Bilhah

Bilhah was a woman in Genesis who bears children to Jacob on behalf of Rachel. She becomes the mother of Dan and Naphtali, placing her within the family traditions used to explain the origins of the tribes of Israel.

In Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, the narrative follows Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah through marriage, motherhood, rivalry and household ritual, making the women’s tent a centre of memory, birth and female community.