Bilhah

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In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah (בִּלְהָה "Faltering; bashful", Standard Hebrew Bilha, Tiberian Hebrew Bilhāh) is Rachel's handmaid and a concubine of Jacob who bears him two sons, Dan and Naphtali (see Gen. 30:3-5, 35:25).

Bilhah is given to Rachel as a handmaid by Rachel's father, Laban, upon Rachel's marriage to Jacob. According to some commentators, Bilhah and Zilpah, the handmaids of Rachel and Leah respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban{Pirḳe de R. Eliezer, xxxvi.}

When Rachel is unable to conceive, she offers her handmaid to Jacob in marriage, and is delighted when Bilhah bears two sons. Rachel names Dan and Naphtali and plays an active role in their upbringing as two future Tribes of Israel.

After the death of Rachel, Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, loses his right to a double inheritance when he is accused of infidelity with Bilhah (see Gen. 35:22, 49:3,4; Deuteronomy. 21:17).

According to Rashi, as long as Rachel was alive, Jacob kept his bed in her tent and visited the other wives in theirs. When Rachel died, Jacob moved his bed into the tent of Bilhah, who had been mentored by Rachel, to retain a closeness to his favourite wife. However, Reuben felt that this move slighted his mother, Leah, who was also a primary wife, and so he moved Jacob's bed into his mother's tent. This invasion of Jacob's privacy was viewed so gravely that the Bible equates it with adultery.

Bilhah is said to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.

[edit] Popular culture

The story of Reuben and Bilhah is satirized in the book, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. In the novel The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, Bilhah and Zilpah are represented as half-sisters of Leah and Rachel by different mothers.