Reuben, firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, lay dying in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. Two years had passed since Joseph fell asleep forever. Now Reuben's own sons gathered at his bedside, along with his brothers Judah, Gad, and Asher. The old man raised himself up, kissed each of them, and spoke.
"Raise me up," he said, "that I may tell you what I have hidden in my heart."
And what he had hidden was shame.
"I call the God of heaven as witness against you this day," Reuben began, "that you walk not in the sins of youth and lust, as I did when I defiled the bed of my father Jacob." He confessed it plainly: at thirty years old, he had violated Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). For this, God struck him with a plague in his loins for seven months. Had Jacob not prayed for his son, the Lord would have destroyed him entirely.
After the sin, Reuben repented for seven years. He drank no wine. He ate no meat, no pleasant food. He mourned ceaselessly, for his transgression was greater than any yet committed in Israel.
Then Reuben revealed what he had learned in his repentance: the seven spirits of deceit that wage war against every human soul. Seven dark powers, each one seated in the body like a parasite. The first is the spirit of lust, rooted in the senses. The second is the spirit of insatiable appetite, lodged in the belly. The third is the spirit of fighting, coiled in the liver and gall. The fourth is the spirit of flattery and manipulation, making a person seem fair while scheming underneath. The fifth is the spirit of pride, breeding arrogance. The sixth is the spirit of lying, poisoning relationships with deceit and jealousy. The seventh is the spirit of injustice, driving theft and greed, working hand-in-hand with all the others.
And over all of them hovers an eighth spirit: the spirit of sleep, which brings the trance of fantasy and error, darkening the mind of every young person until they cannot see the truth of God's law.
"Pay no heed to the face of a woman," Reuben warned. "Do not associate with another man's wife. Do not meddle with affairs of womankind." He explained his own fall: he had seen Bilhah bathing in a covered place, and the image burned in his mind until he could not sleep. While Jacob had gone to visit Isaac, and the family was camped near Ephrath in Bethlehem, Bilhah became drunk and fell asleep uncovered. Reuben entered her chamber. He committed the act without her perceiving it, and departed. But an angel of God immediately revealed the crime to Jacob, who came and mourned over his son and never touched Bilhah again.
The shame was total. "Until my father's death," Reuben said, "I had not boldness to look in his face, or to speak to any of my brethren." Even now, on his deathbed, his conscience still tormented him.
He pointed to Joseph as the counterexample. The Egyptian woman had done everything to seduce him: summoned magicians, offered love potions. But the purpose of Joseph's soul admitted no evil desire. "If lust overcomes not your mind," Reuben declared, "neither can Beliar overcome you."
Reuben then spoke of the Watchers, those angels who existed before the Flood. They gazed upon mortal women continually, lusted after them, and changed themselves into the shape of men. The women, desiring these beings who seemed to reach unto heaven, gave birth to giants (Genesis 6:1-4). This was the ultimate corruption: even celestial beings fell through the power of lust.
"God gave sovereignty to Levi," Reuben told his sons. "Hearken to Levi, because he shall know the law of the Lord and shall give ordinances of judgment and shall sacrifice for all Israel as the anointed High Priest." He commanded them to do truth to their neighbors, to love one another, and to draw near to Levi in humbleness of heart.
Having given these commands, Reuben died. They placed him in a coffin and carried him up from Egypt to be buried in Hebron, in the cave where his father lay.
TESTAMENT OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN SON OF JACOB AND LEAH
1 1 The copy of the Testament of Reuben, even the commands which he
gave his sons before he 2 died in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life.
