And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
3. bear upon my knees ] By this phrase Rachel means that she will recognize and adopt as her own the children by her handmaid, Bilhah. For the phrase, cf. Gen 50:23; Job 3:12. The child being received on the knees of the parent was regarded as being accepted into the family. The words retain the trace of a primitive ceremony of legitimatization and adoption.
obtain children ] Heb. be builded by her. The same figure of a house is used by Sarah, referring to Hagar in Gen 16:2, where see note.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. She shall bear upon my knees] The handmaid was the sole property of the mistress, as has already been remarked in the case of Hagar; and therefore not only all her labour, but even the children borne by her, were the property of the mistress. These female slaves, therefore, bore children vicariously for their mistresses; and this appears to be the import of the term, she shall bear upon my knees.
That I may also have children by her.] veibbaneh mimmennah, and I shall be built up by her. Hence ben, a son or child, from banah, to build; because, as a house is formed of the stones, &c., that enter into its composition, so is a family by children.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
She shall bear upon my knees; an ellipsis or short speech; She shall bear a child which may be laid upon my knees, or in my lap, which I may adopt and bring up as if it were my own. See Gen 50:23; Isa 66:12.
That I may also have children by her; for as servants, so their work and fruit, were not their own, but their masters.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3-9. Bilhah . . . ZilpahFollowingthe example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is notseldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leahtook the same course. A bitter and intense rivalry existed betweenthem, all the more from their close relationship as sisters; andalthough they occupied separate apartments, with their families, asis the uniform custom where a plurality of wives obtains, and thehusband and father spends a day with each in regular succession, thatdid not allay their mutual jealousies. The evil lies in the system,which being a violation of God’s original ordinance, cannot yieldhappiness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And she said,…. in order to pacify Jacob, and explain her meaning to him; which was, not that she thought it was in his power to make her the mother of children, but that he would think of some way or another of obtaining children for her, that might go for hers; so the Arabic version, “obtain a son for me”: but, since no method occurred to him, she proposes one:
behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her, take her and use her as thy wife:
and she shall bear upon my knees; either sit on her knees in the time of labour, and so bring forth as if it was she herself; or rather bear a child, which Rachel would take and nurse, and dandle upon her knees as her own, see Isa 66:12;
that I may also have children by her; children as well as her sister, though by her maid, and as Sarah proposed to have by Hagar, whose example, in all probability, she had before her, and uses her very words; [See comments on Ge 16:2].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. Behold my maid Bilhah. Here the vanity of the female disposition appears. For Rachel is not induced to flee unto the Lord, but strives to gain a triumph by illicit arts. Therefore she hurries Jacob into a third marriage. Whence we infer, that there is no end of sinning, when once the Divine institution is treated with neglect. And this is what I have said, that Jacob was not immediately brought back to a right state of mind by Divine chastisements. He acts, indeed, in this instance, at the instigation of his wife: but is his wife in the place of God, from whom alone the law of marriage proceeds? But to please his wife, or to yield to her importunity, he does not scruple to depart from the command of God. To bear upon the knees, is nothing more than to commit the child when born to another to be brought up. Bilhah was a maidservant; and therefore did not bear for herself but for her mistress, who, claiming the child as her own, thus procured the honor of a mother. Therefore it is added, in the way of explanation, I shall have children, or I shall be built up by her. For the word which Moses here uses, is derived from בן ( ben,) a son: because children are as the support and stay of a house. But Rachel acted sinfully, because she attempted, by an unlawful method, and in opposition to the will of God, to become a mother.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Behold my maid Bilhh.Rachel had little excuse for this action; for there was no religious hope involved, as when Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham (Gen. 16:2), but solely vexation at her own barrenness, and envy of her sister. All that can be said in her defence is, that the custom existed, and, perhaps, because it was distasteful to the wife, was looked upon as meritorious (Gen. 30:18).
