Dinah and Bilhah

Jubilees 34:15–17

Mid-2nd Century BCE

¹⁵That day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished. While she was mourning for him, she died. She had been living in Qafratefa. His daughter Dinah, too, died after Joseph had perished. These three [reasons for] mourning came to Israel in one month. ¹⁶They buried Bilhah opposite Rachel’s grave, and they buried his daughter Dinah there as well. ¹⁷He continued mourning for Joseph for one year and was not comforted but said, “May I go down to the grave mourning for my son.”

Translated byJames C. VanderKam.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

The book of Jubilees fills in details about the deaths of Jacob’s concubine Bilhah and his daughter Dinah, neither of which is recorded in the Torah. The text links their deaths to the false reports of Joseph’s death that Jacob received from his other sons. Although Joseph’s mother is Rachel, it is Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah who expires upon hearing the news; Rachel has already died. Joseph’s half-sister Dinah (the daughter of Leah) is also reported to have died. The text explains that three occasions of mourning thus came upon Jacob (also called Israel) at one time. Jubilees records that Bilhah and Dinah were buried in the land of Israel opposite the tomb of Rachel, reinforcing the connection between their deaths and that of Joseph, Rachel’s son.

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Dinah and Bilhah

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