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The NET Bible®

Genesis 35:25

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bilhah;   Dan;   Genealogy;   Jacob;   Naphtali;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Tribes of Israel, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Dan;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Israel;   Jacob;   Tribes;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bilhah;   Genealogy;   Naphtali;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Genesis;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Benjamin;   Bilhah;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Bilhah ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Canaan (2);   Dan;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Bil'hah;   Genealogy;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Esau and Jacob;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bilhah (1);   Genealogy;   Polygamy;  

Parallel Translations

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the sonnes of Bilhah Rahels maide: Dan and Naphtali.
George Lamsa Translation
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachels maid: Dan, and Naphtali.
Hebrew Names Version
The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naftali.
Easy-to-Read Version
His sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid, were Dan and Naphtali.
English Standard Version
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali.
American Standard Version
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphtali;
Bible in Basic English
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali;
Complete Jewish Bible
The sons of Bilhah Rachel's slave-girl were Dan and Naftali.
Darby Translation
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant: Dan and Naphtali.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphtali;
King James Version (1611)
And the sonnes of Bilhah, Rachels handmaid: Dan and Naphtali.
Amplified Bible
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali;
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the sons of Balla, the hand-maid of Rachel; Dan and Nephthalim.
English Revised Version
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan and Naphtali:
Berean Standard Bible
The sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
Lexham English Bible
The sons of Bilhah, the female servant of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali.
Literal Translation
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's slave-girl: Dan and Naphtali.
New Century Version
He had two sons by Rachel's slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
New King James Version
the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;
New Living Translation
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
New Life Bible
The sons of Bilhah, the woman who served Rachel, were Dan and Naphtali.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the sons of Bilhah, handmaid of Rachel, Dan, and Naphtali:
Douay-Rheims Bible
The sons of Bala, Rachel’s handmaid: Dan and Nephthali.
Revised Standard Version
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naph'tali.
Good News Translation
The sons of Rachel's slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
King James Version
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
the sones of Bala, handmayde of Rachel, weren Dan, and Neptalym;
Young's Literal Translation
And sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid-servant: Dan and Naphtali.
World English Bible
The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali.
Update Bible Version
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's slave: Dan and Naphtali;
Webster's Bible Translation
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the sonnes of Bilha Rachels handmayde: Dan and Nephthali.
Christian Standard Bible®
The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The sonnes of Bilha Raches mayde: Dan, and Nepthali.
THE MESSAGE
God spoke to Jacob: "Go back to Bethel. Stay there and build an altar to the God who revealed himself to you when you were running for your life from your brother Esau." Jacob told his family and all those who lived with him, "Throw out all the alien gods which you have, take a good bath and put on clean clothes, we're going to Bethel. I'm going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere I've gone since." They turned over to Jacob all the alien gods they'd been holding on to, along with their lucky-charm earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree in Shechem. Then they set out. A paralyzing fear descended on all the surrounding villages so that they were unable to pursue the sons of Jacob. Jacob and his company arrived at Luz, that is, Bethel, in the land of Canaan. He built an altar there and named it El-Bethel (God-of-Bethel) because that's where God revealed himself to him when he was running from his brother. And that's when Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried just below Bethel under the oak tree. It was named Allon-Bacuth (Weeping-Oak). God revealed himself once again to Jacob, after he had come back from Paddan Aram and blessed him: "Your name is Jacob (Heel); but that's your name no longer. From now on your name is Israel (God-Wrestler)." God continued, I am The Strong God. Have children! Flourish! A nation—a whole company of nations!— will come from you. Kings will come from your loins; the land I gave Abraham and Isaac I now give to you, and pass it on to your descendants. And then God was gone, ascended from the place where he had spoken with him. Jacob set up a stone pillar on the spot where God had spoken with him. He poured a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. Jacob dedicated the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (God's-House). They left Bethel. They were still quite a ways from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor—hard, hard labor. When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid—you have another boy." With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune). Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar to mark her grave. It is still there today, "Rachel's Grave Stone." Israel kept on his way and set up camp at Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went and slept with his father's concubine, Bilhah. And Israel heard of what he did. There were twelve sons of Jacob. The sons by Leah: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn Simeon Levi Judah Issachar Zebulun. The sons by Rachel: Joseph Benjamin. The sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan Naphtali. The sons by Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad Asher. These were Jacob's sons, born to him in Paddan Aram. Finally, Jacob made it back home to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived. Isaac was now 180 years old. Isaac breathed his last and died—an old man full of years. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob.
New American Standard Bible
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's female slave, were Dan and Naphtali;
New Revised Standard
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali;
Legacy Standard Bible
and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant-woman: Dan and Naphtali;

Contextual Overview

21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons: 23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram. 27 So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. 29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. He died an old man who had lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Genesis 30:4-8, Genesis 37:2, Genesis 46:23-25

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:29 - Bilhah Genesis 30:6 - Dan Genesis 30:8 - and she Genesis 46:24 - Naphtali Genesis 46:25 - Bilhah Exodus 1:4 - Dan

Cross-References

Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem
Genesis 35:8
(Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named Oak of Weeping.)
Genesis 35:23
The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Genesis 35:25
The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
Genesis 37:2
This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the sons of Bilhah,.... Then Bilhah's sons, who was Rachel's handmaid, and these were two, Dan and Naphtali.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- The Death of Isaac

8. דברה deborâh, Deborah, “bee.” בּכוּת אלּון 'alôn-bākût, Allon-bakuth, “oak of weeping.”

