Hagar

[cellio]

Shabbat morning I heard a new-to-me interpretation of Hagar from one of our lay torah readers. Hagar is Sarah's maid-servant (or slave; the distinction is unclear to me), and when it becomes clear Sarah isn't going to be able to have a child she tells Avraham to have one with Hagar, which he does. Things seem fine and dandy until Sarah has Yitzchak, at which point she wants to throw Hagar and Yishmael out. (Is there midrash that casts Sarah in a better light than the plain reading of the text?)

Bruce pointed out that Hagar gets dumped on a lot but always manages to retain her dignity. She doesn't argue with the initial charge to have a son with Avraham. She doesn't lash out when she remains a slave instead of being promoted to concubine or half-wife. When Avraham and Sarah throw her out with nothing more than some bread and water, she leaves quietly. When she appeals to God, it's on behalf of her son, not for herself. She's been treated pretty badly (and I'm not saying one should stand silent when that happens!), but she manages to get by somehow.

I haven't given Hagar much thought in the past. We give high honor to the patriarchs and matriarchs even when they behave badly, but Hagar deserves some credit too. She should (IMO) have been more assertive earlier on, but she didn't lash out when it might have been justified. I wonder what the feminist torah commentaries (which I haven't read) have to say about her.

Comments

[cellio]

That's an important point, yes. It's hard to know what's meant by "despised"; was she bad-attitude girl, or did she do something more direct? The torah tells us that Sarah abused her, which is why she ran away. It also seems to tell us that Sarah was mad at Avraham and Hagar because they succeeded where she hadn't -- never mind that it had been Sarah's idea in the first place.

I think seeing the angels of God must have been a real turning-point for Hagar.

[goljerp]

Well, there is a midrash that Hagar was a princess in Egypt, but her father said 'better to be a slave of Avram than a princess in Egypt. Of course, it's the Rabbis who made up this story. :-)


I really should write down the d'var I gave a week ago, because I touched a bit on the Sarah/Hagar relationship in it.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

I am not sure that the text supports "abused." The language of the text (from memory) of the first incident is:
Sarah offers to Avraham to have a child by her maidservant.
Avraham goes along with the idea. Hagar's reaction is not recorded.
Hagar gets pregnant, she then alters her behavior to her mistress Sarah ina way desribed pejoratively in the text.
Sarah complains to Avraham.
Avraham tells Sarah "your servant, take whatever steps you want."
Sarah then "humbles" Hagar in a way not described.
Hagar flees.
When queried by the Angel, Hagar states that she is "fleeing" from her mistresses anger.
The Angel tells her to return and endure, because she will have a tremendous reward.

It is entirely possible to constructive a narrative out of it as the noble/raped/abused Hagar and the evil Avraham and Sarah. It is entirely possible to construct a narrative of the eager, consenting manipulative Hagar who seeks to displace her mistress. Midrash makes Hagar an ambiguous figure, so not much help there.