Genesis 30:3

30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ¹  her so that she can bear ²  children ³  for me ⁴  and I can have a family through her.” ⁵ 

Genesis 46:25

46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

Genesis 35:22

35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ⁶  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

Genesis 37:2

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ⁷  was taking care of ⁸  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁹  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ¹⁰  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ¹¹  to their father.

[30:3]  ¹ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ³ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[35:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.

[37:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”

[37:2]  ¹² tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”

[37:2]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.

[37:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”

[37:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.