JU5-25: Why Reuben Is A Tribe We Should NOT Admire Nor Emulate

“The princes of Yissakhar were with D’vorah,
Yissakhar, along with Barak;
into the valley they rushed forth behind him.
Among the divisions of Reuven
they made great resolutions in their hearts“.
-Judges 5:15

Verse 15 goes on to say that Issachar volunteered to fight the good fight.

And then we get to Reuben…

…where a totally opposite picture is painted.

What do I mean?

Well, up until now, the descriptions of the tribes have all been positive, but with Reuben things take a drastic change for the worse.

There’s a huge lesson for us here.

So pay close attention.

Because what Reuben ended up doing was the one thing God does NOT want us to do during a holy war.

They sat on their laurels and had long discussions about the pros and cons of whether they should even participate in the battle at all.

Do we really have to fight alongside our brothers?

Is the oppression from the Canaanites really that bad?

Is it even our problem anymore since we’re not living inside the Promised Land?

Remember, Reuben was one of the tribes that decided to establish roots in the Transjordan outside the land of Canaan.

We also run into an interesting translation problem in the second half of verse 15 where it says…

“…concerning the divisions of Reuben”.

You might think “divisions” means Reuben was experiencing some kind of internal conflict or something like that.

Well, that has nothing to do with the meaning here.

The Hebrew word for “divisions” is PELAGGAH and it’s a word associated with flowing water in rivers, brooks and streams.

Technically speaking, it refers to that specific point where rivers and streams converge at some central point and then branch off into multiple brooks shooting off into many different directions.

The ancient Rabbis testify to this as well.

They assert this verse should say “among the brooks of Reuben”.

In other words, the territory Reuben occupied was teeming with brooks and streams that kept the area well-watered and fertile.

Next, let’s take a look at the verse before that:

“But why did you stay at the pens for the sheep,
and listen to the shepherd’s flute playing for the flocks?”

This statement is really an insult to Reuben.

Devorah is basically calling Reuben a bunch of spineless cowards who decided to stay safe in their territory while listening to the shepherds harmonize melodies on their flutes.

The picture being painted is that of a bunch of tribal leaders sitting around their campfires in a disinterested manner lazily asking themselves why they should even consider uprooting themselves to fight some annoying Holy War in a land they’re not even living in?

We already knew how Reuben answered that question.

They did nothing.