Nadene Goldfoot
Reuben was the oldest son of Leah and Jacob. Leah was his first wife. Through Leah, Jacob had 6 boys and 1 girl, Dinah. Jacob's father in law had tricked him into marrying Leah, the first daughter when Jacob thought he was marrying his first love, Rachel. He had to wait for 7 years before he could marry her. In those days, men could have more than one wife. Leah and Rachel were sisters.
At the time of the Exodus with Moses, (1391-1271 BCE) the tribe of Reuben counted 46,500 males above twenty years of age (Num. i. 20-21, ii. 11), which number was reduced to 43,730 by the plague with which the Israelites were punished for their worship of Baalpeor (ib. xxvi. 7) They suffered a loss after 40 years of 2,770 less people. Moses had lived until age 120, then died before he could enter Canaan.
Most of the tribes settle west of the Jordan River, but Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh are given land by Moses east of the river. The writers of Joshua are careful to note that these eastern tribes are still a part of Israel (see Joshua 22).
Reuben is remembered for opposing his brothers' plot against Joseph as told in Gen. 37, and who later volunteered as surety for Benjamin during the latter's visit to Egypt as told in Gen. 42. (What I love about our history is its honesty. We can read all about their errors, mistakes, problems. It's not covered up).
Jacob, his father, was informed about Reuben's incestuous relations with Jacob's concubine-wife, Bilhah, and he transferred Reuben's rights as the firstborn to his son, Joseph, who was Leah's sister, Rachel's first son as in Gen. 48-49.
In the wilderness, the heads of the tribe of the tribe of Reuben; Dathan, Abiram and On, unsuccessfully claimed the right to serve as priests-told in Num. 16. The priestly line were Cohens, direct descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses. This is found today in DNA testing and men's haplogroup is J1-the cohen gene. ) In fact, almost half of Jews today that have tested are Cohens. Jews come from the tribe of Judah. It's dependent on the males from Aaron.
As the tribes prepared to enter Canaan by crossing over to the west side of the Jordan, the Book of Numbers records that the Israelites defeated Sihon and Og, kings east of the Jordan. The tribes of Reuben and Gad requested that they be given land in the territory east of Jordan, because it was suitable for their needs as livestock grazers. In exchange for their promise to help with the conquest of the land west of the Jordan, Moses accepted their request and granted to them and half of Manasseh land east of the Jordan. Following the death of Moses, Joshua became the leader of the Israelites, and with the help of these eastern tribes including Reuben, conquered some of Canaan and assigned the land of Israel to the various twelve tribes.
When the Israelites settled in Canaan, the tribe of Reuben requested and received territory in Moab (Transjordania) which was fertile but presented political problems, and eventually much of their territory fell into the hands of the Moabites or Ammonites.
Reuben was one of the 10 tribes exiled to Assyria by Tiglath-Pileser in 721 BCE. Possibly because of its isolated situation, Reuben played little part in the history of the Israelite tribes after the settlement in Canaan.
From after the conquest of the land under Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel, the Tribe of Reuben was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges (see the Book of Judges). In this period, according to the ancient Song of Deborah, Reuben declined to take part in the war against Sisera, the people instead idly resting among their flocks as if it were a time of peace, though the decision to do so was taken with a heavy heart.
With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Reuben joined the new kingdom with Saul as the first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, but after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Reuben joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel.
According to the Book of Chronicles, Adina and thirty Reubenites aided David as members of his mighty warriors in conquering the City of David. Also according to Chronicles, during the reign of King Saul, Reuben instigated a war with the Hagarites, and was victorious; in another portion of the same text, Reuben is said to have been assisted in this war by Gad and the eastern half of Manasseh.
Upon the accession of Rehoboam, David's grandson, in c. 930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Reuben was a member of the kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria. According to 1 Chronicles 5:26, Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria (ruled 745-727 BC) deported the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to "Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River." Simcha Jacobi speaks of finding these places. (see below).
