출애굽기 1:2 해설: Rabbeinu Bahya, Chizkuni, Kli Yakar & Rav Hirsch

Reuben Simon Levi and Judah Issachar Zebulun and Benjamin. The first six, are the sons of Leah according to their birth order, and it was appropriate to mention Benjamin last of all his brothers since he was the youngest among them - and further he was mentioned last because the lower world is divided into seven climes, and the seventh clime is the Land of Israel, which is the middle of civilization, and it is the point that is colder and hotter than the rest of the countries because it is at the center of the furthest reaches; and therefore it was written “Benjamin was the seventh” to allude to the temple in the seventh clime which is in the portion [of the tribe of Benjamin's] and even though the wise scholars who ordered the climes wrote in some of their essays that the Land of Israel is in the fourth clime, "everything goes to one place" [Eccles. 3:20] since the Land [of Israel] is the [central] point and there are three climes from here and three climes from here, it is the fourth to each group of three; it is simultaneously the middle and the seventh; this is similar to the Sabbath day which is the middle of the days of the week and is the seventh day and our Rabbis of blessed memory did not need to inform us that the lights (e.g. Sun and Moon) were created on the fourth day except to publicize the superiority of the Shabbat.

Reuven, Shimon; the Torah first mentioned the two oldest sons of Yaakov’s senior wife Leah, before mentioning any of the sons of the concubines; this is why it also mentioned Joseph and Binyamin before the sons of Bilhah, another concubine.

Reuben, Simeon, etc. Here, their names are detailed according to the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5): “Our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt on account of four merits: they did not change their names, they did not change their language, they were fenced off from sexual immorality, and there were no informers among them, etc.” The reason for this matter is explained in the Yalkut on this portion: All the names of the tribes were called in reference to the redemption. “Reuben” relates to I have surely seen the affliction of My people. “Simeon” relates to God heard their groaning, and similarly for all of them. According to this, if they had changed their names, they would have lost their connection to the redemption and would not have been worthy of being redeemed, as they would have exchanged their names which indicated redemption and called themselves by new names that had no indication of redemption. Or perhaps, the changing of their names would have caused them to despair of redemption, and they would not have sought the face of God regarding redemption and transformation.