Zilpah

Zilpah was a woman in Genesis who bears children to Jacob on behalf of Leah. She becomes the mother of Gad and Asher and is included in the household traditions explaining the origins of Israel’s tribes.

In Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent, the narrative follows Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah through marriage, motherhood, rivalry and household ritual, making the women’s tent a centre of memory, birth and female community.