I'm confused as to whether what the actual relationship to a man a pilegesh actually has in Jewish Law. I've seen conflicting sources: (1) Hebrew school taught a pilegesh is a secondary wife (concubine) who the man marries separately since his first wife cannot have a child and so the contract is between the man and said secondary wife; or (2) Genesis teaches a pilegesh is a servant (handmaiden) contracted by the primary wife to offer to the man when she herself cannot have a child, and the the relationship is actually between the primary wife and her handmaiden, with the servant standing in as the primary's surrogate. Please clarify?
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Related: judaism.stackexchange.com/search?q=title:pilegesh+is:question– msh210 ♦Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 4:23
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1Citing precise sources as opposed to a vague " I've seen conflicting sources:" may improve the quality of this question.– Danny SchoemannCommented Oct 25, 2015 at 8:36
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1I'm not a Torah scholar. I'm asking Torah scholars.– eternalsquireCommented Oct 25, 2015 at 12:08
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By handmaiden, do you mean shipheḥah (שפחה)?– LeeCommented Apr 3, 2016 at 9:42
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