Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
Ramban
REUBEN MY FIRSTBORN THOU ART.. Ramban will transpose the order of the words for the purpose of deriving the meaning of the verse. The sequence of this verse is, “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the first-fruits of my strength, the excellence of majesty, and the excellence of power,” and its purport is as follows: “You are the first-born of my might and the first-fruits of my strength when I was the excellence of majesty (se’eith) and position” — the expression being similar to that found in the verses: Shall not his excellency (‘se’eitho’) make you afraid? When he raiseth himself up (‘mise’eitho’) the mighty are afraid,, 41:17. ‘mise’eitho’ meaning ascendancy and power — “and when I was at the height of strength (oz) for war” — the expression being similar to that found in the verses: And He will give strength (‘oz’) unto His king; And the strength (‘ve’izuz’) of battle.
Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.
Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.