These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
Parallel translations
- WEB These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven.
- KJV These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
- BSB These are the sons of Jacob born to Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel—seven in all.
- NASB These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob; there were seven persons in all.
- NLT These were the sons of Bilhah, the servant given to Rachel by her father, Laban. The number of Jacob’s descendants through Bilhah was seven.
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
Bilhah's descendants total seven souls. This summarizes Jacob's family through Rachel's handmaid.
Overview
Bilhah, given by Laban to Rachel, bore Dan and Naphtali and their lines. The total of seven completes the accounting of the four mothers' children. Scripture's inclusion of the handmaids' descendants shows the breadth of the covenant family God was forming into a nation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Gen 29:29Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his servant, to be her servant.
- Gen 35:25The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s servant): Dan and Naphtali.
- Gen 30:3–8She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.”
- Gen 35:22While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
- Exod 1:2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 46:25 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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