Genesis 49:4
in Genesis 49Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Boiling over as water, thou shalt not have the pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
KJV
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
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This verse in Genesis 49
Commentary
15 notes on this versePouring out like the waters - This is an obscure sentence because unfinished. It evidently relates to the defilement of his father’s couch; and the word פחז pachaz, here translated pouring out, and in our Version unstable, has a bad meaning in other places of the Scripture, being applied to dissolute, debauched, and licentious conduct.
This site's exposition
you are my firstborn, my might
on Genesis 49:3-4
Reuben is handed every title of the firstborn, his father's might and the beginning of his strength. He loses it in the next line, uncontrolled as the waters, and will excel no longer. The verse names the reason, his father's bed and couch, defiled at Genesis 35:22. The account is settled at the end of Jacob's life.
This site's exposition
Uncontrolled as the waters
Uncontrolled translates pachaz, the word Zephaniah 3:4 uses for reckless prophets. Water that boils over cannot be held in one place. No judge, prophet or king in Scripture comes from the tribe of Reuben.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
First he mentions the event,-that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride,9 the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.
He said "couch" and "bed," that is, the holy flesh of Christ, on which the saints are saved while enjoying their rest as on a holy divan. This is the flesh that those outlaws took possession of and then outraged by offering him [Christ] vinegar, by hitting his head with a reed, by flogging him on the back, by spitting on his face, by skinning his cheeks with slaps and by piercing his hands with nails. All these things the impious and unbelieving people did in accordance with the high priests, the scribes and the leaders of the people. That is why the blessed prophet neither has remained silent about their deeds nor wants to be involved in their wickedness and evil decisions. On the contrary, he keeps himself away from their intrigues where such criminal plots are conceived.
Just as the justice of Jacob cursed his firstborn because of his evil deed and this curse of Reuben was blotted out by Moses who was the descendant of Jacob, so too was death decreed by God against Adam when he transgressed the commandment.
See how through the insight granted him by the Spirit Jacob anticipates the legislation of Moses against allowing father and son to have relations with the same woman. Ahead of time he forbids this in censuring his son thus, "You stained the couch" by entering your father's bed. You committed an unlawful act, he says. Hence "you ran riot like water, but you shall not break out again."
Doesn't this seem to be a reproach rather than a blessing? Thus it really is more a prophecy than a blessing. For a prophecy is an announcement of events to come, whereas a blessing is the longed for bestowal of sanctification and of graces.The Jews suppose that the old man is saying these things to his son Reuben on this account, because the latter lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and polluted his father's bed. But they are easily refuted; this had already taken place.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Carnal concupiscence took from us our noble generation, by which we would all be born innocent and heirs of paradise, and it makes us be born in death and guilt and the loss of the birthright.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Jacob charges him particularly with the sin for which he was disgraced, thou wentest up to thy father's bed - It was forty years ago that he had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him. Reuben's sin left an indelible mark of infamy upon his family; a wound not to be healed without a scar.
Unstable as water,....
It was forty years ago that he had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him. Note, As time will not of itself wear off the guilt of any sin from the conscience, so there are some sins whose stains it will not wipe off from the good name, especially seventh-commandment sins.
We have reason to think Reuben had repented of his sin, and it was pardoned; yet it was a necessary piece of justice, in detestation of the villany, and for warning to others, to put this mark of disgrace upon him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 158: “Instability” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1857)
proposed
PERFECT STABILITY has ceased from the world since the day when Adam fell. He was stable enough when in the garden he was obedient to his Master’s will, but when he ate of the forbidden fruit he did not only slide himself, but he shook the standing places of all his posterity. Perfect stability belongs alone to God he alone, of all beings, is without variableness or shadow of a turning. He is immutable, he will not change. He is all-wise, he need not change. He is perfect; he cannot change. But men, the best of them are mutable, and therefore to a degree, they are unstable, and do not excel. Yet it is remarkable that, although man has lost perfect stability, he has not lost the admiration of it. Perhaps there is no virtue, or, rather, no compound of virtues, which the world more esteems than stability of mind. You will find that, although men have often misplaced their praise, and have called those great who were not great, morally, but were far below the level of morality, yet they have scarcely ever called a man great who has not been consistent, who has not had strength of mind enough to be stable in his principles. I know not how it is, but so it is, whenever a man is firm and consistent, we always admire him for it. Though we feel certain that he is wrong, yet his consistency in his wrong still excites our admiration. We have known men whom we have thought to be insane, they have conceived a design so ridiculous that we could only laugh at them, and despise their idea; but they have stuck to it, and we have said, “Well, there is nothing like a man standing to a thing,” and we have admired even the senseless, brainless idiot, as we have thought him, when we have seen him pertinaciously insisting that his idea would at last triumph, and persevering in futile endeavors to realize his wish.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 158: “Instability” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1857)
proposed
PERFECT STABILITY has ceased from the world since the day when Adam fell. He was stable enough when in the garden he was obedient to his Master’s will, but when he ate of the forbidden fruit he did not only slide himself, but he shook the standing places of all his posterity. Perfect stability belongs alone to God he alone, of all beings, is without variableness or shadow of a turning. He is immutable, he will not change. He is all-wise, he need not change. He is perfect; he cannot change.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פַּ֤חַז | pachaz | destructiveness | H6349 → | |
| כַּמַּ֙יִם֙ | kamayim | like <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תּוֹתַ֔ר | totar | you excel | H3498 → | 106 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָלִ֖יתָ | ʾalita | you went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י | mishkevei | [the] bed<s> of | H4904 → | |
| אָבִ֑יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אָ֥ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| חִלַּ֖לְתָּ | chilalta | you profaned [it] | H2490 → | 143 times |
| יְצוּעִ֥י | yetzui | couch my | H3326 → | |
| עָלָֽה׃ פ | ʾalah | he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
פַּ֤חַזdestructiveness
pachazH6349 →
כַּמַּ֙יִם֙like <the> water
kamayimH4325 →581 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תּוֹתַ֔רyou excel
totarH3498 →106 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עָלִ֖יתָyou went up
ʾalitaH5927 →890 times
מִשְׁכְּבֵ֣י[the] bed<s> of
mishkeveiH4904 →
אָבִ֑יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
אָ֥זthen
ʾazH227 →141 times
חִלַּ֖לְתָּyou profaned [it]
chilaltaH2490 →143 times
יְצוּעִ֥יcouch my
yetzuiH3326 →
עָלָֽה׃ פhe went up
ʾalahH5927 →890 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
- Leviticus 18:8
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 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
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 49:3–4
Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 35:22
While 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:
- Genesis 49:3–4
Through
Deuteronomy 33:6Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few.”
it leads to
- Numbers 32:31–32
The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.
- Numbers 32:31–32
Through
Genesis 35:22While 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:
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
These 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…
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Genesis
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On the Blessings of the Patriarchs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7; Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 158: “Instability” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 43:2; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments; Hippolytus of Rome, ON THE BLESSINGS OF ISAAC AND JACOB 13; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 67.6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.