New York: Schocken, Gafney, Wilda C. Louisville: Westminister John Knox: Gossai, Hemchand. Power and Marginality in the Abraham Narrative. Have an update or correction? Let us know. Episode E. Lockhart's New Jewish Superhero. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva and Tamar Kamionkowski. Jewish Women's Archive. Learn more. In Brief. Name Meaning —Hagar, an Egyptian name, closely resembles the root of the Arabic, flight , familiar to us as the history of Mohammed, descendant of Hagar.
It may be taken as an adaptation of her original name to the principal circumstances of her life, and understood to mean, fugitive or immigrant , which Hagar became.
This legendary source affirms that the Egyptian princess became so attached to Sarah that she told her royal father that she would accompany her when she returned to Abraham. Hagar would not stay behind and join again in the idolatrous rites of her home, so when Abraham and Sarah moved on, she went with them. Sarah was an active missionary of the faith of Jehovah among women, as Abraham was among men, and so Hagar became a convert to the worship of the true God.
While this is a pleasing tradition, the likelihood is that Hagar was an Egyptian girl-slave whom Sarah secured for her household while she and Abraham were in Egypt.
Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael, and thus became the foundress of the Ishmaelites and Arab peoples from whom came Mohammed, the founder of Islam.
If Hagar was a slave girl then her mistress was legally entitled to do as she pleased with her. Knowing that it was humanly impossible for her to have children by Abraham, she gave her handmaid to him, that she might have children by her—a custom consistent with moral standards prevailing at that time. Abraham reminded Sarah that her word was law to her own slave and that he had no choice in the matter. If she has given a maid to her husband and she has borne children and afterwards that maid has made herself equal with her mistress, because she has borne children her mistress shall not sell her for money, she shall reduce her to bondage and count her among the female slaves.
But Sarah ran ahead of God in giving a Gentile idolater from a pagan country to Abraham to bear the promised seed.
The whole affair was a sin before God—a sin all three were guilty of. Sarah distrusted God when she resorted to such a wicked expedient. As a child of faith, did she not know that God was able to raise up children out of stones unto Abraham? Then, Hagar, although the least free and the least responsible, should not have yielded to such an unholy alliance merely to gratify any ambition she may have had.
Hagar, not a man, husband, or patriarch, also receives a covenant blessing Gen She is one of four people to hear the covenant directly from God. Here, scholars often shift the focus of their commentaries from Hagar to her son. The dialogue that began with a command to return and submit concludes with the disclosure of the identity of Ishmael, whose name acknowledges the cruelty Hagar has endured and provides a prophecy for mother and son that is anything but meek and dutiful.
Gen is an extraordinary moment in Scripture. There is no standard translation for the remaining section of Gen Though the text is difficult, it must be stressed that the sentence references a mutual seeing for both God and Hagar. When Hagar is removed physically from those who control every aspect of her life, a personal identity and relationship materializes.
As a socially marginalized woman, her most intimate relationship, it turns out, is with God. Elizabeth Tracy Independent Scholar. Alone and unaided, it was a heroic effort and a tribute to her tenacity that she got as far as she did. The country is fearsome: eroded hills like bare bones in the arid landscape, the earth tormented by constant wind. Despite this, Hagar very nearly made it to Egypt. But eventually, exhausted, she stopped at a spring of water in the wilderness of Shur. It would be a special child, a child with a great future.
So she retraced her steps and returned to the tribe, and to Sarah. In modern terms we would probably say that a deep conviction of purpose settled on the person involved, guiding them towards a particular course of action.
Read Genesis It got worse. This situation was not uncommon in societies that practised polygamy. You might read 1 Samuel for the story of the relationship between Hannah, the beloved but childless wife, and Peninnah, the less loved but fertile wife, both married to Elkanah. Their story echoed the situation that existed between Hagar and Sarah.
For fourteen years Ishmael was seen as the future heir of Abraham. He and Hagar were accustomed to being treated with respect. But when Sarah had her own son, everything changed. This was a question that would surface continually to plague Israel throughout its history. Sarah had no doubt about the matter. She saw Ishmael as a threat to her son, and the old enmity between the two women reappeared — now even more savage than it had been before.
One telling detail is the way that Sarah never speaks directly to Hagar or says her name — never once in the whole story. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. Sarah has power and wealth.
Hagar has youth, sexual allure and an unborn child. Sarah drives her out like a stray dog that has overstayed its welcome. We do not know the details of the bitter power struggle between the two women, but we do know that Hagar lost.
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