A Reuben Marriage
A Reuben, Simeon and Levi marriage? Now, we’ve heard of a “Reuben Sandwich,” but a Reuben marriage?—Leah had one.
“And Leah conceived and bore a son and named him Reuben, for she said, ‘because the Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.’ Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘because the Lord has heard that I am unloved…’ So she named him Simeon. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘Now this time my husband will become attached to me…’ Therefore he was named Levi” (Genesis 29:32-34).
“Surely now my husband will love me” cannot refer to sex—she had that. “I am unloved”? Did not Jacob provide her housing, food, and clothing? Is that not “love?” It is, and it is important. But something was lacking. There is another kind of love she needed and wanted.
“My husband will become attached to me.” But wasn’t she married to Jacob? What does she mean? She felt Jacob was “detached.” Not legally— they were married. Not physically—they had children. She felt “detached.” One meaning of “detached” is “marked by an absence of emotional involvement and an aloof, impersonal objectivity.”
Is there another kind of love—a love that includes an emotional attachment? When we look up “romance” we see it as an “ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people, especially that characterized by a high level of purity and devotion.”
I don’t know how this may have been reflected in their culture. Today, it may be in such simple things as holding hands, enjoying a walk together, time for chitchat, a gentle touch, “sweet nothings” whispered into the ear—well, you can use your own imagination.
A Reuben Sandwich? Good. A Reuben marriage? Not good. “Reuben,” “Simeon,” and “Levi”—names that stand as testimonials to what this woman (and many women today) wanted so badly but did not have. Remember, men, the Lord “sees” (the meaning of “Reuben”) and “hears” (“Simeon”) the “affliction” of a woman that longs for such an “attachment” (Levi).