Genesis 35:26

Plain English Version

Leah’s working woman Zilpah, she had 2 sons, – Gad – Asher All those men were Jacob’s sons. Jacob’s sons were born at the time when Jacob lived in Paddan Aram country. Jacob’s other name was Israel.

Cross References

Genesis 25:20

When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Her family was from the Aram tribe, and they lived in Paddan Aram country. Her father’s name was Bethuel, and her brother’s name was Laban.

Genesis 28:2

I want you to marry somebody from our family. So leave this place straight away, and go to Paddan Aram country. Your mother’s father Bethuel, he lives in that place. And your mother’s brother Laban, he lives there too. I want you to pick one of Laban’s daughters and marry her.”

Genesis 29:24

The next morning, Jacob saw that Leah was in his room, instead of Rachel. So Jacob was angry, and he went and talked to Laban. Jacob said, “You told me that I have to work for you for 7 years, and then I can marry Rachel. So I worked those 7 years, just like you said, but then you tricked me. You gave me Leah to be my wife, instead of Rachel. Why did you do that bad thing to me?” Laban said, “Leah is my older daughter, and Rachel is my younger daughter. In our culture, the older daughter always gets married first. That’s the reason why I gave you Leah to be your wife, instead of Rachel.” Then Laban said, “Listen, your wedding party will finish in one week. So spend this week with Leah, and after that, I will give you Rachel to marry as well. But after you marry Rachel, you have to work for me for 7 more years.” Jacob agreed to do what Laban said. After one week, Jacob and Leah’s wedding party finished. Then Laban gave his daughter Rachel to Jacob, and Jacob married Rachel as well. And Jacob slept with Rachel, like a man sleeps with his wife. So then Jacob had 2 wives, but he loved Rachel more than Leah. Laban had some women that worked for him. And Laban gave one of those women to his daughter Leah, to work for her, and he gave another of those women to his daughter Rachel, to work for her. The woman that worked for Leah was called Zilpah, and the woman that worked for Rachel was called Bilhah. Then Jacob worked for Laban for 7 more years.

Genesis 35:18

But Rachel was dying. She said, “I want to name my son Ben-Oni.” That name means the son that I had when I was sad. Then Rachel died. But Jacob gave that baby a different name. He named him Benjamin. That name means the son that is like my strong right hand.

Genesis 37:2

This is the story about what happened to Jacob’s family. Jacob’s son Joseph was 17 years old. And Joseph and his brothers looked after the sheep that belonged to their father Jacob. Joseph used to help 4 of his brothers to look after those sheep. 2 of those brothers were Bilhah’s sons, and the other 2 were Zilpah’s sons. Bilhah and Zilpah were Jacob’s wives. And Joseph told his father that those 4 brothers were doing bad things.