Bilhah was later briefly mentioned in Genesis 35:22 when Jacobs firstborn son Rueben reportedly slept with her after Rachel had died. This image of a woman being supported in a squat by other women is the most common image of women giving birth throughout history and around the world. Their sacrifice reminds me of all the women who make similar sacrifices around the world today. Its my job, as a woman and as a feminist, to continue to integrate feminism into Judaism. This brought about art, literature, and building projects reappearing on the Egyptian scene. They never speak in the narrative, interact with God, or are set free, like Hagar, but they also never show contempt for their mistress or run away, like Hagar (Gen 16). Zilpah bore two sons to Jacob, which would have been Gad and Asher. Zilpah is given to Leah as a handmaid by Leah's father, Laban, upon Leah's marriage to Jacob (see Genesis 29:24, 46:18). According to the early rabbinical commentary Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban.[3]. According to the early rabbinical commentary Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban. Just like Sarai/Sarah gave her handmaid, Hagar, to Abraham to have children on behalf of Sarai/Sarah, These handmaids were basically considered 'surrogates' if you will, for lack of a better word. In the novel The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, Zilpah and Bilhah are represented as half-sisters of Leah and Rachel by different mothers. In all, Bilhah and Zilpah are given to Jacob by their mistresses to act in their place twice each to overcome barrenness, resulting in two sons each (Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher). ; Beor . Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. I will use the term maid-slave to capture their feminine and slavish status. Which language's style guidelines should be used when writing code that is supposed to be called from another language? Genesis 29:31 "And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren." Yet, consistently the narrator of Genesis insists that the twelve sons of Jacob had four named mothers: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. Matthew - John Any children born of the union were considered to be legally the children of the mistress wife. Subscribe now to receive periodic updates from the Center for Hebraic Thought. Bilhah must have been very young when she bore her children, because Jacobs eldest son Reuben (by Leah) has sex with her (Gen 35:22). Women in labor were surrounded by female companions who encouraged them to labor upright and dance and sway during contractions (belly dancing is actually an ancient fertility dance that women were taught a young age to help with conception and labor). In Old Testament times this was an acceptable way for a married woman who was barren to gain children. Rachel did not have to do this for Jacobs sake, for Jacob already had children to be his heirs by his other wife, Leah; rather, she is said to do this so that Jacob could fulfill her demand to give her children. [5] On the other hand, the early rabbinical commentary Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer and other rabbinic sources (Midrash Rabba and elsewhere) state that Bilhah and Zilpah were also Laban's daughters, through his concubines, which would make them half-sisters to Rachel and Leah.[6][7][8]. She is on the Biblical Timeline Poster between 1754-1704 BC. Previous to joining academia, Heather worked in the IT field as a web developer for ten years, learning the importance of input data to output success. We can read the little that we know about them in Genesis 30. There's a place in Tiberias that is supposed to be the common gravesite of several prominent women from Tanach; a sign there lists Bilhah, Zilpah, Yocheved, Tzipporah, Elisheva, and Avigayil. Canadian of Polish descent travel to Poland with Canadian passport. The second son Zilpah bore Leah named Asher and said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed." This name proved to be prophetic, as when Zilpah was toldas a young girlthat she was destined to join Leah in her marriage to the evil Esau, 9 tears would flow down her face. