1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may atell you what shall befall you bin the last days:
2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are amy firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you awent up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of1 cruelty arein their dwelling place.
6aLet not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united bto their assembly; cFor in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they1 hamstrung an ox.
Reuben, "unstable as water," would "not excel," because of his sexual depravity. Although he was the firstborn, he did not receive the birthright blessing.
Jacob prophesied Reuben to be "unstable as water," mainly in moral matters, but the wider principle applies to other things. Deborah chastised the tribe for having "great searchings of heart," but never making a decision (Judges 5:15-16). And though a leading and honorable people (Numbers 2:16; 32:17-18), Reuben will not excel because of its character traits (I Chronicles 5:1-2).
