And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| border | גְּב֣וּל ge.Vul | H1366 | properly · noun, common masculine singular construct |
| Ephraim | אֶפְרַ֗יִם 'ef.Ra.yim | H669 | Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name |
| east | קָדִ֛ים ka.Dim | H6921 | the fore or front part · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| side | מִפְּאַ֥ת mi.pe.'At | H6285 | properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct |
| west | יָ֖מָּה Ya.mah | H3220 | a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix |
| side | פְּאַת pe.'at- | H6285 | properly · noun, common feminine singular construct |
| a | אֶחָֽד 'e.Chad | H259 | properly · cardinal number, feminine singular absolute |
| Reuben | רְאוּבֵ֥ן re.'u.Ven | H7205 | Reuben · proper noun, a man's name |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Reuben--doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" (Gen 49:4). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad (Jdg 5:16).
Now these are the names of the tribes - See the division mentioned Num 34:7-12, which casts much light upon this.
And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Reuben. Who, through his sin, lost his birthright; but now, his sin being forgiven and forgotten, has a portion assigned him upon the border of Ephraim, and next to the tribe of Judah; when in Moses and Joshua's time it lay on the other side Jordan: this points to such persons that shall have their lot and portion in spiritual things; that "see the Son", that look to Christ alone for righteousness, peace, pardon, and eternal life.
The land assigned to the tribes was arranged in strips running east to west through the land, rather than piecemeal as it was before the Exile. This was more than simply a way of ensuring that each tribe received equal access to the various resources of the land. It aligned the land with the sacred east–west axis that was so prominent in the Temple. As in the Temple, the size and shape of the central areas were clearly defined, while those on the margins were less closely determined (see study note on 40:17-19). The four tribes most distant from the central sacred section (Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad), and therefore in the least privileged position, were descended from the four sons of Jac…
Read the whole note in the consoleAnd alongside the border of Dan and alongside the border of Dan to its south.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