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. When faced with what he thinks might be a tense confrontation with his brother, Esau, Jacob places the two maids and their children at the front of his household, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph bringing up the (protected) rear (Gen 33:13; compare 32:2223). Not exactly. What did it take for them to share their husband with two other women? Yet in the potentially dangerous situation with Esau, she reverts to being called a maid (Hebrew shifhah). Browse other questions tagged, Like any library, Mi Yodeya offers tons of great information, but, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. Rachel, who was Jacob's favorite wife, had not been blessed with children. It only takes a minute to sign up. The second son Bilhah bore she named Naphtali and said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed.". The Key Biblical Principle for Police Reform? Old Testament Gad and Asher were sons of Zilpah and a portion of Gad we know is black, for we can trace Gad's sons Eri, Areli and Arodi to the Igbo people of Nigeria. I had never heard of them either only Hagar. Yet they did it out of lovelove for Rachel and Leah, knowing that they could given them something they could not get themselves. Genesis 35:25 and 26 similarly refer to Bilhah and Zilpah as the ot shefa of Rachel and Leah respectively, while 46:18 and 25 refer to Zilpah and Bilhah as being given by Lavan to Leah and Rachel. I've been involved in far, far left politics for a very long time. According to Bereishit Rabbah 74:13 Bilhah and Zilpah were also daughters of Lavan. The account of Zilpahs role as Leahs surrogate mother can be found in Genesis 30:9-13. After Bilhah bore Rachel two sons Leah found that even though she already had four sons she was no longer able to have children. This is reinforced by the fact that Rachel named both of the sons Bilhah bore. As Rachel says, Behold, my amah (servant) Bilhah. [1] Genesis 29:29 describes her as Laban's handmaiden (), who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marriage to Jacob. Zilpah's background is unknown, other than the fact that Zilpah had been one of Laban's servants before Leah's marriage to Jacob. I do not take women's rights or my Judaism for granted and explore both in my daily life as well. some modern Jewish feminists have reclaimed Bilhah and Zilpah as matriarchs, Copyright 19982023, Jewish Women's Archive. Elisheva -- see notes on Tzipporah. Military and political security, agricultural and mineral wealth, and religion all flourished during this period. That's usually the place to start.) My first reactions was: Who were they? 27 October 2017. If some liturgies listing the Matriarchs have been corrected to list Leah first, as the older daughter and first wife of Jacob,12Elizabeth Wyner Mark, The Four Wives of Jacob: Matriarchs Seen and Unseen, The Reconstructionist (Fall 1998): 2224. Genesis 35:22 says, "And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it. We could defy the patriarchal constraints of the Torah, and highlight significant women regardless of their status. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? And then, for good measure, she finishes out the brood with Benjamin (those must have been some powerful mandrakes). 8 Zilpah means "to flow" ( lezalef ). And Jacobs anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said. What is the meaning of AD, BC, BCE and CE? The first son Rachel named Dan saying. This may be because Zilpah and Bilhah never speak within the narrative, nor are they spoken to directly. Walking with the Women Books Louis Katzoff, Nuzi Tablets, Bible and Spade vol 1:2 (Spring 1988): 27.5. Iron became a very valuable commodity and was used to produce goods. I like your take on it, but I guess it always seemed like Bilhah and Zilpah didn't have any choice. [2] Bilhah gave birth to two sons, whom Rachel claimed as her own and named Dan and Naphtali. At first, it almost seemed wrong for feminists to make their own assertions about thousand-year-old practices, but then I thought more about the fact that the Torah was written by men, which meant our most important text was biased from inception. Bilhah and Zilpah most likely died in Israel (Genesis 46 sounds like they didn't come down to Egypt), but hadn't they been living in the South part of the country, not anywhere near Tiberias? For maid-servant or female servant see such translations as JPS, ESV, and YLT; for slave-girl see CJB, EXB, GNT, ICB, and NRSV; for handmaid see ASV and KJV. (though Rachel is not buried there either). During the final stage of labor a woman would squat and be supported under the arms by one or two other women. Yet they did it and through them came the 12 tribes of Israel the covenant family of the whole earth. Is there such a thing as "right to be heard" by the authorities? rev2023.5.1.43405. I agree too that these women had an understanding in the bigger picture and what was important, Your email address will not be published. I was thinking about this subject of surrogacy.I recently re-read the record of Jacob and his wives. much like their mothers, who, through their humility and forbearance, were eventually able to attain wifely status. English Standard Version Read the latest from JWA from your inbox. What positional accuracy (ie, arc seconds) is necessary to view Saturn, Uranus, beyond? Genesis 35:22 expressly calls Bilhah Jacob's concubine, a pilegesh. Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. Probably all three maid-slaves desired to have children, as women were primarily valued for their reproductive capacities in the culture. Take the Challenge By including Bilhah and Zilpah in the Amidah and Misheberakh prayers along with their better known mistresses . In general it's a big question what it means when various places in the north of Eretz Yisrael are identified as the kevarim of famous tzaddikim or tzidkaniyos - especially when those seem to contradict information given elsewhere. Their children were considered Leah's and Rachel's. Zilpah and Bilhah are instead each introduced as a shiphchah (meaning maid-servant, slave-girl, or handmaid2For maid-servant or female servant see such translations as JPS, ESV, and YLT; for slave-girl see CJB, EXB, GNT, ICB, and NRSV; for handmaid see ASV and KJV. Half sister of Matriarch Rachel / ; Matriarch Leah / ; Chorash . when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. Leah stops conceiving after the birth of her fourth son, at which point [4] Rachel, who had not yet borne children, offers her handmaid, Bilhah, to Jacob like a wife in order to have children through her. This is my own translation of the Hebrew text found in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.6. Rachel in turn gives Bilhah to Jacob as a wife when Rachel is found to be barren. Only the tribe of Judah are Jews. [3] Laban gave Rotheus a wife named Euna, who was the girl's mother. Possible meanings for the Hebrew name Bilhah are "simplicity," "modesty," "timid," or "faltering." Bilhah is also the name of a town in the south of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 4:29 ). To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. This act caused Reuben to lose his birthright inheritance as pointed out in Genesis 49:3-4. Book of Mormon, Study Guides However, Laban gave Leah as the veiled bride to Jacob instead. And for whatever reason, she just could not conceive. Let's just move on. Bilah is cited a few verses later in verse 25 of the same genealogy. How old were they? Primary among them are (1) Rachel's and Leah's historical (or quasi-historical) position as progenitors of Israel; (2) patriarchy in the Hebrew Bible; (3) the place of Rachel and Leah as characters in world exegetical literature and feminist scholarship; and (4) Rachel's special role as universal mother and theological image of the feminine. "Claiming Bilhah and Zilpah." The great, mighty, and awesome God, God most high, who bestows loving-kindness and goodness and who creates everything. "And if you take other wives in addition to my daughters" gives [another two equaling] four. Bilhah and Zilpah were the handmaidens (servants) of the patriarch Jacobs wives, Leah and Rachel. Walking With the Women of the Old Testament, Walking With the Women of the New Testament, Does the Journey Seem Long? I contend that the reason Zilpah and Bilhah attained this full wifely and motherly status and that their children inherited lies in their quiet humility and cooperative attitude throughout their lives. The point is that these women acted prudently in each given situation with the best interests of their children in mind. Is a downhill scooter lighter than a downhill MTB with same performance? What did it take for Bilhah and Zilpah to share their children with two other women? Answer Zilpah was Leah's handmaiden or servant whom Leah gave to her husband, Jacob, as a concubine. Bronze to Iron Age During this period making items of bronze seemed to be migrating into the Iron Age. For Kristine Casey, 61, it meant giving the gift of motherhood to her infertile daughter by carrying and giving birth to her own grandson. Bilhah is also considered a minor Bible character but was also used to bring two of the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel onto the earth. While Zilpah is a considered a minor Bible character, she was a vessel used to usher in two of the tribes of Israel. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Not exactly. After Bilhah bore Rachel two sons Leah found that even though she already had four sons she was no longer able to have children. Alternatively she may have just been referring to the way in which ancient women commonly gave birth. (Bereishit 31:43) gives [another two equaling] four.'. Genesis 30 records that, when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. They were named Dan and Naphtali and raised by Rachel. I hope that for all of the sibling rivalry,the sisters at least loved each other. more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zilpah. As time has passed, Ive learned about other people whove successfully integrated feminism into their Judaism, the way I want to. Genesis chapters 29-30 and 35 detail the births of Jacob's many children. Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.
