Bilhah sons were dark skinned, both Dan and Naphtali, there is no reason to believe that Zilpah sons Gad and Asher were any different. Instead, these maid-slaves begin a surrogate-motherly role of raising their children. There is no mention of their status as wives or maid-slaves at all. Have an update or correction? Jacob hears about what Reuben did and does nothing at the time. ; Beor . It's Joseph, child #12, son #11, Jacob's favorite. Jacob must have been super happy! 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. What about Rachel, the hapless, unfortunate, super-hot Rachel?! Probably the greatest sacrifice that any mother could ever make. How did Zilpah and Bilhahs attitude and possible wifely status affect their childrens status? 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. Bilhah and Zilpah were slaves, not wives of a patriarch, but their descendants eventually became the Jewish people. Thus, we shall proclaim the following revised celebratory benediction: Praised are You, Lord our God, and the God of our ancestors. The Israelites were divided into 12 tribes named after Jacob's sons and two sons of Joseph Manasseh and Ephraim. They were however mothers of 4 other tribes of Israel. While Zilpah is a considered a minor Bible character, she was a vessel used to usher in two of the tribes of Israel. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Rachel and Leah named Bilhah's and Zilpah's boys. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Their names are Bilhah and Zilpah, the servants - probably slaves - of the two sisters Rachel and Leah, the wives of Jacob. While Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel used more competitive, empowered, persuasive, and often deceptive means to achieve their ends according to their privileged status, Zilpah and Bilhah wisely used cooperation and submissiveness within their less privileged status. 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. I have often wondered the nationality (color) of the wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but can not find any concrete evidence. According to Rashi, an 11th-century commentator, Zilpah was younger than Bilhah, and Laban's decision to give her to Leah was part of the deception he used to trick Jacob into marrying Leah, who was older than Rachel. I really do like the way you've likened it to modern day adoption . 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). [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. For this reason, some modern Jewish feminists have reclaimed Bilhah and Zilpah as matriarchs. And then well consider how to respond to our findings. With the help of hormone supplementation, Casey, who had gone through menopause 10 years earlier, became pregnant during her second round of in vitro fertilization, the Chicago Tribune reported. In contrast, in Hagars case, Sarah does not view the son of the shiphchah Hagar as her own son after conception and soured relations (Gen 16, 21). For thousands of years, these three well-known names have been referenced in histories, liturgies, prayer books, and scholarly articles alike. Schneider, Mothers of Promise, 164166.8. Say, the one of Jacob and his wives. So following the example of her sister Leah gave her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob as a wife so that she could have more children. And it gets weirder. It is to Zilpah and Bilhahs credit, because of their honorable actions given their slave status, that their sons inherited alongside their mistresses children, when Hagars son, Ishmael, did not. What was Bilhah and Zilpah's ancestry? - Mi Yodeya When the Israelites finally reached Canaan, they conquered it under the leadership of Joshua. I came to realize that being a Jewish feminist means elevating women, those from our sacred texts who have been forgotten like Bilhah and Zilpah, and Jewish women today. Generating points along line with specifying the origin of point generation in QGIS. May the God of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the God whose covenant is eternal, bless you and make you fruitful. No matter what the circumstances in which they had the children, they had to have had incredible strength to raise those children in those circumstances. Jacob wanted the super-hot Rachel to have a kid. I was thinking about this subject of surrogacy.I recently re-read the record of Jacob and his wives. Let's just move on. Rachel and Leah in the Bible - Biblical Archaeology Society 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. If Rachel had not been barren, she would have most likely had the most children. In her desperation for children Rachel followed the example of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and married her maid Bilhah to her husband so that she could have children through her. I have to say that when I hear of the positive results of agreements between women, for one to bear anothers child and then give that child to her,with love,I can see the love of our Heavenly Father. Amen.13This amended liturgical prayer is based on the traditional, central Jewish liturgical blessing of praise, the Amidah or Standing Prayer, that