And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
Parallel translations
- WEB She gave him Bilhah her servant as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- BSB So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,
- NKJV Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
- NASB So she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her.
- NLT So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Rachel gives Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he goes in to her.
Overview
Jacob takes Bilhah as a secondary wife at Rachel's urging, deepening the polygamous tangle of the household. The narrative records this plainly as part of how Jacob's twelve sons came to be. God's sovereign purpose advances even through these flawed human arrangements, though not without consequence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 35:22And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
- Gen 25:1Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
- 2 Sam 12:11Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
- Gen 21:10Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
- Gen 33:2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
- Gen 16:3–4And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
- Gen 25:6But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
- Gen 22:24And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 30:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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