Two years after the death of Joseph his 3 brother, when Reuben fell ill, his
sons and his sons' sons were gathered together to visit him. And 4 he said to
them: My children, behold I am dying, and go the way of my fathers. And seeing
there Judah, and Gad, and Asher, his brethren, he said to them: Raise me up,
that I may tell to my brethren and to my children what things I have hidden in
my heart, for behold now at length 5 I am passing away. And he arose and kissed
them, and said unto them: Hear, my brethren, and 6 do ye, my children, give ear
to Reuben your father in the commands which I give unto you. And behold I call
to witness against you this day the God of heaven, that ye walk not in the sins
of 7 youth and fornication, wherein I was poured out, and defiled the bed of my
father Jacob. And I tell you that he smote me with a sore plague in my loins for
seven months; and had not my father 8 Jacob prayed for me to the Lord, the Lord
would have destroyed me. For I was thirty years old 9 when I wrought the evil
thing before the Lord, and for seven months I was sick unto death. And 10 after
this I repented with set purpose of my soul for seven years before the Lord. And
wine and strong drink I drank not, and flesh entered not into my mouth, and I
eat no pleasant food; but I mourned over my sin, for it was great, such as had
not been in Israel.
2 1 And now hear me, my children, what things I saw concerning the
seven spirits of deceit, when 2 I repented. Seven spirits therefore are
appointed against man, and they are the leaders in the works 3 of youth. [And
seven other spirits are given to him at his creation, that through them should
be 4 done every work of man. The first is the spirit of life, with which the
constitution (of man) is 5 created. The second is the sense of sight, with which
ariseth desire. The third is the sense of hearing, with which cometh teaching.
The fourth is the sense of smell, with which tastes are given 6, 7 to draw air
and breath. The fifth is the power of speech, with which cometh knowledge. The
sixth is the sense of taste, with which cometh the eating of meats and drinks;
and by it strength is 8 produced, for in food is the foundation of strength. The
seventh is the power of procreation and 9 sexual intercourse, with which through
love of pleasure sins enter in. Wherefore it is the last in order of creation,
and the first in that of youth, because it is filled with ignorance, and leadeth
the youth as a blind man to a pit, and as a beast to a precipice.
3 1 Besides all these there is an eighth spirit of sleep, with which
is brought about the trance of 2 3 nature and the image of death. With these
spirits are mingled the spirits of error.] First, the spirit of fornication is
seated in the nature and in the senses; the second, the spirit of
insatiableness, 4 in the belly; the third, the spirit of fighting, in the liver
and gall. The fourth is the spirit of 5 obsequiousness and chicanery, that
through officious attention one may be fair in seeming. The fifth is the spirit
of pride, that one may be boastful and arrogant. The sixth is the spirit of
lying, 6 in perdition and jealousy to practise deceits, and concealments from
kindred and friends. The seventh is the spirit of injustice, with which are
thefts and acts of rapacity, that a man may fulfill the desire of his heart; for
injustice worketh together with the other spirits by the taking of gifts. 7, 8
And with all these the spirit of sleep is joined which is (that) of error and
fantasy.] And so perisheth every young man, darkening his mind from the truth,
and not understanding the law of 9 God, nor obeying the admonitions of his
fathers as befell me also in my youth. And now, my children, love the truth, and
it will preserve you: hear ye the words of Reuben your father. 10 Pay no heed to
the face of a woman, Nor associate with another man's wife, Nor meddle with
affairs of womankind. 11 For had I not seen Bilhah bathing in a covered place, I
had not fallen into this great iniquity. 12 For my mind taking in the thought of
the woman's nakedness, suffered me not to sleep until I had 13 wrought the
abominable thing. For while Jacob our father had gone to Isaac his father, when
we were in Eder, near to Ephrath in Bethlehem, Bilhah became drunk and was
asleep uncovered in her 14 chamber. Having therefore gone in and beheld
nakedness, I wrought the impiety without her 15 perceiving it, and leaving her
sleeping I departed. And forthwith an angel of God revealed to my father
concerning my impiety, and he came and mourned over me, and touched her no more.
