Over the last year, Hagar has become one of the biblical characters that has captivated me in ways I’ve never anticipated. I have overlooked her story far too many times for far too many years. For that reason, I want to zoom in on her story.
Many of us may know Hagar as:
The slave/servant of Abram and Sarai
The person who gives God a name in the biblical story
The mother of Ishmael
But one must ask, how did Hagar get pulled into this situation with Abram and Sarai in the first place? Well, we have to recall Abram and Sarai’s trip down to Egypt and how they came out of Egypt with more than they entered.
Genesis 12:16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
Hagar was one of the female servants given to Abram by Pharaoh. But remember, Abram received the servants and animals due to his deception. Not to dive too deep into speculative waters, but I wonder what could’ve happened if Abram hadn’t deceived the Egyptians. Would Hagar find herself under the house of Abram and Sarai after all?
But moving on.
In Genesis 15, God reassures Abram that he will give him a son and performs a covenant ritual as another stamp of that promise. But then, we see Sarai and Abram take matters into their own hands to produce this son in Genesis 16—through Hagar.
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
Due to our modern sensibilities and values, we may miss some of this narrative’s multifacetedness. On the one hand, we can only imagine the cultural pressures Sarai may have felt to bring forth a son to her family. On the other hand, we can only imagine what Hagar’s mental, emotional, and physical experience was like here.
My take is that what Abram and Sarai do to Hagar is abuse.
When Hagar realizes that she’s pregnant, she begins to despise Sarai. But honestly…can you blame her? She didn’t ask to be here. She didn’t ask for any of this. But the tension and mistreatment continues to rise as we read further:
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
But what if the way this story is told happens to be another spin on the Eden story?
Abram fills Adam’s slot—he’s cast as passive in the plot.
Sarai fills Eve’s slot—she takes Hagar and gives her to Abram to be a wife (see Genesis 3:6)
Hagar fills the forbidden fruit’s slot.
After Hagar despises her, Sarai points the finger at Abram—like Adam pointing the finger at Eve and then Eve at the snake (see Genesis 3:11-13). But that would make sense here, as Abram previously filled the snake’s role as the deceiver that began this messy situation.
If this is another iteration of the Eden story, then God has to step in and respond, right? We shall see in the next post!
Love this Hakeem--very clear connection between Genesis 2-3 and the Patriarch narratives.