4Unstable 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.
Linguistic Insight
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Cross-References
From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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:
Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel,(for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
Commentary
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Bible (1710)
(vv. 1-4)Here is, I. The preface to the prophecy, in which, 1. The congregation is called together (Gen. 49:2): Gather yourselves together ; let them all be sent for from their several employments, to see their father die, and to hear his dying words. It was a comfort to Jacob, now that he was dying, to see all his children about him, and none missing, though he had sometimes thought himself bereaved. It w…
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