Tag: Hagar

A Spitting Image

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This is the line of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.
Genesis 25:12 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac.
Genesis 25:19 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Genesis 25:12 reinforced Ishmael’s mother’s identity. It is Hagar.

But Genesis 25:19 repeats Abraham’s role, rather than identity Sarah.

Why?

According to a teaching in the Midrash, it’s because nobody disputed Ishmael’s parents: it was Abraham and Hagar. But there were questions about whether or not Isaac was really the son of… Abimelech.

We, the readers, know the answer, but the people in the story needed to be convinced.

The sages say that a clue is in the word הוֹלִיד (holid) which we translate “sired” or “begot.” The numerical value is identical to דּוֹמֶה (domeh), which means “look alike.”

So the teaching is that when people saw Isaac, they all noted that he looked exactly like Abraham. There was no question: Abraham begot Isaac.

Repairing the Harm

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After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled near Beer-lahai-roi. This is the line of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.
Genesis 25:11-12 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

After Abraham dies, Isaac moves to the place that is sacred due to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother.

It’s fascinating that Torah immediately goes into Ishmael’s genealogy here, as though it wants to remind us that Ishmael is blessed by God. God sees him, so we should see him.

When Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be kicked out of Abraham’s house, Isaac was only a child, barely weened. He couldn’t be rightly accused of harboring ill-will against his half-brother, or for being directly responsible for his exile.

Isaac isn’t to blame, but Hagar and Ishmael were kicked out because of Isaac.

When Isaac makes his home near the Sacred Well, I wonder if this teaches us how we are meant to make amends, even for harms we did not cause, but were caused because of us.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

It’s an odd question; Isaac isn’t the oldest. But Isaac is living out the special blessing, so it’s like he is the older brother, imbued with carrying the Messiah forward.

When you carry the torch, you are meant to light the way for others.

The rabbis say that Ishmael’s presence at Abraham’s funeral points to Ishmael’s repentance, as though he had done something wrong.

I think Isaac is the one who bridges the gap in this story. I think it tells us to bridge that gap as well, even for harms we didn’t cause.

Archer in the Wilderness

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So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.
Genesis 21:14-20 (NASB)

One of the reasons I like Genesis so much is because of the focus on the details. We often overlook these little repetitions, but the structure *is* part of the story.

Hagar’s Cry

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Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Genesis 21:16-17 (NASB)

It’s fascinating to read that both Hagar and Ishmael are crying out, but the text only says that God heard the boy crying, but then the angel asks “what is the matter with you, Hagar?”

Why would it say “God heard the boy crying?”

There are thoughts in the commentaries about this:

Perhaps the boy is about to die, and his need is greater than hers. Surely God attends to the needs of the most needy.

Or Perhaps it’s because Ishmael is a son of Abraham, so there’s a special connection. God has made a promise to be with Ishmael.

Etc, etc. It’s all Ishmael-centered.

But maybe the story is actually still centered around Hagar. Maybe the reason God hears the boy’s cry is because that is Hagar’s specific prayer. She cries out to God, “Please hear my son’s cry.” Though God made a promise about Ishmael to make him a great nation, God and Hagar already have an established relationship. God sees Hagar.

Well of Oaths

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So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Genesis 21:14 (NASB)

Beersheba means “the well of oaths.” The way we see it in Genesis 21 shows us the difference between God and man.

Abraham makes no covenant with Hagar. He sends her off with bread and water, and though he is worried about his son Ishmael, he makes no promise to them.

Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”
Genesis 21:18 (NASB)

In the wilderness of Beersheba, God meets Hagar and makes an oath to her: to make Ishmael a great nation. This promise is similar the one made about Isaac.

Immediately afterwards, we see Abraham take an oath and make a covenant with Abimelech, king of Gerar and with the commander of Abimelech’s army. With the rich and the powerful.

He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness for me, that I dug this well.” Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Genesis 21:30-32 (NASB)

Perhaps we are meant to learn that our oaths should be made to protect the weak and the lowly, as that is where God dwells. But instead, we are inclined to make covenant only with those who can benefit ourselves.

Who is Your Father?

