “And he lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine”? It is understood as follows: He protested the affront to his mother. He said: If my mother’s sister Rachel was a rival to my mother, will my mother’s sister’s concubine be a rival to my mother? He immediately stood and rearranged her bed so that Jacob would enter Leah’s tent. Aḥerim say: He rearranged two beds, one of the Divine Presence and one of his father. And that is the meaning of that which is written: “Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed; then you did defile it; he went up to my bed [yetzu’i]” (Genesis 49:4). Do not read it as yetzu’i, in the singular; rather, read it as yetzu’ai, my beds, in the plural, referring to both the bed of his father and to the bed of the Divine Presence, which rests in the tents of the righteous.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... However, an altogether different and, in a sense, opposite solution is attributed to Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel: that Reuben did not commit adultery with Bilhah (but only appeared to have done so). Rabbi Simeon derives this from Moses’ instructions to the tribes to perform a ritual of blessings and curses after entering the land and arriving at Mts. Gerizim and Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:11–26), according to which the tribe of Reuben is the first mentioned of the tribes to stand on Mt. Ebal and utter the “curses” (27:13), one of which is specifically against lying with one’s father’s wife (27:20). If so, then Reuben’s mounting Bilhah’s bed must be interpreted to refer to something other than sexual intercourse, since, to quote the Mishnah, “Whoever is suspected of something, may neither judge nor bear witness with respect to it” (Mishnah Bekhorot 4:10, 5:4). The tradition here alluded to (“He avenged his mother’s shame”) is elsewhere articulated more fully as follows: While Rachel was alive, Leah, Reuben’s mother, was aggrieved because Jacob kept Rachel’s bed next to his. However, when Rachel died, Jacob moved the bed of Bilhah (Rachel’s maidservant) next to his. Reuben, seeking to avenge his mother’s “shame,” removed or overturned Bilhah’s bed and replaced it with Leah’s. ...
Fraade, Steven D.
"Rabbinic Midrash and Ancient Jewish Biblical Interpretation" in Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert and Martin S. Jaffee (eds.) Rabbinic Midrash and Ancient Jewish Biblical Interpretation
(pp. 115-116) Cambridge University Press, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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