Read more of Bilhah's and Zilpah's stories: Genesis 29:24, 29; 30:3-13; 31:33; 32:17, 22; 35:22, 26; 37:2, 46:18, 25
It is not fair to lump these women into one story. Each woman is a unique and wonderful child of God, who has her own story and own gifts. Unfortunately, we do not hear those stories from the Bible. We do not hear about Bilhah's kind eyes or Zilpah's grace and beauty. We do not hear if one is younger or older, if one is taller than the other. We do not know who their parents are or their ethnic origins. We know their names and that they were pawns in the story of a fight between two powerful, jealous, and longing sisters.
I recently read an article saying that it is about time that we tell stories as they are, instead of how they are romanticized to be. It was in reference to the time of slavery, but I think (and I believe theologian Phyllis Trible would agree) that we need to do this biblically as well. For that reason, you will read words and phrases in this post that might be difficult (especially regarding slavery and sexual assault).
Bilhah and Zilpah were slaves to Rachel and Leah, hostages in their own time. They were taken from their homes and trafficked by Laban, and given to his daughters. Even in the case that Bilhah and Zilpah were Laban's daughters and Rachel and Leah's half sisters (which is a rabbinic tradition), they were obviously his daughter by one of his rape victims, not by his wife, as they were not given the same respect and dignity of Rachel and Leah.
As if Bilhah's and Zilpah's dignity is not stripped enough simply by being slaves, they are raped by Jacob and bear him four children. Their children will be ripped from them and taken as Leah and Rachel's. Later, when Rachel dies, Bilhah is raped by Leah's oldest son, Reuben (Genesis 35:22).
This sounds difficult and harsh. Perhaps we can write it off as being "just the way things were in Biblical times." But this "tradition" of raping slaves and then further enslaving their children was a common practice in this country well into the late 1800s. Here in Jacksonville, Zephaniah Kingsley, Jr. (of the Kingsley Plantation in the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve) was known to be a "lenient" human trafficker. Yet, his first "wife" Anna was trafficked from Havana, Cuba when she was 13 years old. He had three other "wives" that he trafficked from various places and had a total of nine children with them. We're told that he educated his children "to high standards," but never freed them or his "wives," even upon his death. Anna, his first "wife," is buried in an unmarked grave in the Arlington area.
I tell this story to emphasize that the story of Bilhah and Zilpah is not an isolated incident from thousands of years ago. The story continues into the 19th century in the chattel slavery system and even today, as generations of Black men are enslaved in the prison industrial complex.
I wish we had more of Bilhah and Zilpah's stories. I wish we knew about their origins and their favorite foods. But we can continue to hear their story in the lines between Leah and Rachel, and tell how this story continue today. It is a small way to give them their dignity, as precious children of God, to remember them as such.
Questions to consider:
How much do you know about Jacksonville's history?
How is history told in "whitewashed" or "watered down" ways? For example, describing a slave-owner as "lenient" or describing a 13 year-old slave as a "wife."
How can we tell stories more honestly, even if they are difficult?
