Genesis 30:4
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
3 Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”
So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
5 and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son.
6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
- KJV
- And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
- WEB
- She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- ASV
- And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
- DARBY
- And she gave him Bilhah her maidservant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- BLB
- And she gave to him Bilhah her maidservant for a wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- ÅB
- Så gav hun sin slavekvinne Bilha til hustru, og Jakob gikk inn til henne.
- OTB
- Så presenterte hun sin tjenestepike Bilha for Jakob som en kone, og Jakob var med henne.
- B1930
- Så gav hun sin trælkvinne Bilha til hustru, og Jakob gikk inn til henne.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 35:22
While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
Read in contextGenesis 21:10
and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
Read in contextGenesis 22:24
Moreover, Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Read in contextGenesis 33:2
He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
Read in context2 Samuel 12:11
This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.
Read in contextGenesis 25:1
Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah,
Read in contextGenesis 16:3–4
So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.
Read in contextGenesis 25:6
But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
Read in context