Genesis 30:4 kjv

And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

Genesis 30:4 nkjv

Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

Genesis 30:4 niv

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her,

Genesis 30:4 esv

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

Genesis 30:4 nlt

So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

Genesis 30 verses

Genesis 30 4 Meaning

Genesis 30:4 states that Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, bore a son to Jacob. This verse marks the successful implementation of Rachel’s plan to obtain children through her servant, as was permissible by the customs of that era. It highlights the desperation of Rachel due to her barrenness and her attempt to build her family line through human means, mirroring Sarai's actions with Hagar. The child born of the handmaid was legally considered the child of the mistress.

Genesis 30 4 Context

Genesis 30:4 is situated within a period of intense rivalry and competition between Jacob’s two wives, Leah and Rachel, for their husband's affection and, crucially, for the ability to bear children. Rachel, who was Jacob's favored wife, was initially barren, while Leah had already given birth to four sons. In this ancient Near Eastern cultural context, barrenness was often seen as a significant affliction or even a disgrace, while abundant offspring were viewed as a divine blessing and crucial for establishing one's legacy. Chapter 30 details Rachel's emotional distress ("Give me children, or I shall die!") and her subsequent decision to use her maidservant, Bilhah, as a surrogate to bear children on her behalf. This practice was a recognized, though not necessarily ideal, method of ensuring heirs in societies where lineage was paramount. The action here echoes Abraham and Sarah's use of Hagar in Genesis 16, highlighting a recurring pattern of human intervention when God's promised timing or method seemed to delay.

Genesis 30 4 Word analysis

• And (וַ, va): A simple conjunction connecting this action to Rachel's command in the preceding verses. It denotes the direct result or progression from her proposal to its execution.
• Bilhah (בִּלְהָה, Bilhah): The personal name of Rachel’s maidservant, who had been given to Rachel by Laban (Gen 29:24). The name possibly means "faltering" or "confusion," perhaps reflecting her position or the turbulent circumstances of her master’s household. In the societal context of the time, a handmaid's child was legally considered the offspring of the mistress, highlighting Bilhah's role as a surrogate rather than a co-wife in the eyes of Rachel.
• gave him a son (וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ בֵן, vattéled lo ven):
  • gave... a son (וַתֵּלֶד בֵן, vattéled ben): This is from the Hebrew verb יָלַד (yalad), meaning "to give birth" or "to bear." The narrative emphasizes the physical act of birth. The gender of the child is immediately specified as male ("a son," בֵן, ben), which was of utmost importance for lineage and inheritance in Israelite culture.
  • him (לוֹ, lo): The direct object pronoun referring to Jacob. This phrase underscores that the child was biologically Jacob’s, conceived through him. The immediate legal implication, from Rachel’s perspective and ancient custom, was that this son belonged to her (Rachel) via her husband.

Words-group by words-group analysis

• "And Bilhah gave him a son": This entire clause concisely details the outcome of Rachel’s strategy. It highlights that the attempt to bypass her barrenness through human custom was, from a physical standpoint, immediately successful. It sets the stage for the birth of Bilhah's first son, Dan, and the continued expansion of Jacob's household, forming new branches of the future tribes of Israel, even through complex and morally ambiguous circumstances from a divine perspective. This particular phrase is factual and pivotal, signifying the commencement of a new stage in Jacob's family formation, adding two more potential "sons of Israel" from a mother who was not one of Jacob's direct wives, yet whose children were recognized within the family line.

Genesis 30 4 Bonus section

The practice of a barren wife providing a handmaid to her husband was regulated by ancient Near Eastern law codes (like the Code of Hammurabi) and illuminated by cultural texts such as the Nuzi tablets. These sources confirm that children born of such unions were considered the legitimate heirs of the master and mistress. However, while culturally permissible, the Bible's narrative implies the consequences of polygamy and the desperation it fostered, highlighting that divine blessings for progeny were ultimately God's to give directly and through His chosen timing (as He eventually does for Rachel with Joseph). The physical success in bearing a son via Bilhah underscores Rachel's worldly focus on immediate family increase, contrasting with the eventual display of God's direct power in opening Rachel's womb later in the narrative (Gen 30:22).

Genesis 30 4 Commentary

Genesis 30:4 marks a significant moment in the unfolding narrative of Jacob's family, underscoring both Rachel's intense desperation for children and the cultural means available to her in the ancient Near East. Unable to conceive herself, Rachel resorts to a socially acceptable yet humanly contrived method of surrogacy through her maidservant, Bilhah. The quick success—Bilhah "gave him a son"—highlights the efficiency of this arrangement, providing an immediate (albeit not ultimate) solution to Rachel's pressing concern for progeny.

This verse subtly presents the complexities of a multi-wife household. While providing sons, this system, driven by human longing and rivalry rather than direct divine instruction for these circumstances, invariably led to further domestic strife and emotional anguish, as evidenced by Rachel’s envy and the subsequent naming of children. Despite these imperfect human arrangements, God remained sovereign over the formation of His covenant people. Bilhah's sons, Dan and Naphtali, though born through an ancillary mother, would ultimately become full-fledged tribes of Israel, demonstrating how God's divine plan of creating a nation unfolds even through complicated family dynamics and human attempts to hasten His promises. The account thus affirms God's providential hand in shaping Israel's twelve tribes, regardless of the challenging circumstances of their birth.