Wil Gafney: No comfort is offered to Bilhah in the text. Was she supported by other slave women, by Zilpah who shared her lot in life?
Wil Gafney: when I pray the Amidah, I add Hagar, Bilhah and Zilpah
Wil Gafney: Given the absence of Lavan’s wife from the narrative it is entirely possible that Lavan used Bilhah sexually
Wil Gafney: Bilhah’s body is used again in Gen 35:22. Re’uven ben Leah, Ya‘aqov’s firstborn son, rapes Bilhah. That Bilhah does not consent is indicated by the Hebrew, vayishcav et-bilhah, "he lay Bilhah." There is no "with" indicating consent.
Wil Gafney: Bilhah’s sexual subordination to Rachel (with or without the possibility that Lavan used her sexually previously) evokes for me the sexual abuse of enslaved Africans in the United States, Caribbean and other places.
Aaron Finestone: It could be argued that Bilhah and Zilpah were omitted as Imahot because of race and class.
betsy teutsch: Some of the rejection of Bilhah and Zilpah is due to class and race issues.
