Bilhah (בִּלְהָה) is a personal name identifying Rachel's handmaid who was given to Jacob as a surrogate wife when Rachel proved barren. Through Bilhah, Jacob fathered Dan and Naphtali, two of Israel's twelve tribes (Gen 30:3-8). She first appears when Laban gives her to Rachel at marriage (Gen 29:29) and re-emerges in the disturbing notice that Reuben lay with her, an act that cost him his firstborn's birthright (Gen 35:22; 49:4; 1 Chr 5:1). A separate Bilhah appears as a Simeonite town (1 Chr 4:29). The etymology may connect to the root b-l-h, suggesting 'timidity' or 'trembling,' though this remains uncertain.