Maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah: Are They Matriarchs?

Several folk songs are recited at the end of the Passover Seder. The penultimate song, “Who Knows One?” אחד מי יודע, counts from one to thirteen, connecting a (Jewish) theme for each number. The fourth stanza goes as follows:

ארבע מי יודע? ארבע אני יודע: ארבע אימהות, שלושה אבות, שני לוחות הברית, אחד אלוהינו שבשמיים ובארץ.

Who knows four? I know four. Four are the mothers and three are the fathers and two are the tablets of the covenant, and one is our God in the heavens and the earth.^[1]

The list of three patriarchs appears already in the Torah itself, when YHWH appears to Moses at the burning bush,

^{שמות ג:ו} וַיֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב.

^{Exod 3:6} [YHWH] said: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” ^[2]

The Torah never, however, offers a list of the matriarchs, or even refers to these women as matriarchs, but the rabbis seemingly try to correct this, presenting the matriarchs as parallel to the patriarchs. For example, toward the end of the curses in Leviticus, we are told that YHWH will remember the covenant with the patriarchs (though it does not use this term):

^{ויקרא כו:מב} וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם אֶזְכֹּר וְהָאָרֶץ אֶזְכֹּר.

^{Lev 26:42} Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob; I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.

The early rabbinic midrash Sifra uses the (possibly extraneous) defined direct object marker, את et, to extend the list to include the matriarchs:

^{ספרא, בחוקתי, פרק ח} אין לי אלא אבות; אימהות מנין? תלמוד לומר "את", ואין 'אֶתִים' אלא אימהות שנאמר (בראשית מט, לא) "שמה קברו את אברהם ואת שרה אשתו".

^{Sifra, Bechukotai, Chap 8} This tells me only of the patriarchs. Whence do I derive (the same for) the matriarchs? From (the triple) et, et, et, "et" signifying the matriarchs, as it says: (Gen 49:31), “There they buried Avraham and ('ve-et') Sarah his wife.”

Elsewhere, the Talmud sees each of the three patriarchs and each of the four matriarchs as an official set:

^{ברכות טז:} תַּנְיָא אִידַּךְ: תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אֵין קוֹרִין ״אָבוֹת״ אֶלָּא לִשְׁלֹשָׁה, וְאֵין קוֹרִין ״אִמָּהוֹת״ אֶלָּא לְאַרְבַּע.

^{b. Berakot 16b} The Sages taught: One may only call three [men] patriarchs, and one may only call four [women] matriarchs.^[3]

In his Talmudic commentary there, Rashi (R. Solomon Yitzhaki, ca. 1040–1105) names the four matriarchs:

^{רש"י ברכות טז:} אלא לארבע – שרה רבקה רחל ולאה.

^{Rashi Berakhot 16b} These are the four: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.

Other rabbinic texts, however, argue that, in fact, there are six matriarchs. For instance, Song of Songs Rabbah (ca. 600 C.E., Galilee)^[4] lists the matriarchs as one example of “six.” The text begins with a midrashic reading of a verse in Song of Songs:

^{שיר השירים רבה (וילנא) פרשה ו} "יפה את רעיתי כתרצה" (שיר השירים ו:ד)—כשאת רוצה; כד את בעייא לית את צריכה בעייה מכלום מילף מכלום, מי אמר להם להביא עגלות ובקר לטעון המשכן? לא מהן ובהן הביאו אותן! ה[דא] ה[וא] ד[כתיב]: (במדבר ז:ג) "ויביאו את קרבנם לפני ה' שש עגלות צב."

^{Song Rabbah §6} “You are lovely, my dear, like Tirzah” (Song 6:4)—[parse the word tirtzah as] “when you wish” (ke-she-at rotzah). When you wish, you don’t need to ask anyone or learn from anyone. Who told them [=the princes] to bring carriages and oxen to carry the Tabernacle? Was it not their own idea and their own initiative to bring them?! This is what is written (Num 7:3): “and brought their offering before the LORD: six draught carts.”

The midrash continues by offering various symbolic meanings of the number six:

כנגד ששה רקיעים... שש כנגד שש ארצות... ו' כנגד ו' ערכי משנה, שש כנגד ששת ימי בראשית, ו' כנגד ו' אמהות, שרה רבקה רחל לאה זלפה בלהה.

