Passage

Genesis 49.3-4

Book: Genesis · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days. 2. Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto Israel your father."

"3. Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength; The pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power. 4. Boiling over as water, thou shalt not have the pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch."

"5. Simeon and Levi are brethren; Weapons of violence are their swords. 6. O my soul, come not thou into their council; Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hocked an ox." (Genesis 49:1-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come. 2. Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father."

"3. “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. 4. Boiling over like water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch."

"5. “Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. 6. My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle." (Genesis 49:1-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. 2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father."

"3. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. ^{thou shalt: Heb. do not thou excel} ^{he went: or, my couch is gone}"

"5. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. ^{instruments: or, their swords are weapons of violence} 6. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. ^{digged: or, houghed oxen}" (Genesis 49:1-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, 'Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days. 2. 'Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And hearken unto Israel your father."

"3. Reuben! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; 4. Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up!"

"5. Simeon and Levi [are] brethren! Instruments of violence, their espousals! 6. Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince." (Genesis 49:1-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

H1060 - bechor

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.