Today I'm thinking of Leah and Rachel's handmaids and am trying to figure out if there are parallels between their lives and the lives of many women today.
Bilhah and Zilpah remind me of those who aren’t officially “wives,” those who have no legal claim on the men in their lives. While the scriptures note that Jacob took them “to wife,” it’s also apparent that they were clearly in lesser positions than Leah and Rachel. I don’t know anything about the history of these two women, but I feel that they had little or no choice in their relationships with Jacob or their wives. Who were they to say NO to their requests/demands? At the same time, each of these women gave birth to two of Jacob’s sons, four leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Don’t we all know women who for reasons that we might not understand choose to have relationships with men who are unavailable for some reason or another? Perhaps they are already married, like Jacob, or perhaps they are unwilling to commit. Sometimes the couple, imitating those on the silver screen, may even have children together. Some modern day Bilhahs and Zilpahs may feel that they have no choice but to cohabit for financial reasons. Others see it as the next step towards a future marriage and will often speak of their roommates as their fiancés.
In many cases, it’s the woman’s choice to be in a POSSLQ (Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters) arrangement; perhaps she’s been “burned” in a bad marriage or has academic or career goals that could be compromised by wedlock. Can anything good come of relationships such as this? For me, no. For Bilhah and Zilpah and some of their 21st century sisters, maybe. As mentioned, they had no say-so in the matter, and they gave birth to four of Jacob’s sons.
There are no easy answers to my ponderings. During that era and in that part of the world, women had a different status than the women in 2008 in the United States. While I certainly don’t condemn these two handmaids for their choices, it’s clear to see that they weren’t given the same status as Leah and Rachel. Is it the same for women who “move in” with their significant others today?
Bottom line (at last): Is there a parallel between Bilhah and Zilpah and the women of today who have relationships with men who are unwilling or unable to marry them?
6 comments:
hmmmm...I have to ponder on this a bit! It is all so very true...just didn't think of it...
I had never really thought of it before either. It occurred to me this morning that even if any of these women had wanted to escape, they'd have nowhere to go and no way to get away. It's not like they could jump in car or catch a bus.
I know of an elderly couple who actually got divorced because they couldn't afford her medical care. They divorced so she could qualify for medicaid.
It came as a shock to the judge who presided over their case.
Hayden, I've heard of scenarios such as this one. I know several couples in middle and later adulhtood who live together because of financial reasons. If they marry, one or both will lose financial benefits from a prior spouse (who died).
two things...you might have read where my grandma was put in a mental institutuion for post partum depression when she put her youngest in an oven to cook...he divorced her so they would pay for her medical all those 85 years, well 60 , she was 25 when she went in...and i forgot number 2
Putz, I'm going to have to go back and read this....sounds sad, yet intriguing.
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