Corresponding to the six heavens… six corresponding to the six lands… six corresponding to the six sections of the Mishnah… six corresponding to the six days of creation, six corresponding to the six matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah.^[5]

This same interpretation of the number six appears in Esther Rabbah (6^th century),^[6] this time in a midrash on the significance of the six steps to Solomon’s elevated throne:

^{אסתר רבה א:יב} וכן היה "שש מעלות לכסא" (מלכים א י:יט, דברי הימים ב ט:יח)—שש כנגד ששה רקיעים... שש כנגד שש ארצות... שש כנגד ששה סדרי משנה... שש כנגד ששת ימי בראשית, שש כנגד שש אמהות, שרה רבקה רחל, לאה, בלהה, זלפה.^[7]

^{Esther Rabbah 1:12} And there were “six stairs to the throne” (1 Kgs 10:19; 2 Chr 9:18)—Six corresponding to six heavens… six corresponding to six lands… six corresponding to the six sections of the Mishnah… six corresponding to the six days of creation, six corresponding to the six matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah.

Bilhah and Zilpah are also lumped together with the standard four matriarchs in a Yom Kippur prayer listing righteous women of the past:

^{מחזור ליום כפור ספרד, סדר ליל יום כפור, שיר הכבוד} בִּזְכוּת הָאָבוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק יַעֲקֹב משֶׁה אַהֲרֹן דָּוִד שְׁלֹמֹה אֵלִיָּהוּ אֱלִישָׁע, וּבִזְכוּת הָאִמָּהוֹת הַצִּדְקָנִיּוֹת שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל לֵאָה בִּלְהָה זִלְפָּה חַנָּה אֲבִיגַיִל.

^{Machzor Yom Kippur Sefard, Customs of Yom Kippur Night, Shir HaKavod} By the grace of the holy fathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, and by the grace of the righteous mothers, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah, Hannah, Abigail.

Putting aside the question of their righteousness, certainly they are the mothers of four of the Israelite tribes. Why, then, are they excluded from most of the texts and traditions listing matriarchs? To understand this, we need to look at who they are in the Bible.

Bilhah and Zilpah, the Maidservants, Marry Jacob

Upon their marriage to Jacob, Laban gives each of his daughters a shifchah “handmaid”^[8] or “maidservant,” i.e., an enslaved woman:

^{בראשית כט:כד} וַיִּתֵּן לָבָן לָהּ אֶת זִלְפָּה שִׁפְחָתוֹ לְלֵאָה בִתּוֹ שִׁפְחָה.

^{Gen 29:24} Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.

^{בראשית כט:כט} וַיִּתֵּן לָבָן לְרָחֵל בִּתּוֹ אֶת בִּלְהָה שִׁפְחָתוֹ לָהּ לְשִׁפְחָה.

^{Gen 29:29} Laban had given his maidservant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant.^[9]

A maidservant was also someone with whom the master could produce children,^[10] and thus, when Rachel despairs of her ability to get pregnant,^[11] while Leah produces four sons consecutively, she gives Bilhah to Jacob:

^{בראשית ל:ג} וַתֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה אֲמָתִי בִלְהָה בֹּא אֵלֶיהָ וְתֵלֵד עַל בִּרְכַּי וְאִבָּנֶה גַם אָנֹכִי מִמֶּנָּה. ^ל:ד וַתִּתֶּן לוֹ אֶת בִּלְהָה שִׁפְחָתָהּ לְאִשָּׁה וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ יַעֲקֹב.

^{Gen 30:3} She said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Lie with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.” ^30:4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as wife, and Jacob cohabited with her.^[12]

Rachel’s reasoning is the same as Sarai’s, when she gives Hagar to Abram:

^{בראשית טז:ב} וַתֹּאמֶר שָׂרַי אֶל אַבְרָם הִנֵּה נָא עֲצָרַנִי יְ־הוָה מִלֶּדֶת בֹּא נָא אֶל שִׁפְחָתִי אוּלַי אִבָּנֶה מִמֶּנָּה וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם לְקוֹל שָׂרָי. ^טז:ג וַתִּקַּח שָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם אֶת הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית שִׁפְחָתָהּ... וַתִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָם אִישָׁהּ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה.

