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.