אֶת־בֶּ֧צֶר בַּמִּדְבָּ֛ר בְּאֶ֥רֶץ הַמִּישֹׁ֖ר לָרֻֽאוּבֵנִ֑י וְאֶת־רָאמֹ֤ת בַּגִּלְעָד֙ לַגָּדִ֔י וְאֶת־גּוֹלָ֥ן בַּבָּשָׁ֖ן לַֽמְנַשִּֽׁי׃
A Beser en el desierto, en tierra de la llanura, de los Rubenitas; y á Ramoth en Galaad, de los Gaditas; y á Golán en Basán, de los de Manasés.
Shem MiShmuel
There in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 84:15): Reuben heard, and delivered him – the Holy One blessed be He said, "You were the first to engage in the saving of lives; as you live, they will designate cities of refuge first only within your boundaries." That is what is written: Betzer in the wilderness…[for the Reubenites] (Deuteronomy 4:43). It appears that it can be explained as being since, behold, the [brothers] judged Joseph. And just like they judged Joseph below with the death penalty, so too was it above [in the celestial court]. As it is known that they decide above according to the decision of the Sanhedrin below. And it is, like in the Talmud, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "My sons have defeated me." And even greater than this is found in the books: At the time that Rambam wrote that one who says that the Holy One, blessed be He, has a body or depiction, God forbid, is called a heretic, many groups that went with such a thought were then expelled from the Garden of Eden. However, when Raavad wrote [in response], "Why did he call such a one a heretic; there were many greats who were better than us who went with this thought according to what they saw in the verses and, even more, what they saw in the words of the homilies which confuse the minds," all of these went back into the Garden of Eden. And likewise, can it be said about Joseph, that at the time that the [brothers] decided his punishment as the death penalty, supernal life departed from him. However, at the time that Reuben saved him, new life was put into him.