^{Gen 16:2} And Sarai said to Abram, “Look, YHWH has kept me from bearing. Lie with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her.” And Abram heeded Sarai’s request. ^16:3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian... and gave her to her husband Abram as wife.

Both Hagar and Bilhah are referred to as both maidservant (shifchah/ʾamah) and woman/wife (ishah).^[13] At any rate, by becoming the wife of Abram or Jacob, the woman does not appear to have lost her enslaved status;^[14] this explains why both Sarai and Rachel can speak of building themselves up through the child of the maidservant. Indeed, unlike with Sarai, who seems to lose control over Hagar and has no relationship with her son Ishmael, Rachel names Bilhah’s first son, claiming God has given her—Rachel not Bilhah—a son:

^{בראשית ל:ה} וַתַּהַר בִּלְהָה וַתֵּלֶד לְיַעֲקֹב בֵּן. ^ל:ו וַתֹּאמֶר רָחֵל דָּנַנִּי אֱלֹהִים וְגַם שָׁמַע בְּקֹלִי וַיִּתֶּן־לִי בֵּן עַל־כֵּן קָרְאָה שְׁמוֹ דָּן.

^{Gen 30:5} Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ^30:6 And Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; indeed, He has heeded my plea and given me a son.” Therefore, she named him Dan.^[15]

Rachel names Bilhah’s second son as well—again, with no recognition of Bilhah’s agency or personhood—this time, referencing her competition with Leah:

^{בראשית ל:ז} וַתַּהַר עוֹד וַתֵּלֶד בִּלְהָה שִׁפְחַת רָחֵל בֵּן שֵׁנִי לְיַעֲקֹב. ^ל:ח וַתֹּאמֶר רָחֵל נַפְתּוּלֵי אֱלֹהִים  נִפְתַּלְתִּי עִם אֲחֹתִי גַּם יָכֹלְתִּי וַתִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ נַפְתָּלִי.

^{Gen 30:7} Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ^30:8 And Rachel said, “A fateful contest I waged with my sister; yes, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali.

Realizing what her sister is trying to accomplish by using a surrogate, Leah gives her own maidservant, Zilpah, to Jacob:

^{בראשית ל:ט} וַתֵּרֶא לֵאָה כִּי עָמְדָה מִלֶּדֶת וַתִּקַּח אֶת־זִלְפָּה שִׁפְחָתָהּ וַתִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ לְיַעֲקֹב לְאִשָּׁה.

^{Gen 30:9} When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as concubine.

Like Rachel, Leah names both sons, and the naming (of the second son) is by Leah and not Zilpah:^[16]

^{בראשית ל:יב} וַתֵּלֶד זִלְפָּה שִׁפְחַת לֵאָה בֵּן שֵׁנִי לְיַעֲקֹב. ^ל:יג וַתֹּאמֶר לֵאָה בְּאׇשְׁרִי כִּי אִשְּׁרוּנִי בָּנוֹת וַתִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ אָשֵׁר.

^{Gen 30:12} When Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, ^30:13 Leah declared, “What fortune!” meaning, “Women will deem me fortunate.” So she named him Asher.^[17]

Reflecting on the birth of these four sons, R. Moses Nahmanides (Ramban, ca. 1195–ca. 1270) notes that for each birth, the verse emphasizes that the woman bore a son for Jacob:

^{רמב"ן בראשית ל:ה} "וַתֵּלֶד לְיַעֲקֹב בֵּן"—הִזְכִּיר בְּכָל הַשְּׁפָחוֹת "לְיַעֲקֹב" לְהַגִּיד כִּי הוּא חָפֵץ וּמוֹדֶה בָּהֶם, וְאֵינֶנּוּ נִקְרָא לוֹ בֶּן הָאָמָה רַק בֵּן לְיַעֲקֹב כִּבְנֵי הַגְּבִירוֹת הַמִּתְיַחֲסִים אֵלָיו.

^{Ramban Gen 30:5} “And she bore to Jacob a son”—In the case of all the handmaids Scripture mentions the phrase, to Jacob [in connection with the birth of their children], in order to relate that Jacob desired and acknowledged them and that they were not called by him “sons of the handmaids,” but “sons of Jacob,” just like the sons of the freewomen^[18] who traced their lineage to him.

