Zilpah

Biblical Record

Zilpah appears only in Genesis. No words spoken by her are recorded.

• Becomes Leah's handmaid: When Leah married Jacob, her father Laban gave Zilpah to her as a handmaid (Genesis 29:24). A handmaid was a female servant who personally attended her mistress. Laban, Jacob's maternal uncle, lived in the region of Haran.
• Becomes Jacob's wife: After Leah had borne four sons and then ceased bearing, she gave Zilpah to Jacob as a wife (Genesis 30:9). Rachel had earlier given her own maidservant Bilhah to Jacob (Genesis 30:3).
• Bears Gad and Asher: Leah named Zilpah's first son Gad, saying, "A troop cometh" (rendered in some translations as "How fortunate"), and named the second son Asher, saying, "Happy am I" (Genesis 30:10–13). The children were named by Leah, not by Zilpah.
• Later mentions: In the list of Jacob's sons, Gad and Asher appear as "the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid" (Genesis 35:26). The young Joseph, while tending the flock, is also said to have been "with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives" (Genesis 37:2). When Jacob went down to Egypt, Zilpah's descendants numbered sixteen in all (Genesis 46:16–18).

Significance Within Scripture

Zilpah's sons Gad and Asher, like Jacob's other sons, became ancestors of two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Commentators frequently note that they were not excluded from the tribes because they were sons of a maidservant. Zilpah's name does not appear in the New Testament, although the tribes of Gad and Asher are included in the list of sealed tribes in Revelation 7:5–6.

Interpretation and Issues

• Surrogate childbearing: The practice of a wife giving her maidservant to her husband in order to obtain children also appears in the account of Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16). Scholars note that similar customs are attested in various ancient Near Eastern documents. Many interpreters read this account not as an example to be imitated but as a straightforward report of the customs of the time and of the rivalry between Rachel and Leah.
• Question of status: The text calls Zilpah a "maidservant" and "handmaid," yet also calls her a "wife." Interpreters therefore differ on whether she was a full wife or closer to a concubine.
• Extrabiblical traditions: Some Jewish traditions hold that Zilpah and Bilhah were daughters of Laban. The text of Genesis, however, makes no such statement.
• A voiceless figure: Some recent interpreters draw attention to the fact that Zilpah did not name her own children and left no recorded words. They read the account as illustrating the circumstances of female servants in ancient society.

In the Korean Church

Zilpah is rarely the central figure of a sermon. She is usually introduced briefly as the mother of Gad and Asher in sermons and Sunday school lessons dealing with the conflicts in Jacob's household or the origins of the twelve tribes.