Editing Handmaiden (section)

==Depictions in Abrahamic texts==
[[File:John Collier - Pharaohs Handmaidens.jpg|thumb|''The Pharaoh's Handmaidens'' by [[John Collier (painter)|John Collier]]]]
In the [[King James Version|King James]] translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]], the term handmaid is applied to a female servant who serves her mistress, as in the case of [[Hagar]] being described as [[Sarah]]'s handmaid,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0116.htm#3|title=Genesis 16 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org|access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref> [[Zilpah]] being [[Leah]]'s handmaid<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0130.htm#9|title=Genesis 30 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org|access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref> and [[Bilhah]] as [[Rachel]]'s handmaid.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0130.htm#3|title=Genesis 30 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org|access-date=2020-04-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.refinery29.com/2017/04/151796/handmaids-tale-meaning-rachel-bilhah-bible-story |title=This Biblical Story Is At The Heart Of ''The Handmaid's Tale'' |access-date=2018-08-30 }}</ref> In each of these cases, the mistress "gave" their handmaid to their husbands "to wife", to bear his "seed" (children). The use in the Torah of the prefix "to", as in "gave ''to'' wife", may indicate that the wife is a [[concubine]] or inferior wife.<ref>[http://vadimcherny.org/judaism/women_similar_wives.htm Women, similar to wives] from vadimcherny.org</ref> The text repeats that these people remain handmaids of their mistress though they are also the concubine of the mistress's husband. They are referred to interchangeably by the Hebrew terms {{lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|אָמָה}}}} ({{lang|he-Latn|’āmāh}}) and {{lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|שִׁפְחָה}}}} ({{lang|he-Latn|šip̄ḥāh}}). Other modern English bible translations use the word slave, slave-girl or servant.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Genesis 16:1 KJV;ESV;NIV;NRSV - Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no - Bible Gateway|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2016%3A1&version=KJV;ESV;NIV;NRSV|access-date=2022-02-11|website=www.biblegateway.com|language=en}}</ref>