invokes the blessing of the ancestors, some of which already have added the four matriarchal figures (though most have Rachel before Leah). What nation/family there were from and why the Torah does not see the importance of telling us about that? Jacob was all too happy to oblige, and Bilhah popped out two more boys to bring the total to six. 10 Vayeitzei in a Nutshell Only the tribe of Judah are Jews. Can my creature spell be countered if I cast a split second spell after it? Zilpah and Bilhahs deaths are never mentioned. Their children did not become jews. Amazing Bible Timeline with World History, http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bilhah-bible, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helladic_period, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georgian_brides_in_church.jpg. [4] He was taken into captivity but redeemed by Laban, Rachel and Leah's father. Who was the father of bilhah and Zilpah? Yet they did it out of lovelove for Rachel and Leah, knowing that they could given them something they could not get themselves. Bilhah was named so because of her stunning beauty. Many of the brothers directly speak and act within the familial affairs. See Schneiders Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 103105.3. While Leah, Rachel's older sister, had given birth to four sons. Bilhah and Zilpah were slaves, not wives of a patriarch, but their descendants eventually became the Jewish people. Genesis 30 records that, "when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; The first son Rachel named Dan saying. But dying in childbirth with Benjamin ended that. 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. When I asked Sarah who they were, I didnt know that her answer would be my introduction to the intersection between Judaism and feminism, and would influence how I thought about my role in relation to both. This caused Jacob to commit to another seven years of labor to pay for Rachels hand in marriage though he took her as his wife only a week after he took Leah. The Greatest Champion Of Woman And Womanhood Is Jesus Christ James E. Talmage. (Source) This adoption ceremony was often conducted by placing the son or daughter on the knees of the mistress and declaring it her child. Some of these are easier to swallow than others. Why did Avraham prefer the daughters of Aner, Eshkol and Mamre over Eliezer's daughter? Some Bible scholars believe that Zilpah was younger than Bilhah and was given as the maidservant of Leah to contribute to the deception that surrounded the two brides. Yet they did it and through them came the 12 tribes of Israel the covenant family of the whole earth. Who are considered "avot" who worshipped idols? 8 Zilpah means "to flow" ( lezalef ). 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. How is the difference to be accounted for? On the other hand, I know the scriptures don't always give us the whole story and maybe the two servants agreed to this whole thing. As time has passed, Ive learned about other people whove successfully integrated feminism into their Judaism, the way I want to. With Bilhah and Zilpah, it wasn't a forced issue, it was more of a 'that's what they did in those days' issue. Rachel Giving Bilhah to Jacob from The Story of Jacob series, 1550-75, Netherlandish, Brussels. No longer are Zilpah and Bilhahs children given a shared tent (Gen 31:33) or set in the dangerous frontal position of the caravan (Gen 33:2). The union resulted in two sons, Gad and Asher. As opposed to Isaacs story in which the maid-slave Hagars child is not included in the inheritance, the maid-slaves children are included in the inheritance in Jacobs story. The second son Bilhah bore she named Naphtali and said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed.". You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. As long as Rachel was alive, say these commentators, Jacob kept his bed in her tent and visited the other wives in theirs. So when Rachel meant that Bilhah would bear upon her knees she may have been referring to the actual. Read the latest from JWA from your inbox. Is a downhill scooter lighter than a downhill MTB with same performance? Once again we can see Zilpah and Bilhahs worth in this scene. Zilpah and Bilhah were always cooperative with their mistresses, unlike Hagar. This brought about art, literature, and building projects reappearing on the Egyptian scene. The great, mighty, and awesome God, God most high, who bestows loving-kindness and goodness and who creates everything. Zilpah bore Leah two sons. After Leah has birthed four sons to Jacob, her competitive sister Rachel decides to give Bilhah, her shiphchah, to Jacob as an ishah, meaning complicatedly woman or wife (Gen 30:4). I had never heard of them either only Hagar. These were Jacobs sons number seven and eight respectively. Bilhah, Rachel's servant and Jacob's concubine, bears two more sons, Dan and Naphtali. Genesis 46:18 Commentaries: These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban Probably all three maid-slaves desired to have children, as women were primarily valued for their reproductive capacities in the culture. Where does the version of Hamapil that is different from the Gemara come from? Some pictures, and directions, are here. 