She shall bear upon my knees.So in Gen. 1:23, it is said, in the Hebrew, that the children of Machir were born upon Josephs knees, not borne, as in our margin. It appears that there was a custom of placing the new-born child upon the knees, first of the father, who, by accepting it. acknowledged the infant as his own; and secondly, upon those of the mother. In this case, as Bilhahs children were regarded as legally born of Rachel, they would be placed upon Rachels knees. Probably, too, the children of Machir, by being placed upon Josephs knees, were in some way adopted by him.
That I may also have children by her.Heb., be built by her. (See Note on Gen. 16:2.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Children by her In her impatience she resorts to the expedient of Sarai. Gen 16:2, note .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And she said, “See my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees and I also may obtain children by her.” And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid as a wife and Jacob went in to her.’
“Go in to her.” A euphemism for sexual intercourse.
“Bear on my knees”. This confirms what we earlier saw with Sarah. When the maid bears a child she does it on her mistress’s behalf. The child is Rachel’s. But as Sarah’s case demonstrated, the consequences were not always so simple when a blood child was later born. So the child does not rank fully with the true born unless fully accepted. It is to Jacob’s credit that he does not differentiate between his sons. On the other hand in his case the slave children were not the firstborn. There is not the same rivalry as with Ishmael and Isaac.
The handmaids are subsidiary wives. There is no marriage contract, they but do the bidding of their mistresses. But their status and position improves.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 30:3. Behold my maid, &c. Struck with the force of her husband’s reproof, she bethought herself of the usual way, at that time, for women in her case to become mothers: to which end she gave Bilhah her handmaid to Jacob, as Sarah had done heretofore to Abraham. And she shall bear upon my knees, said Rachel; which the Chaldee paraphrases, and I shall be a nurse, which appears to be the true meaning of the phrase, and in which sense it might be rendered more properly she shall bear for my knees; a sense which (al) is often used in, as may be seen in Noldius. So ch. Gen 50:23. it is said, that the children of Machir were brought up (Heb. born) upon or for Joseph’s knees. The children of the handmaids were esteemed the children of the wife, as we have before observed. So Rachel designed that Bilhah should bear children, which she would bring up and dandle on her knees as her own children, that thus she might be built up, or have a family through her. See Parker’s 34th Occasion. Annotation.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Ver. 3. Behold my maid Bilhah. ] Given her by her father on purpose, it may seem; that in case she proved barren, she might be built up by her. So Stratonice, the wife of King Dejotarus, being barren, gave secretly her maid Electra unto her husband; by whom she had an heir to the crown, as Plutarch relateth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Bilhah. This was strictly in accordance with the Code of Khammurabi, 145. See App-15. Compare Gen 29:29.
have children. Hebrew be builded up. See note above, and Compare Gen 16:1-3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Behold: Gen 30:9, Gen 16:2, Gen 16:3
she shall: Gen 50:23, Job 3:12
have children by her: Heb. be built up by her, Gen 16:2, *marg. Rth 4:11
Reciprocal: Gen 29:29 – Bilhah Gen 46:25 – Bilhah 1Ch 7:13 – the sons of Bilhah Eze 48:1 – Dan
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 30:3. Behold my maid Bilhah She will rather have children by reputation than none at all; children that she can call her own, though they be not so. But had she not considered her sister as her rival, and envied her, she would have thought Leahs children nearer to her, and more entitled to her care than Bilhahs could be. As an early instance of her dominion over the children born in her apartment, she takes a pleasure in giving them names that carry in them nothing but marks of emulation with her sister. As if she had overcome her, 1st, At law, she calls the first son of her handmaid Dan, judgment; saying, God hath judged me That is, given sentence in my favour. 2d, In battle, she calls the next Naphtali, wrestlings, saying, I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed See what roots of bitterness envy and strife are, and what mischief they make among relations!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my {b} knees, that I may also have children by her.
(b) I will receive her children on my lap, as though they were my own.