Zilpah
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah (זִלְפָּה "drooping", Standard Hebrew Zilpa, Tiberian Hebrew Zilpâ) was Leah's handmaid, who Leah gave to Jacob "to wife" to bear him children. (Genesis 30:9) Zilpah gave birth to two sons, who Leah claimed as her own and named Gad and Asher. (Genesis 30:10–13) (The prefix "to", as in "took to wife", may indicate that the wife is a concubine or inferior wife.[1])
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 some commentators, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban. (Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, xxxvi.)
Zilpah also figures in the competition between Jacob's wives to bear him sons. Leah stops conceiving after the birth of her fourth son, at which point [2] Rachel, who had not yet borne children, offers her handmaid, Bilhah, "to wife" to Jacob so that she can have children through her. When Bilhah conceives two sons, Leah takes up the same idea and presents Zilpah "to wife" to Jacob. Leah names the two sons of Zilpah and is directly involved in their upbringing.
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. The morning after the wedding, Laban explained to Jacob, "This is not done in our place, to give the younger before the older" (Genesis 29:26). But at night, to mask the deception, Laban gave the veiled bride the younger of the handmaids, so Jacob would think that he was really marrying Rachel, the younger of the sisters.
In Jewish tradition, Zilpah is believed to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.
Family tree
| Noah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shem[3] | Ham | Japheth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elam | Ashur | Arphaxad | Lud | Aram | Unnamed daughters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peleg | Joktan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reu | 13 sons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Serug | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nahor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Terah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sarah[4] | Abraham[5] | Hagar | Haran[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keturah | Nahor[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ishmael[6] | Milcah[5] | Lot[5] | Iscah[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zimran Jokshan Medan Midian Ishbak Shuah | 1. Nebaioth 2. Kedar 3. Adbeel 4. Mibsam 5. Mishma 6. Dumah 7. Massa 8. Hadad 9. Tema 10. Jetur 11. Naphish 12. Kedemah Mahalath/Basemath (daughter) | 7 sons[7] | Bethuel[8] | 1st daughter[9] | 2nd daughter[9] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Isaac[10] | Rebecca[8] | Laban[11] | Moab[9] | Ben-Ammi[9] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Esau | Jacob | Leah | Rachel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In popular culture
In the novel The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, Zilpah and Bilhah are represented as half-sisters of Leah and Rachel by different mothers.
References
- ^ Women, similar to wives from vadimcherny.org
- ^ Genesis 30:3
- ^ https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.11.11?lang=bi&aliyot=0
- ^ Sarah was the half–sister of Abraham (Genesis 20:12). An alternative tradition holds that she was Abraham's niece (see Sarah#In rabbinic literature).
- ^ a b c d e f Genesis 11:27–29
- ^ Genesis 16:15
- ^ Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, and Jidlaph (Genesis 22:20–22).
- ^ a b Genesis 22:20–23
- ^ a b c d Genesis 19:30–38
- ^ Genesis 21:1–3
- ^ Genesis 25:20, 24–26