“Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
- BSB Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few.”
- NKJV “Let Reuben live, and not die, Nor let his men be few.”
- NASB ¶“May Reuben live and not die, Nor may his people be few.”
- NLT Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben: “Let the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, though they are few in number.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 49:8“Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons will bow down before you.
- Num 32:31–32The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do.
- Josh 22:1–9Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
- Gen 49:3–4“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 33:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.