Meaning & History
Bilha appears as the Biblical Hebrew form of Bilhah, as well as being the direct form used in several other languages. The name Bilha thus carries the same meaning and associations as its root, Bilhah, which derives from the Hebrew word meaning "bashful".
Etymology and Biblical Context
In the Old Testament, Bilhah was a handmaid given to Jacob by his wife Rachel (see Genesis 30:3–8), so that Rachel could have children through her. Through Jacob, Bilhah became the mother of two sons: Dan and Naphtali, who later founded two of the twelve tribes of Israel. Accordingly, Bilha is a female name rooted in early biblical genealogy.
Related Forms and Languages
The name Bilhah appears in other linguistic traditions: in the Biblical Greek tradition it is rendered as Balla, in Biblical Italian as Bila, and in Biblical Latin as Bala 2. While Bilha itself often occurs in translations or direct borrowings from the Hebrew, these variants reflect the phonological adaptations of the name across different language groups.
- Meaning: "Bashful" (from the Hebrew root)
- Origin and type: Biblical name from the Old Testament handmaid of Rachel
- Usage regions: Primarily in contexts drawing from the Bible