16. כברה kı̂brâh, “length stretch.” A certain but unknown distance, a stadium or furlong (Josephus) a hippodrome (Septuagint) which was somewhat longer, a mile (Kimchi). אפרת 'ephrâth, Ephrath, “fruitful or ashy.”

18. בן־אוני ben-'ônı̂y, Ben-oni, “son of my pain.” בנימין bı̂nyāmı̂yn, Binjamin, “son of the right hand.”

19. לחם בית bēyt-lechem, Beth-lechem, “house of bread.”

21. עדר ‛ěder, ‘Eder, “flock, fold.”

This chapter contains the return of Jacob to his father’s house, and then appends the death of Isaac.

Genesis 35:1-8

Jacob returns to Bethel. “And God said unto Jacob.” He receives the direction from God. He had now been six years lingering in Sukkoth and Sleekem. There may have been some contact between him and his father’s house during this interval. The presence of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, in his family, is a plain intimation of this. But Jacob seems to have turned aside to Shekem, either to visit the spot where Abraham first erected an altar to the Lord, or to seek pasture for his numerous flocks. “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there.” In his perplexity and terror the Lord comes to his aid. He reminds him of his former appearance to him at that place, and directs him to erect an altar there. This was Abraham’s second resting-place in the land. He who had there appeared to Jacob as the Yahweh, the God of Abraham and Isaac, is now described as (house of El), the Mighty One, probably in allusion to Bethel (house of El), which contains this name, and was at that time applied by Jacob himself to the place. “His house;” his wives and children. “All that were with him;” his men-servants and maid-servants.

The strange gods, belonging to the stranger or the strange land. These include the teraphim, which Rachel had secreted, and the rings which were worn as amulets or charms. Be clean; cleanse the body, in token of the cleaning of your souls. Change your garments; put on your best attire, befitting the holy occasion. The God, in contradistinction to the strange gods already mentioned. Hid them; buried them. “The oak which was by Shekem.” This may have been the oak of Moreh, under which Abraham pitched his tent Genesis 12:6. The terror of God; a dread awakened in their breast by some indication of the divine presence being with Jacob. The patriarch seems to have retained possession of the land he had purchased and gained by conquest, in this place. His flocks are found there very shortly after this time Genesis 37:12, he alludes to it, and disposes of it in his interview with Joseph and his sons Genesis 48:22, and his well is there to this day.

“Luz, which is in the land of Kenaan.” This seems at first sight to intimate that there was a Luz elsewhere, and to have been added by the revising prophet to determine the place here intended. Luz means an almond tree, and may have designated many a place. But the reader of Genesis could have needed no such intimation, as Jacob is clearly in the land of Kenaan, going from Shekem to Hebron. It seems rather to call attention again Genesis 33:18 to the fact that Jacob has returned from Padan-aram to the land of promise. The name Luz still recurs, as the almond tree may still be flourishing. “And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el.” Thus has Jacob obeyed the command of God, and begun the payment of the vow he made twenty-six years before at this place Genesis 38:20-22. “There God revealed himself unto him.” The verb here נגלוּ nı̂glû is plural in the Masoretic Hebrew, and so it was in the copy of Onkelos. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint have the singular. The reading is therefore, various. The original was probably singular, and may have been so even with its present letters. If not, this is one of the few instances in which Elohim is construed grammatically with a plural verb. Deborah dies in the family in which she began life. She is buried under “the well-known oak” at Bethel. Jacob drops a natural tear of sorrow over the grave of this faithful servant, and hence, the oak is called the oak of weeping. It is probable that Rebekah was already dead, since otherwise we should not expect to find Deborah transferred to Jacob’s household. She may not have lived to see her favorite son on his return.

Genesis 35:9-15

God appears to Jacob again at Bethel, and renews the promise made to him there Genesis 28:13-14. Again. The writer here refers to the former meeting of God with Jacob at Bethel, and thereby proves himself cognizant of the fact, and of the record already made of it. “When he went out of Padan-aram.” This corroborates the explanation of the clause, Genesis 35:6, “which is in the land of Kenaan.” Bethel was the last point in this land that was noticed in his flight from Esau. His arrival at the same point indicates that he has now returned from Padan-aram to the land of Kenaan. “He called his name Israel.” At Bethel he renews the change of name, to indicate that the meetings here were of equal moment in Jacob’s spiritual life with that at Penuel. It implies also that this life had been declining in the interval between Penuel and Bethel, and had now been revived by the call of God to go to Bethel, and by the interview.

