What Does 1 Chronicles 5:1 Mean?

**I.—THE REUBENITES** (1Chronicles 5:1-10). (1) **Reuben the firstborn of Israel.**—See Genesis 49:3 : “Reuben, my firstborn thou! my strength, and firstfruits of my manhood;” also Genesis 29:32. **For he was the firstborn.**—The parenthesis is an assertion of the legitimacy of the Davidic monarchy, as against the fact that both Reuben and Joseph had claims prior to those of Judah. **He defiled his father’s bed.**—Genesis 49:4, Jacob’s curse: “Bubbling like the waters, excel thou not! For thou wentest up thy father’s couches. Then thou defiledst my bed” (See Genesis 35:22). **His birthright was given to the sons of Joseph.**—The reading of some MSS., and the Syriac and Arabic, “to Joseph,” is probably original. This transfer of the rights of primogeniture is not elsewhere mentioned. It is, however, a fair inference from Jacob’s curse, and from the special blessing of Joseph (Genesis 49:22-26) and of his two sons (Genesis 48:15-20), considered in the light of historical fulfilment. Ephraim was always a leading tribe (Judges 2:9; Judges 4:5; Judges 5:14; Judges 8:1-2; Judges 12:1; Judges 12:15). **And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.**—Rather, *though he was not* *to be registered as firstborn* (literally, *according to the* *primogeniture*)*.* The subject is Joseph or the sons of Joseph, who received the forfeited rights of Reuben, but not the first place in lists of the tribes. What those rights were is defined by Deuteronomy 21:15-17, which rules that the son of a hated wife—if he be firstborn (the case of Reuben, son of Leah), shall inherit a double portion, “for he is the firstfruits of his strength, the right of the firstborn is his;” words obviously referring to Genesis 49:4-5.