Reuven and Bilhah/2

Reuven and Bilhah

Exegetical Approaches

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Sexual Desire

Reuven's act was one of promiscuity.

Sources:Jubilees33About Jubilees, Testaments of the PatriarchsReuven 1Reuven 3Reuven 4About Testaments of the Patriarchs,  R. Eliezer and R. Yehoshua in Bavli ShabbatShabbat 55bAbout the Bavli, Bereshit Rabbah87:598:4About Bereshit Rabbah, Ibn EzraBereshit Third Commentary 35:22Bereshit Third Commentary 49:3-4About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 35:22Bereshit 49:3-4About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RadakBereshit 35:22Bereshit 49:3-4About R. David Kimchi, RalbagBereshit Beur HaMilot 49:3-4Bereshit Beur HaParashah 35:22Bereshit Toalot 35:22Bereshit Toalot 49:4About R. Levi b. Gershom

"וַיִּשְׁכַּב אֶת בִּלְהָה" – These sources read this phrase simply to mean that Reuven had relations with Bilhah.

Why now? According to both Jubilees and the Testaments, Reuven happened to see Bilhah while she was bathing and was overcome by desire.  This fact is absent from the Biblical text and is likely influenced by the similar story of David and Batsheva where this background is explicit.

"וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר" – Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, and Radak all suggest that this verse closes the episode.  According to Ibn Ezra, after Reuven's deed, Yaakov no longer had relations with any of his wives, as Bilhah had been tainted, Rachel had died, and Leah and her maidservant Zilpah were abhorrent due to their connection to Reuven. Therefore, the verse tells us, that he had only the twelve sons who were born prior to Reuven's deed.¹

"כִּי עָלִיתָ מִשְׁכְּבֵי אָבִיךָ אָז חִלַּלְתָּ יְצוּעִי עָלָה" – According to these sources, Yaakov's words "כִּי עָלִיתָ מִשְׁכְּבֵי אָבִיךָ" refer to Reuven's sleeping with Bilhah, while the phrase "אָז חִלַּלְתָּ יְצוּעִי עָלָה" refers to the consequences of teh action: either Reuven's defiling of himself,  ² of Yaakov,³ or of Yaakov's bed,⁴ resulting in Yaakov refraining from further relations with Bilhah.⁵

"פַּחַז כַּמַּיִם אַל תּוֹתַר"

• According to Ibn Ezra, Radak, and Ralbag the phrase "פַּחַז" refers to Reuven's reckless and impetuous personality⁶ which led him to sin, and therefore lose any advantages that his firstborn status would otherwise have bequeathed.
• R"Y Bekhor Shor, instead thinks that "פַּחַז" is a verb, and the phrase refers to Reuven's punishment, that his deed caused all his advantages to quickly slip away from him like water.

Punishment – As a result of his sin, Reuven lost his first born status to Yosef.  See. R"Y Medan who suggests that he really deserved to be totally rejected and not counted among the tribes at all, but since he repented, he was included.

Power Play

Reuven's deed was a power play, intended to protect Reuven's status as first born.

Sources:RambanBereshit 35:22Bereshit 49:3-4About R. Moshe b. Nachman, R. David Zvi HoffmannBereshit 35:22About R. David Zvi Hoffmann, R"Y Medan

Concern for Mother's Honor

Reuven prevented his father from having relations with Bilhah but did not sleep with her himself. He was motivated by concern for his mother's honor.

Sources:Bavli ShabbatShabbat 55bAbout the Bavli, Bereshit Rabbah87:598:4About Bereshit Rabbah, Targum Pseudo-JonathanBereshit 35:22About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, RashiBereshit 35:22Bereshit 49:3-4About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, NetzivBereshit 35:22Bereshit 49:4About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin

¹ R"Y Bekhor Shor explains similarly, pointing out that with Reuven's deed Yaakov in effect lost two wives, Rachel who had just died, and Bilhah who had been defiled. The phrase "וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר" teaches that nonetheless, he did not lose out on any offspring as he had already borne twelve.

² See Ibn Ezra, one opinion in R"Y Bekhor Shor, and one opinion in Ralbag. R"Y Bekhor Shor suggests that the clause reads, "he who went on my bed was defiled".  Yaakov intentionally blurred the identity of Reuven (referring to him only as the one who slept on the bed and not naming him directly) so as not to explicitly declare Reuven contaminated. Ibn Ezra, instead, splits the clause and suggests that only the word "חִלַּלְתָּ" refers to Reuven's defiling of himself, while the rest means that from then on, Ya'akov's bed "departed", was left alone as he never again slept with Bilhah.

³ See the second possibility brought by R'Y Bekhor Shor, who has Yaakov say "and then you defiled he who normally rises onto my bed" (i.e. Yaakov).

⁴ See Radak and one opinion in Ralbag.  According to them, Yaakov is saying, "You, (Reuven) defiled (חִלַּלְתָּ) the bed which you had lain upon (יְצוּעִי עָלָה).  Though the word "עָלָה" is in third person, it should be read as if it is in second person (עלית) like the earlier part of the clause.

⁵ Though the various exegetes agree on this point, they derive the idea from the verse in different ways.  Pointing to the root "עלה" in Tehillim 102:25, Ralbag suggests that the word can mean "cut off" and Yaakov is saying that his bed was cut off from him.  Ibn Ezra and Radak simply say that Yaakov's bed "was stopped", perhaps understanding עלה" to mean "departed". [See the gloss in R"Y Bekhor Shor who explains Ibn ezra in this manner.]

⁶ Ibn Ezra and Ralbag point to the parallel description of Avimelekh's men as "רֵיקִים וּפֹחֲזִים" in Shofetim 9:4.  Radak defines "פַּחַז" as to "hasten" presumably connecting it to the word נחפז (with the letters switching places).