The renewal of the naming aptly expresses this renewal of spiritual life. “I am God Almighty.” So he proclaimed himself before to Abraham Genesis 17:1. “Be fruitful, and multiply.” Abraham and Isaac had each only one son of promise. But now the time of increase is come. Jacob has been blessed with eleven sons, and at least one daughter. And now he receives the long-promised blessing, “be fruitful and multiply.” From this time forth the multiplication of Israel is rapid. In twenty-six years after this time he goes down into Egypt with seventy souls, besides the wives of his married descendants, and two hundred and ten years after that Israel goes out of Egypt numbering about one million eight hundred thousand. “A nation and a congregation of nations,” such as were then known in the world, had at the last date come of him, and “kings” were to follow in due time. The land, as well as the seed, is again promised.

Jacob now, according to his wont, perpetuates the scene of divine manifestation with a monumental stone. “God went up;” as he went up from Abraham Genesis 17:22 after a similar conferencc with him. He had now spoken to Jacob face to face, as he communed with Abraham. “A pillar” in the place where he talked with him, a consecrated monument of this second interview, not in a dream as before, but in a waking vision. On this he pours a drink-offering of wine, and then anoints it with oil. Here, for the first time, we meet with the libation. It is possible there was such an offering when Melkizedec brought forth bread and wine, though it is not recorded. The drink-offering is the complement of the meat-offering, and both are accompaniments of the sacrifice which is offered on the altar. They are in themselves expressive of gratitude and devotion. Wine and oil are used to denote the quickening and sanctifying power of the Spirit of God. “Bethel.” We are now familiar with the repetition of the naming of persons and places. This place was already called Bethel by Jacob himself; it is most likely that Abraham applied this name to it: and for aught we know, some servant of the true God, under the Noachic covenant, may have originated the name.

Genesis 17:16-22.

On the journey, Rachel dies at the birth of her second son. “A stretch.” It was probably a few furlongs. “Fear not.” The cause for encouragement was that the child was born, and that it was a son. Rachel’s desire and hope expressed at the birth of Joseph were therefore, fulfilled Genesis 30:24. “When her soul was departing.” This phrase expresses not annihilation, but merely change of place. It presupposes the perpetual existence of the soul. “Ben-oni,” son of my pain, is the natural expression of the departing Rachel. “Benjamin.” The right hand is the seat of power. The son of the right hand is therefore, the child of power. He gave power to his father, as he was his twelfth son, and so completed the number of the holy family. “Ephrath and Beth-lehem” are names the origin of which is not recorded. “The pillar of Rachel’s grave.” Jacob loves the monumental stone. “Unto this day.” This might have been written ten or twenty years after the event, and therefore, before Jacob left Kenaan (see on Genesis 19:37). The grave of Rachel was well known in the time of Samuel 1 Samuel 10:2, and the Kubbet Rahil, dome or tomb of Rachel, stands perhaps on the identical spot, about an English mile north of Bethlehem.

Genesis 35:21-22

Eder - The tower of the flock was probably a watch-tower where shepherds guarded their flocks by night. It was a mile (Jerome) or more south of Bethlehem. Here Reuben was guilty of the shameful deed which came to the knowledge of his father, and occasions the allusion in Genesis 49:4. He was by this act degraded from his position in the holy family. The division of the open parashah in the text here is more in accordance with the sense than that of the verse.

Genesis 35:22-29

Jacob’s return and his father’s death. The family of Jacob is now enumerated, because it has been completed by the birth of Benjamin. “In Padan-aram.” This applies to all of them but Benjamin; an exception which the reader of the context can make for himself. Jacob at length arrives with his whole establishment at Hebron, the third notable station occupied by Abraham in the land Genesis 13:1. Here also his father sojourns. The life of Isaac is now closed. Joseph must have been, at the time of Jacob’s return, in his thirteenth year, and therefore, his father in his hundred and fourth. Isaac was consequently in his hundred and sixty-third year. He survived the return of Jacob to Hebron about seventeen years, and the sale of Joseph his grandson about thirteen. “Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.” Hence, we learn that Esau and Jacob continued to be on brotherly terms from the day of their meeting at the ford of Jabbok.

This chapter closes the ninth of the pieces or documents marked off by the phrase “these are the generations.” Its opening event was the birth of Isaac Genesis 25:19, which took place in the hundreth year of Abraham, and therefore, seventy-five years before his death recorded in the seventh document. As the seventh purports to be the generations of Terah Genesis 11:27 and relates to Abraham who was his offspring, so the present document, containing the generations of Isaac, refers chiefly to the sons of Isaac, and especially to Jacob, as the heir of promise. Isaac as a son learned obedience to his father in that great typical event of his life, in which he was laid on the altar, and figuratively sacrificed in the ram which was his substitute. This was the great significant passage in his life, after which he retires into comparative tranquillity.


 
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