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Bilhah (בִּלְהָה "unworried", Standard Hebrew: Bilha, Tiberian Hebrew: Bīlhā) is a woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 29:29 describes her as Laban 's handmaiden ( שִׁפְחָה ), who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marriage to Jacob .
Jan 4, 2022 · Bilhah was the female servant of Rachel. When Rachel married Jacob, Bilhah was given as a wedding gift to Rachel by her father Laban ( Genesis 29:28–29 ). Bilhah became the mother of two of Jacob’s twelve sons.
Bilhah is a maid given by Laban to Rachel, who gives her to Jacob as a wife when she is barren. She bears two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and later has sex with Reuben, Jacob's eldest son.
- Who Were They, Anyway?
- Jacob Marries The Maidservants
- Reuben and Bilhah
- How Could Jacob Marry Twosisters?
In Biblical times, men often had many wives.Sometimes, the wives were of different social castes and would retain thatsocial status after marriage. The woman of the higher caste was considered theman’s primary wife and her children received preferential treatment. When a manmarried into the slave’s caste, on the other hand, the children of their un...
One could assume that a young bride would beopposed to having her husband marry her maid. What events led Jacob’s wives tooffer their handmaids to him in marriage? At the beginning of her marriage, Rachel couldnot conceive despite her desire to have Jacob’s children and be part of thefuture he was trying to build.11 The pain ofher childlessness was...
In Talmudic times, the Torah was read inHebrew and then in the colloquial Aramaic so that the congregation couldunderstand what was being said. The reader chanted a verse in Hebrew and the meturgeman (translator) would repeat itin Aramaic.24 The Mishnah25 lists fourBiblical stories that should not be translated lest they be misinterpreted bythe unl...
The Talmud tells us that Abraham fulfilled the entire Torahbefore it was given.35 Presumably,Abraham taught his descendants to observe the commandments as well.36 Indeed, theMidrash records that Jacob kept Shabbat,37and Rashi quotes Jacob in conversation with Esau, “I have lived (גרתי) with Laban and kept all ofthe 613 (תריג)commandments.”38 Knowin...
Dec 12, 2023 · Bilhah was a servant of Rachel who gave birth to two sons with Jacob, Dan and Naphtali. Learn about her story, her role in Jacob's family, and her legacy in the Midrash and the Bible.
BILHAH bĭl’ hə (בִּלְהָ֖ה). 1. A slave girl given by Laban to Rachel , and by her to Jacob as a concubine (Gen 30:3, 4). This was arranged because Rachel was barren and became jealous because Leah was fruitful (Gen 29:31-35; 30:1-8). Bilhah bore Dan and Naphtali to Jacob (Gen 30:4, 7; 35:25; 46:25).
3 Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife.