And yet, the ambiguous status of Bilhah and Zilpah as Jacob’s wives and mothers of his sons one hand, and enslaved women on the other, is reflected as the story continues to unfold.

The Maidservants and Their Children

When Jacob leaves, we hear only that he takes his wives and children, which here includes Bilhah and Zilpah:

^{בראשית לא:יז} וַיָּקׇם יַעֲקֹב וַיִּשָּׂא אֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת נָשָׁיו עַל הַגְּמַלִּים.

^{Gen 31:17} Thereupon Jacob put his children and wives on camels.

Laban soon catches up to Jacob, and searches through the tents of all the wives for stolen goods; here, Bilhah and Zilpah are characterized as the (unnamed) maidservants:

^{בראשית לא:לג} וַיָּבֹא לָבָן בְּאֹהֶל יַעֲקֹב  וּבְאֹהֶל לֵאָה וּבְאֹהֶל שְׁתֵּי הָאֲמָהֹת וְלֹא מָצָא וַיֵּצֵא מֵאֹהֶל לֵאָה וַיָּבֹא בְּאֹהֶל רָחֵל.

^{Gen 31:33} So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.

The distinction between the status of Jacob’s wives Rachel and Leah and that status of their maidservants is evident in Laban’s demand of Jacob later in the chapter that he not marry any women other than his daughters:

^{בראשית לא:נ} אִם תְּעַנֶּה אֶת בְּנֹתַי וְאִם תִּקַּח נָשִׁים עַל בְּנֹתַי אֵין אִישׁ עִמָּנוּ רְאֵה אֱלֹהִים עֵד בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ.

^{Gen 31:50} If you ill-treat my daughters or take other wives besides my daughters—though no one else be about, remember, it is God who will be witness between you and me.”

And yet, Jacob has already married two other women. Because Bilhah and Zilpah are enslaved women, owned by his daughters, they are not a threat to them. Nevertheless, rabbinic interpretation (Gen Rab 74:13) imagines Bilhah and Zilpah to also be Laban’s daughters, born to his own maidservants. This is also reflected in Rashi’s commentary:

^{רש"י בראשית לא:נ:א} "בנתי... בנתי"—שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים, אַף בִּלְהָה וְזִלְפָּה בְּנוֹתָיו הָיוּ מִפִּילֶגֶשׁ:

^{Rashi Gen 31:50} “my daughters… my daughters”—The word is written twice, referring once to Leah and Rachel and the second time to the handmaids, because Bilhah and Zilpah were also his daughters from a concubine.

Bilhah and Zilpah are again combined in the general category of (two) unnamed maidservants when Jacob crosses the Yabbok river, before striving with the divine being:

^{בראשית לב:כג} וַיָּקׇם  בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא וַיִּקַּח אֶת שְׁתֵּי נָשָׁיו וְאֶת שְׁתֵּי שִׁפְחֹתָיו וְאֶת אַחַד עָשָׂר יְלָדָיו וַיַּעֲבֹר אֵת מַעֲבַר יַבֹּק.

^{Gen 32:23} That same night he arose, and taking his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, he crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

The Maidservants’ Children, Not Rachel and Leah’s

When Jacob meets his brother Esau, we see that not only the maidservants, but also their sons are of a lower status, as the maidservants and their children are presented first, since Jacob is most willing to risk their death by Esau:

^{בראשית לג:א} וַיִּשָּׂא יַעֲקֹב עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה עֵשָׂו בָּא וְעִמּוֹ אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אִישׁ וַיַּחַץ אֶת הַיְלָדִים עַל לֵאָה וְעַל רָחֵל וְעַל שְׁתֵּי הַשְּׁפָחוֹת׃ ^לג:ב וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת הַשְּׁפָחוֹת וְאֶת יַלְדֵיהֶן רִאשֹׁנָה וְאֶת לֵאָה וִילָדֶיהָ אַחֲרֹנִים וְאֶת רָחֵל וְאֶת יוֹסֵף אַחֲרֹנִים....^לג:ו וַתִּגַּשְׁןָ הַשְּׁפָחוֹת הֵנָּה וְיַלְדֵיהֶן וַתִּשְׁתַּחֲוֶיןָ׃ ^לג:ז וַתִּגַּשׁ גַּם לֵאָה וִילָדֶיהָ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ וְאַחַר נִגַּשׁ יוֹסֵף וְרָחֵל וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ.

