Parashas Vezos Haberachah · Passuk 33:7
Torah Temima points to the juxtaposition of Reuven and Yehudah.
English: Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: What is the meaning of the juxtaposition “Let Reuven live… and this for Yehudah”?
R’ Eliezer #9 — Sequence / order of words. Attention to the sequence of the tribal blessings and the link between Reuven’s repentance and Yehudah’s advocacy.
The immediate transition from the blessing of Reuven to that of Yehudah is read as significant. The Sages connect Yehudah’s earlier assumption of responsibility for Binyamin (and his earlier confession) with the prayer that Reuven’s repentance be accepted, so that the firstborn not be excluded from the life of the World to Come.