Bilhah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Rachel's handmaid ( Genesis 29:29). Rachel having no children gave Bilhah to her husband Jacob, who by the latter had two sons, Dan and Naphtali ( Genesis 30:1-8;  Genesis 35:25;  Genesis 46:25;  1 Chronicles 7:13). Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, defiled her, and was therefore deprived of the birthright, which was given to the sons of Joseph ( Genesis 35:22;  Genesis 49:4;  1 Chronicles 5:1). Blunt says, so vivid was the desire for the promised Redeemer, that "the wife provoked, instead of resenting, the faithlessness of her husband, the mother taught her own child deceit, daughters deliberately worked their own and their fathers' shame, and the daughter-in-law courted the incestuous bed, and to be childless was a by-word" ( Genesis 16:2;  Genesis 30:3;  Genesis 30:9;  Genesis 25:23;  Genesis 27:13;  Genesis 19:31;  Genesis 38:14).

2. A Simeonite town ( 1 Chronicles 4:29), named also Baalah or Balah ( Joshua 19:3).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BILHAH . 1 . A slave-girl given to Rachel by Laban (  Genesis 29:29 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] )), and by her to Jacob as a concubine (  Genesis 30:3-4 (JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] )); the mother of Dan and Naphtali (  Genesis 30:4;   Genesis 30:7 (JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] )   Genesis 35:25 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] )   Genesis 46:25 (R [Note: Redactor.] ),   1 Chronicles 7:13 ). She was guilty of incest with Reuben (  Genesis 35:22 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] )). The etymology is uncertain. These narratives and genealogies probably embody early traditions as to the origin and mutual relations of the tribes, rather than personal history. Tribes are traced to a concubine ancestress, because they were’ a late accession to Israel. 2 . A Simeonite city (  1 Chronicles 4:29 ) = Baalah (  Joshua 15:29 ), Balah (  Joshua 19:3 ), and, according to some, Baalath (  Joshua 19:44 ,   1 Kings 9:18 ,   2 Chronicles 8:6 ). Site uncertain.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Handmaid of Rachel, and mother of Dan and Naphtali.  Genesis 29:29;  Genesis 30:3-7;  Genesis 35:22,25;  Genesis 37:2;  Genesis 46:25 .

2. Town in Simeon,  1 Chronicles 4:29 : the same as BALAH in  Joshua 19:3 . See BAALAH.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Bil'hah. (timid, bashful). Handmaid of Rachel,  Genesis 29:29, and concubine of Jacob, to whom she bore Dan and Naphtali.  Genesis 30:3-8;  Genesis 35:25;  Genesis 46:25;  1 Chronicles 7:13. (B.C 53).

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The handmaid of Rachel, given by her to her husband Jacob when herself childless, that she might become a mother through her handmaid. Bilhah was the mother of Dan and Naphtali,  Genesis 30:1 -  8 .

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Rachel's handmaid, given by her to Jacob her husband, as a concubinary wife, that, through her she might have a son,  Genesis 30:3-4 , &c. See BARRENNESS .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 29:29 Genesis 29:29 Genesis 30:4-7

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 29:29 Genesis 30:3-8

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Bilhah', בַּלְהָה , faltering, i.e. perh. bashful),' the name of a woman and of a place.

1. (Sept. Βαλλά ) The handmaid ( Genesis 29:29) whom the childless Rachel bestowed as a concubine upon her husband Jacob, that through her she might have children. B.C. 191t. Bilhah thus became the mother of Dan and Naphtali ( Genesis 30:3-8;  Genesis 35:25;  Genesis 46:25;  1 Chronicles 7:13). Her stepson Reuben afterward lay with her ( Genesis 35:22), B.C. cir. 1890, and thus incurred his father's dying reproof ( Genesis 49:4).

2. (Sept. Βαλαά .) A place belonging to the tribe of Simeon ( 1 Chronicles 4:29), called BALAH (See Balah) (q.v.) in  Joshua 19:3; and it seems to be the same which is called BAALAH in  Joshua 15:29.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Bil´hah, the handmaid whom the childless Rachel bestowed upon her husband Jacob, that through her she might have children. Bilhah became the mother of Dan and Naphtali ( Genesis 30:1-8).