Genesis 35:23

35:23-26 The twelve sons became leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their names are the firstfruits of the nation.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. The sons of Leah] The children are arranged under their respective mothers, and not in order of their birth.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the sons of Bilhah,.... Then Bilhah's sons, who was Rachel's handmaid, and these were two, Dan and Naphtali.

And the sons of Bilhah,.... Then Bilhah's sons, who was Rachel's handmaid, and these were two, Dan and Naphtali.

Genesis 35:26

gen 35:26

gen 35:26

gen 35:26And the sons of Zilpah,.... And lastly, the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, which were two also, Gad and Asher; it is added:

these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram, all excepting Benjamin; and because they were by far the greater part, even all but one, that were born there, this is said in general; and there having been given in the context such a particular account of the birth of Benjamin, and of the place of it, them was no need for the historian particularly to except him, since the reader would be in no danger of being led into a mistake.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Vers. 23-26. The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob"s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun (cf. Gen_29:32-35 Gen_30:18-20 Gen_46:8-15; Exo_1:2, Exo_1:3) The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin (cf. Gen_30:22-24 Gen_35:18 Gen_46:19) And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel"s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali (cf. Gen_30:4-8) And the sons of Zilpah, Leah"s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: (cf. Gen_30:9-13) these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram. All except Benjamin were born there. Either this is an instance of the summary style of Scripture in which minute verbal accuracy is not always preserved (Inglis), or the whole period of Jacob s pilgrimage to Mesopotamia and back is intended by his residence in Padan-aram (Kalisch).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bilhah

This is the name of Rachel's female servant. See how you translated this name in Genesis 29:29. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Leah

Reuben

firstborn

Simeon

Levi

Judah

Issachar

Zebulun

Rachel

Joseph (OT)

Benjamin

servant

Dan

Naphtali

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

בכור יעקב JACOB’S FIRSTBORN — even when it speaks of his corrupt action Scripture calls him firstborn (Genesis Rabbah 82:11).

בכור יעקב JACOB’S FIRSTBORN — firstborn with regard to heritage, firstborn with regard to Divine Service (for before the Levites were appointed to minister to God the duty devolved upon the oldest son in each family), firstborn in any enumeration of the twelve tribes; for the right of a firstborn son was given to Joseph only in respect of the tribes — in that he founded two tribes (just as a firstborn son received a double portion in his father’s property) (Genesis Rabbah 82:11).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

בני לאה, seeing that Binyamin had by now been born, the Torah enumerates all the sons.

בכור יעקב ראובן, even though he had sinned and Yaakov had deprived him of the birthright on account of his sin, the Torah still refers to him as “the firstborn.” We are told in Bereshit Rabbah 82,11 that Rabbi Shimon said that it is legally difficult for G’d to tamper with the chronological chain of ancestry. How do we know this? Because we find the following verse in Chronicles I 5,1 ובני ראובן בכור ישראל כי הוא הבכור ובחללו יצועי אביו נתנה בכורתו לבני יוסף, “and the sons of Reuven, Yisrael’s firstborn, for he (Reuven) was the firstborn even though because he had mounted the bedstead of his father his birthright had been given to the sons of Joseph.” This appears to mean that Reuven forfeited the material advantages associated with the birthright, i.e. double portion of an inheritance; but he was not deprived of his status as the biological firstborn, in fact he could not be deprived of it. Rabbi Yitzchok, on the same folio of the Midrash, adds that even in his hour of disgrace, the Bible refers to Reuven with the attribute “the firstborn.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.