Ver. 6. Let Reuben, &c.— Moses speaks immediately of Reuben, without prefacing, as he does of the other tribes before their respective parts; the reason of which I imagine to be, that the ode we have thus far examined was sung by a company of Israelites, to whom Moses taught it: for, as he enters directly upon the subject of a particular tribe, and begins with the elders, on whom the attention of the congregation was naturally fixed, there seems, in that case, to have been no occasion for mentioning that patriarch's name beforehand, as the interval of time, and the different manner of delivering the ode and the prophesy concerning Reuben, would be a sufficient distinction. In this light, Reuben's part may be considered, in some measure, as connected with the title of the chapter; and if we look upon this chapter as left in writing by Moses in the form wherein we now have it, in this view, likewise, a title to this part may not appear very necessary; for there seems to be a greater distinction between the general song, and a particular branch of the prophesy, (or, in other words, between what is said of GOD and Reuben,) than there is between any two particular parts or tribes. Some of the titles which we shall meet with are absolutely necessary to their respective parts to avoid a confusion; viz. to Levi, Benjamin, and Joseph, whose names are not mentioned in the several parts relating to them. Durell.
Live, and not die— When a thing is intended to be described in a striking manner, this is generally done in the Hebrew by a repetition of the same terms a little varied; or, what comes to the same, by being expressed both affirmatively and negatively, as here, and in many other places. Genesis 43:8.
Psalms 118:17. Isaiah 38:1; Isaiah 38:22. The word חיה chaiah, to live, is used for being refreshed after trouble, or dejection, Genesis 45:27. Joshua 15:19 and for being happy, Psalms 133:3. In either of these senses it may be applied to the Reubenites, who, notwithstanding their ancestor had forfeited the right of primogeniture, obtained one of the first portions of the conquered country, abounding with all the necessaries, and most of the conveniences of life. Thus Durell. Houbigant, however, thinks, that the words merely promise to the Reubenites a continuance in being, as a tribe, divested of all those prerogatives which their ancestor by his crimes had forfeited; which, he observes judiciously, agrees best with Jacob's prophesy respecting this tribe, Genesis 49:3 and which it cannot be supposed that Moses intended to contradict in this place.
And let not his men be few— Interpreters are wholly divided respecting this passage. The word not is not in the original, and there seems evidently to be something wanting. Houbigant, whom Durell follows, renders it, and let Simeon be few in number. All interpreters, says he, take notice of the omission of Simeon in this blessing of the twelve tribes. Some suppose, that he was designedly omitted by Moses; while others include him in one of the three first-mentioned tribes. Theodoret and Diodorus Tarsensis observe, that Reuben was blessed on account of his brotherly love, and Levi because Moses was descended from him; but that Simeon could have no pretence to a blessing. But if by brotherly love they mean, as they probably do, Reuben's love to Joseph, why did not that good act of his rather operate on Jacob than on Moses? And as it does not appear to have been judged by his father a counterbalance to his incest, surely it could have had no effect on the lawgiver some centuries after. The reason alleged in behalf of Levi seems rather groundless; (see on ver. 8-11.) so that it cannot well be hence concluded, that either Reuben or Levi had better pretensions to a blessing than Simeon. Others say, that this patriarch was not blessed by Moses because of the murder of the Sichemites; or, as being principal in the cruel resolution to kill Joseph. But as these crimes, allowing the second to be well founded, did not prevent his being mentioned by Jacob, why should they have been the cause of his being passed over in silence by Moses? They who include Simeon in Levi's blessing, because they are joined together by Jacob, should consider, that, on their own principles, it should follow, that all that Moses says of Levi should be equally applicable to Simeon; which cannot be: neither can Simeon be included in what is said of Judah; not only for the reason before given, but (as this opinion is founded on Simeon's having his inheritance in Judah's portion) because it would follow that Dan, for the same reason, might have been included in the same tribe. They argue more speciously, who comprehend this patriarch in the prophesy relative to Reuben: for they may urge, that, as they were both guilty of great crimes, what is predicted of the one may be supposed to relate equally to the other; and that, as they were the two eldest of the family, they are properly considered together in the first place. However, the question still recurs, why Simeon's name should not rather have been mentioned, which would have removed all this embarrassment. That this name was originally read in the text is probable; and when we find it preserved in the Alexandrian manuscript, the most ancient and valuable one extant, and in the Complutensian and Aldine editions of the LXX, there seems little room to doubt an error in our texts. They, therefore, who say that no accurate copy of that version makes mention of Simeon are much mistaken. Ambrosius says expressly, that Moses blessed Reuben and Simeon; vivat REUBEN & non moriatur, & SIMEON sit multus in numero: and Josephus and Philo plainly assert, that Moses blessed every one of the tribes. Antiq. lib. iv. c. viii. p. 40. Phil. Vit. Mos. l. iii. p. 696. What has been thus far advanced will be strengthened by the considerations following. The words, let his men be few, cannot relate properly to Reuben; that tribe was by no means the least numerous: on the contrary, they are strictly true of Simeon, the most inconsiderable of all the tribes in that respect; for, from 59,300, their number on leaving Egypt, instead of increasing, as most of the others did, they diminished to such a degree, that about forty years after, when they were numbered in the plains of Moab, they amounted only to 22,200, Numbers 26:14.; and though some branches of the tribe increased, others had not many children, neither did all their families multiply as the children of Judah. 1 Chronicles 27:34. And, at a time when many of the tribes sent out 40,000 armed men, Simeon furnished only 7100, 1 Chronicles 12:25 which is another probable mark of their inferiority in number. There is, moreover, no great coherence in the sense of these two lines, Let Reuben live and not die:—but let his men be few, if the latter words be referred to Reuben; but if they be referred to Simeon, the sense will be clear, and each of the patriarchs will have a distinct part.