Genesis 35:22
in Genesis 35While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, while 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:
KJV
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 it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
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This verse in Genesis 35
Commentary
6 notes on this verseReuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine - Jonathan, in his Targum, says that Reuben only overthrew the bed of Bilhah, which was set up opposite to the bed of his mother Leah, and that this was reputed to him as if he had lain with her.
This site's exposition
pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder
on Genesis 35:21-22
Eder is the tower of the flock, and Micah 4:8 addresses the tower of the flock. Jerome reports that the Hebrews placed this spot where the temple was later built. Reuben then sleeps with his father's concubine Bilhah, and the whole recorded response is that Israel heard about it.
This site's exposition
Reuben went in and slept with his father
To take a father's concubine was to claim the father's place, as Absalom did with David's concubines at 2 Samuel 16:22. 1 Chronicles 5:1 records that Reuben lost the birthright over this bed, and it passed to the sons of Joseph. The Hebrew text breaks mid-verse here.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Though perhaps Bilhah was the greater criminal, yet Reuben's crime was so provoking that for it he lost his birth-right and blessing, chap. xlix, 4. And Israel heard it - No more is said, that is enough; he heard it with the utmost grief and shame, horror and displeasure.
He that has this rule over his own spirit is better than the mighty. Israel, a prince with God, yet dwells in tents; the city is reserved for him in the other world.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land,.... In that part of it near Bethlehem: that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; his concubine wife; she was the maid that Rachel gave him, and this added to his affliction, and made it double, to lose Rachel by death, and to have her favourite maid, his concubine, defiled by his own son, and whom it is highly probable he abstained from hereafter.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֗י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן | bishkon | when dwelt | H7931 → | 129 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בָּאָ֣רֶץ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַהִ֔וא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| רְאוּבֵ֔ן | reuven | Reuben | H7205 → | 72 times |
| וַיִּשְׁכַּ֕ב֙ | vaiyishkav | and he lay with | H7901 → | 212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּלְהָ֖ה֙ | bilhah | Bilhah | H1090 → | 11 times |
| פִּילֶ֣גֶשׁ | pilegesh | [the] concubine of | H6370 → | 37 times |
| אָבִ֑֔יו | ʾaviv | father of his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֖ע | vaiyishma' | and he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽ֑ל פ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיִּֽהְי֥וּ | vaiyihyu | and they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| שְׁנֵ֥ים | sheneim | two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עָשָֽׂר׃ | ʾasar | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
וַיְהִ֗יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בִּשְׁכֹּ֤ןwhen dwelt
bishkonH7931 →129 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בָּאָ֣רֶץin the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
הַהִ֔וא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
רְאוּבֵ֔ןReuben
reuvenH7205 →72 times
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֕ב֙and he lay with
vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בִּלְהָ֖ה֙Bilhah
bilhahH1090 →11 times
פִּילֶ֣גֶשׁ[the] concubine of
pilegeshH6370 →37 times
אָבִ֑֔יוfather of his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וַיִּשְׁמַ֖עand he heard
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽ֑ל פIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיִּֽהְי֥וּand they were
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] sons of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יַעֲקֹ֖בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
שְׁנֵ֥יםtwo [plus]
sheneimH8147 →768 times
עָשָֽׂר׃ten
ʾasarH6240 →338 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Revelation 2:21
Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
- Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Leviticus 18:8
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
- Ephesians 5:3
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- Revelation 21:8
Through
1 Chronicles 5:1These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So…
it leads to
- Genesis 48:15–22
Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
- Genesis 29:32
And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Genesis 48:15–22
Through
2 Samuel 20:3When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them,…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:21–22
Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who…
- 2 Samuel 16:21–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.