Halah (Hebrew: חֲלַח, Ḥălạḥ; Latin: Hala) is a city that is mentioned in the Bible in 2 Kings 17:6 and in 1 Chronicles 5:26. It is noted when Tiglath Pileser III and later Sargon II invaded Israel, the Israelites were taken captive from Gilead and Samaria respectively and 
Haran of Aram Naharam (Mesopotamia)
resettled in Halah and Gozan on the Khabur River in the Aram-Naharaim region, as well as in the towns of the Medes. The name should not be confused with the Assyrian city of Calah nor with Cilicia (Khilikku or Khilakku, in Assyrian) in Asia Minor, but is considered to be identical with the location near Gozan referred to as Chalcitis by Ptolemy.
- The ancient River Gozan, Amu Darya, the River Amu or Oxus, a river in North Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Jacob when dying gave a prophecy about each son. Here's what he said about Reuben.
1. Reuben was his first son. "You have my strength, my initial vigor. foremost in rank and foremost in power. ---You cannot be foremost because you mounted your father's bed; then you desecrated Him Who ascended my couch." He had water-like impetuousness. He couldn't be a first because of an error of judgement involving Jacob's bed which desecrated Jacob. He had been against his brother's plot against Joseph. Later he had volunteered as surety for Benjamin during his visit to Egypt. Reuben had broken the law by having an affair with Bilhah who belonged to Jacob. Therefore, Jacob gave Reuben's 1st rights to Joseph. Reuben received land in Moab (Transjordan) because it was fertile but this presented political problems even then, and much of their land fell into the hands of the Moabites or Ammonites.
The tribe of Reuben apparently settled east of the Dead Sea in the same general area occupied by the tribe of Gad and played a secondary role in the history of the Jewish people.
Heshbon: Hebrew: חשבון) were at least two different ancient towns located east of the Jordan River in what is now the Kingdom of Jordan, historically with Heshbon (in modern day Jordan), and all its towns that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, that is, all the towns of the tableland, and all the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, as princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
Along with the rest of those they put to death, the Israelites also put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practised divination (the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means."the Celtic art of divination"). And the border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its banks. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites according to their families, with their towns and villages.
As to their territory, two main accounts are given: (1) in Num. xxxii. 37-38 it is stated that the Reubenites "built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kirjathaim, Nebo, Baal-meon, and Shibmah," the names of which cities were changed; while (2) a fuller account is given in Josh. xiii. 15 et seq., according to which the border of Reuben's territory was "from Aroer that is on the bank of the River Arnon . . . and all the plain of Medeba." In this second list of cities Elealeh and Nebo are omitted, but a great number of additional cities is mentioned, among which are Dibon and Bamoth-baal. It is further stated that their territory included all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites. On the west side, the Jordan was the boundary of their territory. There is a discrepancy between these two accounts, inasmuch as in the first (Num. xxxii. 34) Dibon is said to have been built by the Gadites. Besides, Aroer also was a Gadite city (ib.), which shows that the territory of the Reubenites was enclosed in that of the Gadites.
Many people have declared themselves to be from the tribe of Reuben. DNA today can prove much about the men's line. Here we see declarations but no proof.
On youtube is a video by Simcha Jacobi called Quest for the Lost Tribes in which Simcha has located most all of the 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0QCPXnAPNA
Conquered by the Assyrian King Shalmaneser V, the 10 Lost tribes were exiled to upper Mesopotamia and Medes, today modern Syria and Iraq. Have the been assilimated?
The mystery of the lost tribes of Israel reverberates through three millennia of human experience. Of the twelve tribes mentioned in the Bible, only those of Judah and Benjamin survived the Assyrian capture of Israel. Jacobi tells the story of the search for those remaining few.
The ingathering has been happening. Jews are returning to Israel, wanting to be Jews. This is prophecised to happen before the Moshiach comes.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_of_Reuben
https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2018/07/jacob-stone-of-israel-gives-blessings.html
Tanakh, The Stone Edition
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12701-reuben-tribe-of
https://www.enterthebible.org/Controls/feature/tool_etb_resource_display/resourcebox.aspx?selected_rid=422&original_id=26
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