4 1 Pay no heed, therefore, my children, to the beauty of women, nor
set your mind on their affairs; but walk in singleness of heart in the fear of
the Lord, and expend labour on good works, and on study and on your flocks,
until the Lord give you a wife, whom He will, that ye suffer not as I did. 2 For
until my father's death I had not boldness to look in his face, or to speak to
any of my brethren, 3 because of the reproach. Even until now my conscience
causeth me anguish on account of my 4 impiety. And yet my father comforted me
much and prayed for me unto the Lord, that the anger of the Lord might pass from
me, even as the Lord showed. And thenceforth until now I have 5 been on my guard
and sinned not. Therefore, my children, I say unto you, observe all things 6
whatsoever I command you, and ye shall not sin. For a pit unto the soul is the
sin of fornication, separating it from God, and bringing it near to idols,
because it deceiveth the mind and understanding, 7 and leadeth young men into
hades before their time. For many hath fornication destroyed; because, though a
man be old or noble, or rich or poor, he bringeth reproach upon 8 himself with
the sons of men and derision with Beliar. For ye heard regarding Joseph how he
guarded himself from a woman, and purged his thoughts from all fornication, and
found favour in 9 the sight of God and men. For the Egyptian woman did many
things unto him, and summoned 10 magicians, and offered him love potions, but
the purpose of his soul admitted no evil desire. Therefore 11 the God of your
fathers delivered him from every evil (and) hidden death. For if fornication
overcomes not your mind, neither can Beliar overcome you.
5 1 For evil are women, my children; and since they have no power or
strength over man, they use 2 wiles by outward attractions, that they may draw
him to themselves. And whom they cannot 3 bewitch by outward attractions, him
they overcome by craft. For moreover, concerning them, the angel of the Lord
told me, and taught me, that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication
more than men, and in their heart they plot against men; and by means of their
adornment they deceive first their minds, and by the glance of the eye instill
the poison, and then through the accomplished 4 act they take them captive. For
a woman cannot force a man openly, but by a harlot's 5 bearing she beguiles him.
Flee, therefore, fornication, my children, and command your wives and your
daughters, that they adorn not their heads and faces to deceive the mind:
because every woman 6 who useth these wiles hath been reserved for eternal
punishment. For thus they allured the Watchers who were before the flood; for as
these continually beheld them, they lusted after them, and they conceived the
act in their mind; for they changed themselves into the shape of men, and 7
appeared to them when they were with their husbands. And the women lusting in
their minds after their forms, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared
to them as reaching even unto heaven.
6 1 Beware, therefore, of fornication; and if you wish to be pure in
mind, guard your senses from every 2 woman. And command the women likewise not
to associate with men, that they also may be pure 3 in mind. For constant
meetings, even though the ungodly deed be not wrought, are to them an 4
irremediable disease, and to us a destruction of Beliar and an eternal reproach.
For in fornication 5 there is neither understanding nor godliness, and all
jealousy dwelleth in the lust thereof. Therefore, then I say unto you, ye will
be jealous against the sons of Levi, and will seek to be exalted 6 over them;
but ye shall not be able. For God will avenge them, and ye shall die by an evil
death. 7 For to Levi God gave the sovereignty [and to Judah with him and to me
also, and to Dan and 8 Joseph, that we should be for rulers]. Therefore I
command you to hearken to Levi, because he shall know the law of the Lord, and
shall give ordinances for judgement and shall sacrifice for all Israel until the
consummation of the times, as the anointed High Priest, of whom the Lord spake,
9 I adjure you by the God of heaven to do truth each one unto his neighbour and
to entertain love 10 each one for his brother. And draw ye near to Levi in
humbleness of heart, that ye may receive 11 a blessing from his mouth. For he
shall bless Israel and Judah, because him hath the Lord chosen to 12 be king
over all the nation. And bow down before his seed, for on our behalf it will die
in wars visible and invisible, and will be among you an eternal king.
7 1, 2 And Reuben died, having given these commands to his sons. And
they placed him in a coffin until they carried him up from Egypt, and buried him
in Hebron in the cave where his father was.
THE
