Bible Strands
Genesis 46:18
These are the sons of Jacob born to Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—sixteen in all.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Jacob’s family roster as the household prepares to descend into Egypt. The list explicitly names the descendants of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant.
The words — אֵלֶּה ('E.leh) translates literally to "these," introducing the specific lineage. זִלְפָּה (zil.Pah) identifies the maidservant whose children are being enumerated.
The thread — Laban originally gave Zilpah to Leah as a maidservant (Genesis 29:24), and Leah later gave her to Jacob (Genesis 30:9). Genesis 35:26 previously named Gad and Asher as her sons born in Paddan-Aram.
Why it lands — The text demands a precise accounting of the tribal families before the migration. It requires the reader to track how Leah’s household expands through Zilpah while noting the total of sixteen descendants.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
Cross-references
- Genesis 29:24 And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maidservant.
- Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
- Genesis 35:26 And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
- Exodus 1:4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.