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Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”
Genesis 21:9-10 (NASB)

There is a story in the Midrash that paints a sweeping narrative that creates context for these two verses. It starts back in the previous chapter, when Sarah is taken by Abimelech.

So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 20:17-18 (NKJV)

Remember: the healing that happens in that chapter is related to childbirth.

Based on this childbirth-related healing, and then the birth of Isaac in chapter 21, the rabbis suggest that rumors began to spread. Perhaps this son of Sarah is no son of Abraham, but instead is a son of Abimelech. The timing is right, and clearly, Abimelech’s wife and “female servants” are all pregnant.

While we, the readers, are told that God prevented Abimelech from touching Sarah, who knows if the people in the story, to include Abraham’s whole entourage, believe it?

And most importantly, does Hagar believe it? She has witnessed Abraham and Sarah’s frequent deception first-hand.

So the rabbis say this: “the prattle of children reflects what they picked up from their father or what they picked up from their mother.” If Ishmael is “mocking” Isaac (and not abusing, per another interpretation of the story), perhaps the mockery is this: “Everyone knows Abraham is my father. Who is your father?”

And Sarah, hearing this, would know that these are Hagar’s words, and that Hagar would be making a clear statement about inheritance: Only the son of Abraham should receive any portion of Abraham’s blessing and wealth.

Perhaps this is why Sarah declares, “the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”

Water in Wineskins

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So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Genesis 21:14-19 (NASB)

There are a number of anomalies and odd statements in Genesis 21 that seem to hint at something, or reinforce a lesson.

Look at this word חֵמֶת (chemet). Some translations say “bottle,” but it’s a wineskin. Here it’s full of water.

You may remember from Genesis 18 how Abraham demonstrated his hospitality to the three angels – he brought them bread and water, which is echoed here. Later, Lot in Genesis 19 offers the angels bread, but in that chapter, no water is mentioned.

This word chemet is only found four times in the scriptures, and three of them are here in this passage about Hagar and Ishmael.

Chemet, chemet, chemet… with water.

The fourth time it’s mentioned, the context is quite different. Also, it seems quite related to Genesis 19.

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,
Pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
Habakkuk 2:15 (NKJV)

The phrease “look on his nakedness” is a euphamism for sex.

Perhaps Abraham’s water for Hagar and Ishmael is meant to stand in continued contrast against the unkindness and lack of hospitality in Sodom and Gomorrah, where the men wished to force themselves onto other men.

Translation Commentary

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She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart

So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Genesis 21:7-8 (NKJV)

Some Bible translation include their own commentary by way of section headings. The NIV and the NKJV both include a “Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away” header, but this shifts the focus and loses the story.

The entire point of this bit is that a very old woman is nursing a child!

Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”

And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac.
Genesis 21:6-9 (NASB)

The NASB inserts “Sarah Turns against Hagar” after verse 8, keeping the nursing and the weening segments together, but then it breaks up the *laughter* from v6 from the connected laughter in verses 9 and 10.

The story is much clearer without the section headings.

Those Who Wander

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I think we’re meant to understand that the characters in Genesis know the previous stories in the text. Noah likely knows about the Garden of Eden; Abraham knows about the Flood.

And I think Sarah kicks Ishmael out because she knows the story of Cain and Abel. She’s afraid.

I think this is also a cipher. The text points back, not just to give us some extra character detail, but to tell *us* to look back at what is happening.

Ishmael and Isaac are linked to Cain and Abel.

We wonder about Cain’s offering and how God feels about him, but the text isn’t clear. We know that Cain left the face, or presence, of God, and God placed a mark of protection on him.

Does God love Cain? Is Cain in God’s heart, despite Cain’s wandering?

Perhaps this story of Ishmael’s exile gives us a clue.

Hagar and Ishmael are גָּרַשׁ (garash) “driven out” from Abraham’s household. It’s this same word in Gen 3:24 when Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden. It’s also the same word Cain uses when he wanders in Gen 4:13.

If these stories are linked, the way God treats Ishmael tells us how he viewed Cain and how he viewed Adam and Eve.

God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:17-21 (NASB)

And perhaps how he views us when we wander.