^{Gen 33:1} Looking up, Jacob saw Esau coming, accompanied by four hundred men. He divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maids, ^33:2 putting the maidservants and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last…. ^33:6 Then the maidservants, with their children, came forward and bowed low; ^33:7 next Leah, with her children, came forward and bowed low; and last, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed low.

We see this ordering again immediately after the story of Reuben lying with Bilhah (see appendix), when the Torah affirms that Jacob had twelve sons, but divides them based on their mother, with the sons of the maidservants listed separately by their mothers:

^{בראשית לה:כב} ...וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי יַעֲקֹב שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר. ^לה:כג בְּנֵי לֵאָה בְּכוֹר יַעֲקֹב רְאוּבֵן וְשִׁמְעוֹן וְלֵוִי וִיהוּדָה וְיִשָּׂשכָר וּזְבוּלֻן. ^לה:כד בְּנֵי רָחֵל יוֹסֵף וּבִנְיָמִן.

^{Gen 35:22} …Now the sons of Jacob were twelve in number. ^35:23 The sons of Leah: Reuben—Jacob’s first-born—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ^35:24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

^לה:כה וּבְנֵי בִלְהָה שִׁפְחַת רָחֵל דָּן וְנַפְתָּלִי. ^לה:כו וּבְנֵי זִלְפָּה שִׁפְחַת לֵאָה גָּד וְאָשֵׁר...

^35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. ^35:26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher.^[19]

On one hand, the maidservants are clearly marked as mothers; Leah and Rachel do not get “ownership” of their children. On the other hand, both women are specifically marked as maidservants as opposed to wives.^[20]

Twelve Brothers from One Father

As the story progresses, sometimes the son of the maidservants are presented as just part of Jacob’s sons. This happens, for example, in the story of the rape and abduction of Dinah (Gen 34:7), when the brothers decide to kill Joseph (Gen 37:19–20), when Jacob addresses them to go get food (Gen 42:1), and when they unknowingly plead with him as vizier:

^{בראשית מב:יג} וַיֹּאמְרוּ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר עֲבָדֶיךָ אַחִים אֲנַחְנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וְהִנֵּה הַקָּטֹן אֶת אָבִינוּ הַיּוֹם וְהָאֶחָד אֵינֶנּוּ.

^{Gen 42:13} And they replied, “We your servants were twelve brothers, sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more.”

One important exception is at the very beginning of the Joseph story, where we are told that Joseph tattletaled on the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah:

^{בראשית לז:ב} יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן וְהוּא נַעַר אֶת בְּנֵי בִלְהָה וְאֶת בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה נְשֵׁי אָבִיו וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל אֲבִיהֶם.

^{Gen 37:2} At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father.

On one hand, this implies these brothers are of lower status than Joseph, but on the other hand, their mothers are referred to here as his father’s wives, which no mention of their also being maidservants.

Twelve Tribes, with No Distinction

In Jacob’s words to each of his sons on his deathbed, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah are called Jacob’s sons, with no reference to different mothers (Gen 49:1–27). All of Jacob’s sons are referred to as the forefathers of the tribes of Israel, seemingly conferring equal status on them all:

^{בראשית מט:כח} כׇּל אֵלֶּה שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר וְזֹאת אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָהֶם אֲבִיהֶם וַיְבָרֶךְ אוֹתָם אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר כְּבִרְכָתוֹ בֵּרַךְ אֹתָם.

^{Gen 49:28} All these were the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is what their father said to them as he bade them farewell, addressing to each a parting word appropriate to him.

The status of their children is what leads some to consider Zilpah and Bilhah as functioning as “matriarchs” since their children are counted as tribes in Israel. Yet, even though they are described not just as handmaidens but as wives, they are not buried in the family cave in Hebron.

The Maidservants Are Not Buried in Machpelah

Jacob’s dying wish is to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah:

^{בראשית מט:לא} שָׁמָּה קָבְרוּ אֶת אַבְרָהָם וְאֵת שָׂרָה אִשְׁתּוֹ שָׁמָּה קָבְרוּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְאֵת רִבְקָה אִשְׁתּוֹ וְשָׁמָּה קָבַרְתִּי אֶת לֵאָה.

