Rather than submit, Hagar runs away to the wilderness of Shur, where she meets God’s messenger, who tells her to return to submit to Sarai’s abuse for then she will bear a son who will be a “wild ass of a man” (Gen 16:12). Just as the wild ass was never domesticated, so too Hagar’s son would never be subject to anyone, and would live “with his hand against everyone” and “in everyone’s face” (Gen 16:12).
In this encounter with God’s messenger, Hagar realizes that she is actually speaking with God, and she gives God a name, El Roi, “The God who sees me.” Hagar is the only person in the Hebrew Bible who gives God a name (Gen 16:13).
The angel’s annunciation to Hagar is similar to announcements to Hannah, to the mother of Samuel, and to Mary the mother of Jesus: all would have children with special destinies, and all are addressed personally, not through their husbands. God’s request that Hagar become a slave again and return to be degraded by Sarai seems strange: why should God respect property rights over the freedom of persons? This is particularly odd considering the legal code of Israel, which, alone among ancient law systems, specified that runaway slaves should not be returned to their masters (Deut 23:16). But the angel’s speech here parallels God’s speech to Abram in Gen 15:13, which states that his children would be enslaved and degraded before their redemption. Both passages use the key terms that Israel uses to describe the Egypt experience. Hagar, the slave from Egypt, foreshadows Israel, the future slaves in Egypt. Her very name, Hagar, could be heard as hagger, meaning “the alien”; Hagar is an alien in Abram’s household as Israel will be aliens, gerim, in a foreign land. Hagar is to be degraded as Abram’s descendants will be degraded, and YHWH has “given heed to affliction” as God will hear the affliction of Abram’s descendants.
Hagar returns to Sarai and bears a son, whom Abram names Ishmael. Hagar and Ishmael are freed at Sarai’s instigation (Gen 21:9–14). Here too their destiny is parallel to later Israel’s, for the newly freed slaves head to the desert and struggle with thirst. God then saves the dying Ishmael, not because of Hagar’s cries or God’s promises to Abram, but because God heard Ishmael’s voice (Gen 21:15–21). God's relationship with Hagar is resealed with her son, as God’s relationship with Abram is resealed with Isaac and his son Jacob.
Like Jacob, Ishmael has twelve sons. Hagar is the ancestor of these twelve tribes of Ishmael (Gen 25:12–15). She may also be the ancestor of the Hagrites, tent dwellers mentioned along with Ishmaelites in Ps 83:7 (see also 1 Chr 5:10; 27:30).
FAQs
Hagar, in the Old Testament (Gen. 16:1–16; 21:8–21), Abraham's concubine and the mother of his son Ishmael. Purchased in Egypt, she served as a maid to Abraham's childless wife, Sarah, who gave her to Abraham to conceive an heir.
What does Hagar symbolize? ›
Hagar has long represented the plight of a foreigner, a slave, and a sexually abused woman. She has been the focal point for oppressed peoples. Her story resonates with sexual abuse survivors, the poor and vulnerable, and in the past half century with African American women.
What can we learn from Hagar in the Bible? ›
The story of Hagar teaches us that God does care for us: He heals our broken hearts, gives us an identity and a hope but also, God's promises are true and He will keep them. The story of Hagar reminds me that God cares for those who are broken, hurting, and suffering.
What does Sarah symbolize? ›
Origin: Sarah is the name of the biblical wife of Abraham. It is a Hebrew word meaning noblewoman or princess. Gender: Sarah is typically a feminine name. There are no masculine variations of the name Sarah.
Did Hagar remarry in the Bible? ›
And then, three years after Sarah's death, Abraham remarries Hagar. The reconciliation is now complete—indeed it is Sarah's son, Isaac, who brings Hagar back for her marriage with his father (as per Midrash Rabbah on Genesis 24:62).
Were Hagar and Keturah the same person? ›
There is no statement from the written Torah about Hagar and Ketura being the same woman. They are two different women. Oral Torah two opinions, and one agrees with the text. The other asserts that Hagar was sent away but returned after the death of Sarah and was renamed Ketura.
Who are the descendants of Ishmael today? ›
Today, the descendants of Ishmael are mainly living in western Saudi Arabia and are called Arabs.
Is Hagar a pagan? ›
Since Hagar, although a pagan, was a Hebrew according to choice and way of life, she represents slavery under the Law. Thus, Paul in Gal 4:24–25 continues the same line of thought as also expressed in Gal 3:22–25.28; 4:1–10.
What is the difference between Hagar and Sarah? ›
Hagar, the bond woman with her natural son Ishmael, represents works religion and the old Jerusalem. Sarah, the free woman with her supernatural son Isaac represents faith religion, the new covenant, and the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem, the church, is our mother.
Who was the first woman to pray in the Bible? ›
One day Hannah went up to the Tabernacle and prayed with great weeping (I Samuel 1:10), while Eli the High Priest was sitting on a chair near the doorpost. In her prayer, she asked God for a son and in return she vowed to give the son back to God for the service of God.
But unlike Abram and Sarai, when God speaks, he asks Hagar a question. The first thing he does is give the powerless slave a voice. He is the Ismael, the God who hears. He is the El Roi, the “God who sees me.”
What religion was Hagar in the Bible? ›
Introduction. Hagar is a biblical character in the book of Genesis. She has an important role as wife of Abram/Abraham and mother of Ishmael. As such, she is an important figure within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Who is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the Bible? ›
Abraham's wife Sarah is the only female in Genesis for whom an age is ever mentioned. We can read the span of her life (127 years per Genesis 23:1). However, even in advance of when she became pregnant, Abraham notes she'd "give birth at 90" (Genesis 17:17).
Why did Sarah give Hagar to Abram? ›
16 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.
What kind of woman was Sarah in the Bible? ›
She became a symbolic type of Jerusalem above. Sarah was a freewoman, a symbolic mother of the child of promise, a mother of heirs of the promises given by God to Abraham, and a mother of children who would enter into the New Covenant with God.
What is the difference between a wife and a concubine in the Bible? ›
Medieval and modern Judaism
According to the Babylonian Talmud, the difference between a concubine and a legitimate wife was that the latter received a ketubah and her marriage (nissu'in) was preceded by an erusin ("formal betrothal"), which was not the case for a concubine.
Who was the legitimate wife of Abraham? ›
Sarah is the wife of Abraham, the mother of Isaac, and thus the ancestress of all Israel. The Bible explains that Sarai was her earlier name and that she was renamed at the annunciation of the birth of Isaac (Gen 17:15).
What does concubine mean in the Bible? ›
It is usually translated into English as “concubine” and understood to refer to a wife or sexual partner of secondary status. Although certain men in the Hebrew Bible have both wives and concubines, no wives or additional concubines are referred to in Judges 19.
How many children did Abraham have with Hagar? ›
Our Father Abraham had eight sons. The record of these sons and their names are in the Book of Genesis. First he had Ishmael, who was the son of a slave woman--Hagar of Egypt was his mother. She was the slave of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
