Four names appear, in English, to be connected: Re'u, Re'u-El, Re'umah, Re'u-Ven (Reuben). In fact, as we shall see, this is not the case. Re'u and Re'u-El are spelled with an Ayin (ע), Re'umah and Re'u-Ven with an Aleph (א); Re'umah and Re'u-Ven also stem from different roots.
Genesis 11:18 names Re'u as the son of Peleg (פלג) and grandson of Ever (עבר), the (supposedly) eponymous ancestor of the "Hebrews"; he fathered Serug (שרוג) at the age of thirty-two; after which he lived a further 107 years and fathered other unnamed sons and daughters. Serug was the father of the first Nachor (נחור), grandfather of Terach (תרח) and great-grandfather of Av-Ram.
The Book of Jubilees 11:1 ff says that Re'u married Orah, the daughter of Ur Ben Kesed, and that she was the mother of Serug (Sêrôh originally, but 11:1 explains that it was changed to Serug).
As a personal name it is mentioned in the Mari letters and identified with the city of Rakhilu in the Middle Euphrates region.
The root is generally believed to be Re'eh (רעה) = "friend"; whence Re'u = "his friend". However, especially given the apparent meaninglessness of such a name - or is it? - there are other possibilities which should at least be mentioned:
Ra (רע) = "bad" or "evil".
Ra (רע) from the root Ru'a (רוע) or Ra'a (רעע) = "noise" or "outcry" and is used in Job 36:33 to mean "the thunder of El".
Reya (רע) = "thought" or "will"; used in Psalm 139:2 and 17 and root of the modern Ivrit word Rayon (רעיון) for a "concept" or "paradigm".
Ra'ah (רעה) = "to feed a flock" or "pasture".
It is quite impossible to state for certain which root really applies, and therefore what the name really means. If the town mentioned in the Mari letters is correct, then it is none of these. Given that we know absolutely nothing about Re'u except his place in a highly untrustworthy genealogical table (untrustworthy because it may well not be a genealogical table at all), we can do no more than set out the facts without speculating further.
Nevertheless, see Re'u-El, Re'umah, Re'u-Ven.
Ra'ah (רעה) = "to feed a flock" or "pasture".
It is quite impossible to state for certain which root really applies, and therefore what the name really means. If the town mentioned in the Mari letters is correct, then it is none of these. Given that we know absolutely nothing about Re'u except his place in a highly untrustworthy genealogical table (untrustworthy because it may well not be a genealogical table at all), we can do no more than set out the facts without speculating further.
Nevertheless, see Re'u-El, Re'umah, Re'u-Ven.
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