Zilpah: Midrash and Aggadah
The Rabbis count Zilpah among the six Matriarchs. She was Leah’s handmaiden and she and Leah were originally intended to marry Esau; when Leah married Jacob instead, he was also given Zilpah. Jacob favored Rachel, his other wife, and even loved her maidservant Bilhah more than Zilpah. Zilpah initially refused to bear children for Jacob, and so her two children are not listed as Jacob’s descendants. Midrashic accounts place Zilpah in many minor roles.
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