pilegesh

The woman, who is from Bethlehem but lives with a Levite in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Jerusalem, is referred to in Hebrew as the pilegesh of the Levite.

Concubine of a Levite: Bible. 2009

She is given to Jacob as his “wife” (Hebrew ishah), although in one instance she is called his “secondary wife” (pilegesh; NRSV, “concubine”).

Bilhah: Bible. 2009

This situation is exacerbated by the modern translation of pilegesh as “mistress” with its connotations of transiency and sexual relationships outside the framework of marriage as acts of disloyalty to that marriage.

Legal-Religious Status of the Married Woman. leBeit Yoreh 2009

Although the concept of pilegesh (concubine or consort) existed biblically, as stated in Genesis and the Book of Judges, the negative connotations of concubinage have deterred the usage of this established mode of contracting a relationship.

Legal-Religious Status of the Married Woman. leBeit Yoreh 2009

Zvi Zohar has recently claimed that the rabbinic objection to the pilegesh relationship is based on concern about keeping the laws of niddah, not on the legal status or validity of such a relationship.

Legal-Religious Status of the Married Woman. leBeit Yoreh 2009

The precise nature of the relationship between a man and his pilegesh is not always clear from the biblical texts, however, and scholars have sometimes disagreed about the term’s meaning.

Concubine of a Levite: Bible. 2009

Sleeping with one’s father’s wife was considered a great offense in biblical law (Lev 18: 8; 20: 11); perhaps that is why Bilhah is called his secondary wife (pilegesh) in this one text — to diminish the gravity of the act.

Bilhah: Bible. 2009