^{Gen 49:31} there Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebecca were buried; and there I buried Leah…”

Of course, Rachel too isn’t buried in the Cave of Machpelah, but the absence of any reference to Bilhah and Zilpah’s death or where they are buried highlights their secondary role as matriarchs in comparison with Rachel and Leah. Bilhah and Zilpah are matriarchs in one sense, but just conduits for the birth of Jacob’s sons in another.

Redeeming Bilhah and Zilpah

As noted in the opening, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah are generally presented as the biblical “mothers.” While the traditional liturgy only mentions the patriarchs in the opening of the Amidah—the core Jewish prayer—all non-Orthodox movements include Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah as the matriarchs. But Bilhah and Zilpah remain absent.^[21]And yet, they came from Paddan-Aram, they were married to a patriarch, and they bore covenantal sons.

As we saw earlier, some strands of midrash do count them as matriarchs. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (ca. 7^th cent. C.E.) goes so far as to say that their names were carved on Moses’ staff:

^{תרגום ירושלמי [פסודו-יונתן] שמות יד:כא} ויט משה את ידו על הים במטה הגדול והנכבד שנברא מבתחלה ובו חקוק ומפורש השם הגדול והנכבד ועשרת האותות אשר הכה את מצרים ושלשת אבות העולם וששת האמהות ושנים עשר שבטי יעקב...

^{Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Exod 14:21} And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea with his great and revered staff which was created at the beginning of time, upon which was carved and articulated the great and revered name [of God], then ten plagues with which Egypt was struck, the three patriarchs, the six matriarchs, and the twelve tribes of Jacob…

From the perspective of Torah law, at least, Jacob’s marriage to them was more appropriate than his marriage to two sisters, something expressly forbidden in the laws of Leviticus (18:18). If many more progressive strains of Judaism are including the Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel as ancestors on account of feminist sensibilities, should we really be excluding Bilhah and Zilpah for no other reason than that they were enslaved?

Appendix

The Incident with Reuben and Bilhah

Shortly after Rachel’s death,^[22] Leah’s eldest son Reuben lays with Bilhah, who is here named as Jacob’s pilegesh, generally translated as “concubine”^[23]:

^{בראשית לה:כב} וַיְהִי בִּשְׁכֹּן יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּאָרֶץ הַהִוא וַיֵּלֶךְ רְאוּבֵן וַיִּשְׁכַּב אֶת בִּלְהָה פִּילֶגֶשׁ אָבִיו וַיִּשְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵ͏ל.

^{Gen 35:22} While Israel stayed in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine; and Israel found out.^[24]

This episode may be telling for how Jacob’s sons view her. When the reader first meets Bilhah, she categorically belongs to Rachel (29:29). With Rachel’s death, to whom does Bilhah belong? According to the narrator of Genesis, she belongs to Jacob because they refer to Bilhah as “his (referring to Reuben) father’s pilegesh.”

Does this act show Reuben trying to undermine his father’s power by stealing his wife, as Absalom does during his revolt against David (2 Sam 16:21-22), or is this Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob, trying to claim the only available female left from Paddan-aram with whom to create legitimate heirs?^[25] Clearly Jacob views Reuben’s actions—which violates Torah law (Lev 18:8, 20:11; Deut 27:20)—as a terrible affront, which leads him to curse his son on his deathbed:

^{בראשית מט:ג} רְאוּבֵן בְּכֹרִי אַתָּה כֹּחִי וְרֵאשִׁית אוֹנִי יֶתֶר שְׂאֵת וְיֶתֶר עָז. ^מט:ד פַּחַז כַּמַּיִם אַל תּוֹתַר כִּי עָלִיתָ מִשְׁכְּבֵי אָבִיךָ אָז חִלַּלְתָּ יְצוּעִי עָלָה.

^{Gen 49:3} Reuben, you are my first-born, my might and first fruit of my vigor, exceeding in rank and exceeding in honor. ^49:4 Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer; for when you mounted your father’s bed, you brought disgrace—my couch he mounted!

While this is in the voice of Jacob, Jewish tradition has remained open to other interpretations.^[26]