Genesis 30:1-8

2008.Dec.19 07:12

The Handmaid

Read Genesis 30:1-8 | Full Chapter

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!" Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" Then she said, "Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her." So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan. Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.
(Genesis 30:1-8, ESV)

If you haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, quit reading this and go read that, now. Seriously. The read her novel, The Blind Assassin for a little (just a little) cheering up. The Handmaid’s Tale references this narrative. Anyway.

Rachel, more loved by Jacob, is barren. Story of Genesis, right? She complains to her husband. Jacob is angered because he feels there’s nothing he can do. There’s a fair chance he’s right. His point is that he is not God. A surprisingly wise point from him. Now, what do these two do? Do they talk to Yahweh about it? Well, there’s no record of them doing so. Instead, Rachel takes matters into her own hand, and our apparently rather horny patriach willingly goes along.

Specifically, Jacob sleeps with Rachel’s maidservent Bilhah, at Rachel’s suggestion. The technique is effective in so far as Bilhah has two sons, Dan and Naphtali, who Rachel considers as her own children. As with Leah, one of Rachel’s biggest concerns in having these sons–if less than directly–is her status in relation to Leah. Rachel now is both the object of Jacob’s infatuation and has “given him” sons. So, she has “prevailed.”

I have a hard time not assuming that God’s reason for the inclusion of this narrative is to remind us how of our focus can get because of sin (jealousy, in this case). Having children just to say “I’m better than you?” How absurd. But that’s one of the things sin does. It makes us absurd.

Genesis 30:9-13

2008.Dec.26 04:55

To Be Envied

Read Genesis 30:9-13 | Full Chapter

When Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she gave Zilpah her maid to Jacob as a [secondary] wife. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, Victory and good fortune have come; and she named him Gad [fortune]. Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob [her] second son. And Leah said, I am happy, for women will call me blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied); and she named him Asher [happy].
(Genesis 30:9-13, AMP)

Leah has had four sons, but in her race against younger sister Rachel, she’s fallen behind. Rachel has only had two sons, and those actually sons of Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah, but they’re more recent, and Jacob is more attracted to her. What to do? Well, two can play the handmaid game.

So, Leah now has her handmaid become a sort of wife to Jacob. Zilpah now joins this crazy child-bearing game. It’s possible that both Zilpah and Bilhah are glad for these roles. After all, their social positions have probably elevated with this ‘lesser wifedom’, if you will. Their respective patrons are probably more interested in the handmaids’ comfort and well-being. On the downside, they may be increasingly subject to the opposing sister’s wrath. What tangled bloody webs.

So, we’re now up to six sons. Beats me what everybody else has been up to otherwise. Jacob is continuing to help out with Laban’s flocks, but as far as what everyday life is like for this strange family, there’s no indication. Indeed, perhaps this family wasn’t so strange for that time.

Still, at what point do you as [pick one: Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Laban, either handmaid] look up and say, “This infighting stops here and now.” No, it seems the collective family goal is more sons, family happiness and unity are irrelevant. Secondary is the success of Laban’s (and later, Jacob’s) flocks. I don’t understand at all the “many offspring” thing. My wife and I are about to have our first child, and while I wouldn’t be surprised if we have at least one more, I don’t judge my success by having children. Indeed, having many children in modern times strikes me as foolish.

I do understand the pull of financial success. Money can make you happy. Temporarily and incompletely, to be sure, but those moments of “yes, we can afford…” are pretty nice while they last. And certainly there’s the (deceptive) feeling that money brings security. But all these considerations–pride in offspring, jealousy between family members, searching for financial success–distract from the actual success of the family.