Page "Tribe of Reuben" Paragraph 9

According to the ancient Song of Deborah, Reuben declined to take part in the war against Sisera, the people instead idly resting among their flocks as if it were a time of peace, though the decision to do so was taken with a heavy heart.

According to the Book of Chronicles, during the reign of King Saul Reuben instigated a war with the Hagarites, and was victorious ; in another portion of the same text, Reuben is said to have been assisted in this war by Gad and the eastern half of Manasseh.

In the Blessing of Jacob, which some textual scholars date substantially later than these events, the tribe is characterised as fickle-unstable as water, and condemned to dwindle in power and size due to the incest of its eponymous founder with Jacob's concubine Bilha ;.