Reubenite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person belonging to the Hebrew tribe descended from Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob in the Old Testament
2. Someone who traces their lineage to Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, as part of one of the twelve tribes of Israel
3. A descendant of Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, counted among the tribes of ancient Israel in the Hebrew Bible

Etymology: Reuben was, in the Hebrew Bible, the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, and the name is traditionally explained in Genesis as a play on words: Leah says the name sounds like "he has seen my affliction." The tribe that descended from him settled east of the Jordan River, and "Reubenite" is simply the term for a member of that line, formed by adding the suffix "-ite" to the personal name. That suffix, borrowed through Latin and Greek from a Semitic source, was used across English to mark a people or a descendant, as in Israelite or Judahite. The formation is entirely plain: "Reuben" plus "-ite," with no sound changes or shifts in meaning. Its real interest lies in the biblical setting, where the tribe of Reuben, once the eldest, is remembered as having lost its birthright, a detail that gives the name its history in the text rather than in the language itself.