Genesis 30:4 - Printer Friendly

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

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

NASB: So she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her.

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

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

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

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

Rachel, desperate for children and unable to have any of her own, has given to Jacob her servant girl Bilhah. Any children they have together will belong to Rachel by proxy. Jacob apparently agrees to this plan; we're told of no objections from him. He takes Bilhah as his wife and begins to have relations with her. This is very similar to how Rachel's grandmother, Sarah attempted to have a child, through her servant Hagar, after being unable to conceive with Abraham (Genesis 16:1–4).

To modern readers, the circumstances out of which Jacob's children are born seem far less than ideal. Leah is unloved by her husband (Genesis 29:31. Rachel appears unwilling to trust God and wait on Him (Genesis 30:1–3). Bilhah is, in essence, a slave-wife (Genesis 29:29). In fact, the situation is tragic, and only becomes more dysfunctional over time, as the two sisters engage in a "birth race," competing to produce more sons. Still, God will keep His promises to Abraham and Jacob through these wives and children. As He does even today, the Lord will accomplish His purposes, even through sinful and conflicted people.

Genesis 30:1–24 describes the birth of eight more sons to Jacob, as well as one daughter. While Rachel remains barren, her servant woman bears to Jacob two sons. Then Leah's servant woman does so, as well. Next, Leah herself has three more children. Then, finally, God remembers Rachel. She gives birth to Joseph, giving him a name that is essentially a prayer for another son to follow. As the section ends, Jacob now has 11 sons, at least one daughter, and a plan to return home to his own people.

God alone gives children. He causes babies to be born. He even determines what color baby sheep and goats will be. Genesis 30 describes the urgent desire of Rachel and Leah to have sons for Jacob and how God hears and grants their prayers in His own time. In addition, God blesses Jacob's unusual breeding practices with Laban's flocks to finally allow Jacob to overcome his father-in-law's schemes to keep Jacob under his service.

In the previous chapter, Laban tricked Jacob both into marrying Leah along with Rachel and into working for him as a servant for a total of fourteen years. God blessed unloved Leah by allowing her to bear four sons to Jacob. As this chapter opens, Rachel remains barren while Leah and both of their servant women continue to bear sons. Finally God answers Rachel's prayer, allowing her to bear Joseph. His contract completed, Jacob demands Laban send him away to his own people. Laban refuses, asking Jacob to set new terms for his service. Jacob's deal, along with the Lord's blessing and his unusual breeding practices with the flocks, results in Jacob becoming a wealthy man in his own right. This wealth and power will enable him to finally break free and return home.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.