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. Though the Genesis narrator always identifies and categorizes the children of Jacob by their biological mother, Bilhah and Zilpah are never termed mother to their children. And that is the mindset at the core of any matriarch. Whom were Bilhah and Zilpah descendant? Zilpah bore Leah two sons. Thus, they have been forgotten as unworthy or ignored as unremarkable. What did it take for Bilhah and Zilpah to share their children with two other women? Whats less clear, however, is their roles within the forming Israelite tribe, especially compared with the roles of Leah and Rachel. Through the wombs of Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah, Israel's people were birthed by choice and by force. Their children were considered Leah's and Rachel's. Schneider, Mothers of Promise, 128.9. Rachel, who was Jacob's favorite wife, had not been blessed with children. Who was Zilpah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org The number of Jacob's descendants through Bilhah was seven. Unexpected uint64 behaviour 0xFFFF'FFFF'FFFF'FFFF - 1 = 0? 7. Yet they did it out of lovelove for Rachel and Leah, knowing that they could given them something they could not get themselves. 35, Dan and Naphtali are presented as the sons of Bilhah, Rachels maid (v. 25). She is given to Jacob as his wife (Hebrew ishah), although in one instance she is called his secondary wife (pilegesh; NRSV, concubine). This is my own translation of the Hebrew text found in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia.6. I agree too that these women had an understanding in the bigger picture and what was important, Your email address will not be published. This is reinforced by the fact that Rachel named both of the sons Bilhah bore. Zilpah is first introduced in the Bible in Genesis 29:24. It only takes a minute to sign up. I do not take women's rights or my Judaism for granted and explore both in my daily life as well. And in every case, the mistress wife names the children born to their maid-slave, also indicating that the children are adopted by the mistress as their own. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Bible Charts and Maps, PO Box 171053, Austin, TX 78717 If she couldn't have the child herself, she came up with the second best option: her handmaiden, Bilhah! See Schneiders Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 103105.) 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. 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. Bilhah bore two sons. When Rachel failed to have children, Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob like a wife to bear him children. 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. Book of Mormon, Study Guides Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. At the start of Josephs story and after Rachels death, the narrator says that Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, who are the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his fathers nashim (meaning wives or women, plural of ishah) (Gen 37:2). He also rips off an arm to use as a sword. In a similar way, when I omit Bilhah and Zilpah, the mothers of 4 of the 12 Israelite tribes, missing in the liturgy due to their subordinate status, I collude in the marginalization of those whom society has assigned a lower status. I thought about how there are two versions of the Amidah in some prayer books, one including the first four matriarchs names, and one without them. For instance, Reuben speaks and acts to dissuade the brothers from killing Joseph (Gen 37:22), Simeon and Levi speak and act after the rape of their sister Dinah (Gen 34:30), Judah speaks and acts on behalf of Benjamin over a stolen cup (Gen 44:18), Joseph speaks and acts by telling his brothers of his dreams of greatness (Gen 37:6), and Benjamin acts to weep with Joseph upon being reunited (Gen 45:14). Nonetheless Bilhah and Zilpah would have been able to see their sons every day and their sons would have know that they were their birth mothers. They were considered concubines, or secondary wives of Jacob. While Leah and Rachel, who are also often named together, competed against each other for Jacobs attention and to accumulate sons, Zilpah and Bilhah were always accommodating, respectful, and supportive of each other and authority figures. Let us know. Often times bricks were placed under her to give her more support and the midwife knelt in front of her. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her." Some of these are easier to swallow than others. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Book of Mormon. Jacob had worked for seven years as part of an agreement to earn Rachels hand in marriage from her father, Laban. Nevertheless, just as consistently, Zilpah and Bilhah are not traditionally listed among the Matriarchs that include Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachelthe mothers of the higher social class of privilege who speak and act.
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