35:22 Reuben . . . lay with Bilhah. To gratify his lusts and perhaps to certify his leadership as firstborn over the next generation (cf. 2 Sam. 16:15–23; 1 Kin. 2:22). For his sin Reuben was deprived of his status as firstborn (48:1 note) and of his leadership (49:3, 4; Deut. 22:30), which Judah, Leah’s fourth son, would assume instead (49:8–10).