Verse 4 reverses the direction of praise for Reuben and punishes him for his sexual misconduct. The first part of the verse gives a negative characterization and punishment. The rest gives the reasons for the punishment.

Unstable as water Unstable translates a word whose meaning is uncertain. Driver thinks the basic idea is probably “to be uncontained,” that is, not held in check. The root of the Hebrew word is used in Judges 9.4 and Jer 23.32 with the sense of “reckless.” The thought is perhaps that water which is not held back by a dam recklessly dashes away; and this seems to be applied here to the mention of Reuben’s sexual affair with Bilhah in 35.22. Note that Good News Translation keeps the image of uncontrolled water through the use of another figure. In translation it will often be necessary to complete the thought by saying, for example, “You are…,” or “You are like….”

You shall not have pre-eminence: that is, “you will not excel” or “you will not surpass others.” Good News Translation says “… the most important” and New Jerusalem Bible “foremost.” Since the context is of a dying father speaking his last words to his sons, people in many cultures will naturally take this as a reference to inheritance and the place of leadership in the clan or extended family. Verses 3-4 will be understood to say “Even though you are the firstborn, you will not be the head of the clan after me [or, receive the first inheritance], because you….” In translation, however, the words used here should be able to be understood as referring to the later fortunes of the tribe of Reuben as well as to the individual. Examples of renderings from two translations are “but you will not be number one any more, because…” and “but you will not be more important than your brothers….”

Because you went up to your father’s bed: this is a metaphor that means Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine, or secondary wife. The literal form may give the reader the wrong meaning or simply be unclear. Therefore it is better to translate as in Good News Translation or to use a note to explain the meaning.

Then you defiled it—you went up to my couch!: for defiled see 34.5 and Good News Translation. There the word describes the dishonor done to Dinah. Here, however, the object is Jacob’s bed. In this case, if bed is kept in the expression, it may be possible to say “you caused my bed to become dirty,” “you made my bed a bad place,” or “you did a wrong thing in my bed.” Translations that find speaking about Jacob’s bed too difficult or too sensitive often say something like “you brought big shame to my camp when you slept with my concubine.”

You went … couch: this statement is parallel with the previous line, in which bed is matched by couch. Couch refers to cushions placed on the floor for sleeping or resting. The Revised Standard Version footnote shows that the Hebrew text has “he” instead of you, which is the form used in some of the ancient versions. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rates the Hebrew text as {A} and recommends it be translated as “Then you defiled the man who went upon my bed.” We may adjust this to say, for example, “So you defiled yourself when you used my bed” or “So you defiled yourself in my bed.” Note that Good News Translation understands that Reuben dishonored his father’s bed rather than himself.

Translators who find the thought sequence difficult may follow Good News Translation or say, for example, “You are like water breaking through a dam, and so you slept with my concubine. When you did that you made my bed an unclean place. So now you will no longer be the greatest of my sons.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .