“And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of living water.”

Hagar
(
Hagar
, Hebrew הגר, Greek
Άγαρ
, Latin
Agar
, Arabic
هاجر
,
Hadjar
, English Hagar) is an Egyptian woman, slave, concubine of Abraham, servant of Sarah, mother of Ishmael, the legendary ancestor of the Arabs[1].

[edit] Biography

The name means “wanderer” (from the Arabic root הגר‎ - “to run away”, “to move out”, “hadshara” (“to move”), where the word “hijra” comes from).

According to the legend preserved in the Midrash, Hagar was the daughter of Pharaoh[2], but became Sarah's slave during Abraham and Sarah's stay in Egypt.

One way or another, Hagar was an Egyptian, but at the same time a slave of Sarah.

Since Sarah had no children for a long time, he gave his slave to Abraham as a concubine (she invited Abraham to go to her maid in order to have children from her[3]), hoping to adopt the offspring of the slave from Abraham (Rachel does the same[4]).

Having become pregnant, Hagar became proud and began to treat her mistress with contempt (she began to treat her mistress with disdain). Sarah, with Abraham's permission, began to pursue her, and Hagar fled into the desert. Here, at one source, an angel of God appeared before her, commanding her to return to her mistress and submit to her. He predicted to Agar that she would give birth to a son and name him Ishma'el (“the one whom God will hear”), and he would be a fighter (“like a wild ass among people: his hands are against all and the hands of all against him”[5].

According to the Haggadists, Cappa took revenge on Hagar by removing her from Abraham, beating her with her shoe, and forcing her to perform various humiliating labors; in addition, through the “evil eye” she caused Hagar to have a miscarriage, so that Ishmael was no longer the first, but the second child.

When Isaac, Sarah's own son, was weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael, the son of the Egyptian woman Agar, playing with her son (or "mocking him"; the Hebrew verb צחק‎ means "to amuse", "to laugh" and "to mock" ), demanded that Abraham expel Hagar and her son, “for the son of this maid will not inherit along with my son, with Isaac.” Abraham did not agree at first, however, obedient to the command of God, he sent away the burner, giving her bread and a jug of water and placing the child on her shoulders.

Thus, when Isaac, Abraham's son by Sarah, began to grow up, Hagar and Ishmael, at Sarah's insistence, were expelled from Abraham's house.

Hagar went into the desert. Soon the water supply ran out. But the angel of God prevented the death of Hagar and her son by pointing them to the well: the angel of God, hearing the cry of a child dying of thirst, showed her the well and predicted that Ishmael would be the ancestor of a great nation.

Hagar settled with Ishmael in the Paran desert in the Arabian desert and chose an Egyptian wife for him[6].

According to Jewish and Arab legends, Hagar and Ismail are the ancestors of the Arab people - the Hagarians (hagrüm, hagrim). Apparently, a similar legend existed in Syria, and through the Syrian Posidonius it became known to the Greek scientist Apollonius Molon, who said this:

Apollonius Molon, who wrote against the Jews, says that the man who survived the flood left Armenia with his sons, driven out of his native land by the local inhabitants. Having crossed large spaces, he came to the mountainous part of Syria, which was deserted. Three generations later, Abraham was born, whose name means “friend of the father.” He was a sage and rushed into the desert. He took two wives, one local, his relative, the other an Egyptian slave, with whom he had twelve sons. They retired to Arabia, divided the land and became the first to reign over the local population. From then until our times, twelve Arabian kings bear the names of the sons of Abraham[7].

The asteroid (682) Agar, discovered in 1909, was named after her.

Sarah, by offering Abraham Hagar, greatly complicated the fate of the Jewish people, and the world as a whole...

Hello.!

You ask an interesting question.

Let's try to understand Hagar more deeply, her character, capabilities and circumstances.

First of all, she was not at all a narrow-minded and simple-minded servant, accustomed to work and obedience. She was the daughter of Pharaoh (Rashi, Bereshit 16:1). Having seen the miracles that G-d sent to Sarah, Pharaoh said to his daughter: It is better for you to be a servant in the house of Abraham than a mistress in any other place.

But this seems to only strengthen your question: was it difficult to predict that she would become proud? And how could a proud princess even agree to be someone’s servant? What was Pharaoh thinking when he gave her as a maid, and Abraham and Sarah accepted her?

To understand this, let's try to compare Hagar with other handmaids of the foremothers. After all, Hagar was not unique in this regard. Both of Jacob's wives, Rachel and Leah, also had maidservants, Bila and Zilpah, respectively. And her mistress also gave each of them to her husband, Yaakov, hoping that as a reward for such dedication, she too would be worthy of bearing sons to her husband.

They were not afraid that the same thing would happen to Bilah and Zilpah as happened to Hagar: that, having become pregnant, they would become proud and give birth to the same problem sons as Ishmael, who would then have to be expelled, with all that entails? They deliberately followed the example of Sarah (Rashi, Bereshit 30:3). And at the same time, it wasn’t obvious that they were stepping on the same rake?

It looks like it wasn't. And indeed, nothing like this happened to Bila and Zilpa. They safely gave birth to sons (two each), who became full members of the Jewish family, the founders of the tribes along with the sons of Rachel and Leah themselves. Which, in fact, is surprising in itself and raises the question: after all, only Rachel and Leah are considered foremothers, and not their handmaids. How could the descendants of the handmaids, and not the foremothers themselves, be full-fledged Jews, members of the family? After all, Rachel and Leah are not their foremothers!

Particularly curious is what happened to Bila, Rachel’s servant. As you know, Yaakov loved Rachel more than Leah, and lived with her more “soul to soul.” And after the death of Rachel, he, having grieved, moved his bed to the tent - Bila. Leah's eldest son, Reuven, was indignant: one can still understand that Rachel is dear to Yaakov more than Leah, but her servant?! However, it is clear from the Torah that it was Reuven who got excited here, and Yaakov acted quite appropriately. Moreover, since Yosef, Yaakov’s son by Rachel, was left without a mother, he was raised by Bila “like a mother” (Rashi Bereshit 37:10). Of course, with the knowledge of Yaakov. But Yosef was Yaakov’s favorite son and, as it seemed then, his main heir, the most promising and promising descendant. Yaakov entrusted his upbringing to a maid - and Yosef truly grew into a great righteous man ( Yosef Ha-Tzadik

).

What is the secret of these maids?

Let's return to Abraham's family: he also had a servant - Eliezer. If Hagar’s problems can be associated with the fact that she is the daughter of not the most righteous pharaoh in the world, then look at Eliezer - according to the sages, he was the son of the despotic Babylonian king Nimrod. At least Pharaoh showered Abraham with gifts and Nimrod threw him into the fire! And Eliezer was openly assigned to Abraham as a spy to report on the activities of “a man who undermines the foundations.”

And yet, in subsequent chapters we see that Eliezer enjoys the complete trust of Abraham. He entrusts him with the most important mission - to find and bring a bride for Isaac, that is, to ensure the future of the Jewish people. And Eliezer copes brilliantly with the mission, showing deep faith in G-d, receiving His miraculous help - and demonstrating total devotion to Abraham. The sages say that Eliezer himself had a daughter and he was not averse to marrying her to Isaac. But, having received a refusal, Eliezer, nevertheless, faithfully went to look for the one whom G-d had actually intended for the son of Abraham.

What is the secret of all these servants?

Perhaps the clue lies in the interpretation of the nickname that Abraham gave Eliezer: “Damesek” (Genesis 15:2). The simple meaning is “Damascus”, i.e. the city he was from. But the sages interpret: d

ole um
-a - shk e mi-torato shel rabo
- he “drew and poured out [to others] from [the well] of his master’s Torah.” That is, he adopted the Torah from Abraham and explained it to others. Eliezer could be trusted not only to carry out certain tasks in “secular” life, but also to teach the Torah of Abraham. But - only the “Master’s Torahs”. Eliezer could not produce “his own Torah.” He was unable to study it himself, to forge his own path. He could only learn from Abraham, adopt his wisdom.

Because This is the essence of a servant: he is dependent both physically and spiritually, he does not have his own path. But he can be very successful in accompanying his master on his

ways.
Become his “right hand” in all respects. Having renounced your “I,” you not only submit to the master physically, put your body at his disposal, but also give him your soul for upbringing, becoming his “continuation.” (There is a good word in the holy language bitul
.) And so adopt all the virtues of the master: his wisdom, his faith, his character, in general.

This was the secret of Bila and Zilpa. As handmaids of Rachel and Leah, they abandoned their “I” and turned themselves into “continuations” of their foremothers. They completely adopted their character, with all the advantages. Therefore, the sons they gave birth to became full-fledged Jews: biologically Rachel and Leah were not their foremothers, but spiritually they were! For they were born and raised by the handmaidens of their foremothers, their spiritual “continuation”. That’s why Yaakov, after Rachel’s death, moved to Bila’s tent: in the absence of the “original,” he could console himself with at least a “copy,” and soften the loss. Bila reminded him of Rachel herself in everything, and this was better than nothing - or than Leah, albeit a great righteous woman, but with a completely different character, on the contrary, sharply contrasting with the character of Rachel, which Yaakov never particularly liked, and now even more forced feel the loss even more intensely. And Yosef Bila could be raised as a “continuation” of Rachel.

And even a man who came from a proud royal family, such as Eliezer, could abandon his original self and turn himself into an “extension” of his master. Of course, it's not that simple. But, apparently, Abraham had such “charisma” and it was so obvious that G‑d Himself was helping him through open miracles that it made the deepest impression on everyone who happened to meet him. Yes, Nimrod threw him into the fire - but God miraculously saved him! What an amazing person! Even Nimrod was impressed by him. And for his son Eliezer, who found himself in the house of Abraham and left the house of Nimrod, it was all the more not difficult for him to completely fall under the influence of Abraham and submit to him. Not like a downtrodden servant

, but as a sincere
servant
and follower, ready to go through fire and water for what he believes in.

Pharaoh and his daughter Hagar were also impressed and fell under the spell of Abraham and Sarah. To be a servant of the prophet of G-d, for whom He works miracles and in whose house you constantly see angels (Rashi, Bereshit 16:13), is holy, it’s cool! And Hagar stood in awe of Abraham’s wife, the righteous and beautiful Sarah. And, indeed, she adopted her character in many ways. The Torah reports that after Sarah's death, Abraham took Keturah as his wife (Bereishit 25:1). According to the sages (Rashi, ibid.), this is Hagar, Abraham married her again. And she was named after Keturah because “her deeds are pleasant, like the incense of Ktoret.” All this time, no matter what, Hagar remained faithful to Abraham and did not marry anyone else. So Hagar was a righteous woman who truly loved Abraham and was devoted to him. Where did she adopt valuable human qualities, loyalty? Presumably, not from Pharaoh, but from Abraham and Sarah. Like all the servants and maids in that house.

Therefore, by giving her to Abraham, Sarah could well have expected that everything would turn out as well as it later turned out with Bila and Zilpah. After all, even Eliezer, the son of Nimrod, who threw Abraham into the fire, became an absolutely devoted servant. Moreover, Hagar, the daughter of Pharaoh, who was initially less hostile, logically should have become like this - and, it seems, she did. Therefore, Rachel and Leah were not afraid to follow the same path later: according to logic and according to experience (with Eliezer), it should have worked - and it really did work. But Hagar still in some ways did not reach the level of the other maids, she did not completely renounce her “I”, the former pride and ambition of the Egyptian princess, which is why problems arose with both her and her son Ishmael.

Perhaps she was initially attracted to the idea of ​​serving Abraham and His G-d not so much because it was holy, but because it was cool? That is, there was also a danger of serving not sincerely, for the sake of the most holy purpose ( li-shma

), forgetting about one’s “I”, but, on the contrary, for the sake of prestige (
she-lo-li-shma
).
I
, Hagar, the Servant! Sarah is an object of admiration, she should be imitated - and maybe even caught up and surpassed? I got pregnant with Abraham faster than Sarah - that's it! Maybe I’m now even more righteous than Sarah herself? And better suited for the great role of Abraham's partner in his sacred ministry? So there really was a temptation here. But every righteous person and servant has such a temptation, and truly great righteous people manage to overcome it. Abraham and Sarah themselves succeeded, and their servants usually succeeded too, such was the general mood in the house - sincere, selfless service to G‑d. Therefore, they did not expect anything else from Hagar. And in her, apparently, this imperfection was minimal; initially she fit in well, in a way that even Sarah could not foresee.

How Isaac was unable to initially foresee the scale of the problems with Eisav and sincerely believed that he could become a full-fledged Jew, since he was growing up in the same family as his righteous twin brother Yaakov. Isaac knew Eisav's character and imagined what problems might arise, but he believed that Eisav would overcome them and use his cunning and ability to hunt and obtain food in a good direction.

But once it became apparent that the problems were insurmountable, both Sarai and Isaac took drastic measures to prevent Ishmael and Esav from becoming part of the Jewish line. The measures are painful, but at that stage they are already necessary. Isaac, realizing that by the Will of G‑d Yaakov deserved and received the blessing, unequivocally answered Eisav: I’m sorry, but there is no such thing left for you. And Sarah insisted that Abraham expel Ishmael along with his mother.

Yes, eventually problems arose with Ishmael that continue to this day. But at least expulsion is not a cause, but a consequence. According to the Torah, Sarah demanded that Ishmael be expelled when she saw that he was “amusing himself.” The Sages (see Rashi, Bereshit 21:10) explain: Ishmael claimed Isaac's share of the inheritance and shot arrows at him. The ancestor of the Arabs into the ancestor of the Jews. Already! The Jewish woman Sarah had previously expressed her readiness to share her house and even her husband with the ancestors of the Arabs, but the ancestors of the Arabs themselves did not really want to share, preferring to negotiate with arrows and missiles (although no, not yet with missiles). So what should the Jews do? After suffering, they decided that there was nothing to do, they would have to take rather drastic measures... Abraham really didn’t like the idea - he was a “dove”, the personification of mercy, he loved everyone. And then act cruelly, like a “hawk”?! This is not Jewish! But God told him: listen to Sarah, she knows better here, nothing can be done. And don’t worry about Ishmael, I will make him a great nation, I will take care of him. Even when Abraham and his descendants have to take drastic measures against Ishmael, there will always be those who will sympathize with him and help him, with the whole world. Don't worry too much about him, he won't disappear.

So yes, the forefathers could not always do everything completely

foresee - after all, they are people, not gods. But the truth is that this really was G-d's plan. Two branches had to depart from the Jewish people, similar to it in many ways, but at the same time different from it - and often hostile to it, claiming its status. Feeling that they themselves are close to this, but still not there. Western and Eastern civilizations, each great in its own way, with partly Jewish roots and ideas, but still not Jewish, with problems and extremes that they cannot escape. These are also needed. For only the Jewish people are capable of fully serving G‑d and fulfilling all the many commandments of the Torah. Other nations are unable to do this, but they are able to accept and spread the two main “offshoots” of the Jewish religion, Christianity and Islam, which are less demanding, but convey the basic ideas about G-d, albeit incompletely, and with their distortions and extremes. For Jews they are therefore unacceptable, but for non-Jews they are the only possible way to spread these ideas about G-d throughout the world, the only way they can be perceived for now. And hostility towards Jews is a reminder: despite the potential attractiveness of these branches, the Jews themselves must remain themselves and fulfill their mission, and not assimilate - this will not work, they will not be accepted.

Such “offshoots” could only be created by the descendants of Jewish forefathers, who adopted the qualities of their forefathers partially, not completely, and therefore deviated from the purely Jewish path. Such were Eisav and Ishmael. The forefathers could not have deliberately raised such descendants. But it happened according to the Will of G‑d: the forefathers acted as they knew and could, and G‑d turned everything the way it was needed.

Best regards, Meir Muchnik

[edit] The view of the critical school

Both accounts of the Bible, Jehovahistic[8] and Elohistic[9], essentially describe the same event - the expulsion of Hagar, but contradict each other in detail. Features common to both stories: in both, Hagar is expelled at the request of Sarah, receives a divine revelation in the desert, near the water, and a prediction about the great future of her son, but in the first, the action takes place before the birth of Ishmael, Hagar is a real slave (sifcha) of Sarah and is handed over for arrogance into the hands of the mistress; in the second, Hagar goes into the desert against the will of Abraham with little Ismail on her back (according to the Jehovah's Witness, Ismail is at least 14 years old at this time), and her slave state is shaded less sharply. In these stories we have two parallel legends about the origin of the Ishmaelites who lived in the Paran desert, that is, in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, near the Egyptian “wall” (“tur”[10]). The racial kinship of these nomads with the Israelites was not in doubt, but they were descended from the Egyptian slave or concubine of their common ancestor.

Another obvious contradiction is that Sarah first leads Hagar to Abraham, but then becomes jealous and competes with her. It is unlikely that Abraham needed his wife’s permission to have sex with a slave. Probably, the authors of the Bible considered that Abraham could not be characterized by lust, and decided to make Sarah the initiator. It is possible that the main wife had to give formal permission to the concubine.

It is strange that the Egyptian woman turned out to be a slave to Abraham and Sarah. Perhaps this legend reflected memories of the invasions of the ancestors of the Jews - the Hapiru (Hyksos) - into Egypt, as a result of which the ancestors of the Jews could have had Egyptian slaves (if Hagar had become the wife of Abraham when he was in Egypt voluntarily, it is not clear why she turned out to be a slave). Apparently, there was enmity between the descendants of the captives and the descendants of the main wives (even among modern Israeli Bedouins there is a division into the descendants of freemen and the descendants of slaves), which, judging by the story, led the tribe to the collapse and separation of the descendants of slaves.

The legal system of Mesopotamia, Abraham's homeland, mentions situations similar to those described in the biblical account of Hagar (as in many other accounts associated with the period of the patriarchs). Thus, the Code of Hammurabi[11] establishes that, under certain circumstances, a concubine who gave birth to her master and demanded equality with her mistress can be punished, but not sold.

Literature

• Alexandrov N., priest. The history of the Jewish patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) according to the works of St. fathers and other writers. Kaz., 1901. P. 102-118, 127-134;
• Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. T. 1. P. 105-109; T. 11. P. 221-223;
• idem. Babylonian king Ammurabi and his newly discovered legislation in comparison with the legislation of Moses. SPb. 1904;
• Zykov V.I., priest Biblical Patriarch Abraham: biblical history. apologist. feature article. Pg., 1914. S. 418-432, 512-516;
• Kittel R. ̓Αγάρ // ThWNT. Bd. 1;
• Heitzer A. Hagar: Eine kritische und exegetische Untersuchung zu Gen 16 und 21, 1-21. Bonn, 1934;
• New explanatory Bible. T. 1. P. 321-322, 332-334;
• Knauf EA Hagar // ABD. Vol. 1 [bibliography];
• Grohmann M. Die Erzmütter: Sara und Hagar, Rebekka, Rahel // Alttestamentliche Gestalten im Neuen Testament: Beitr. z. Biblischen Theologie/Hrsg. M. Ohler. Darmstadt, 1999. S. 53-74;
• Sellin G. Hagar und Sara: Religionsgeschichtliche Hintergründe der Schriftallegorese Gal 4. 21-31 // Das Urchritentum in seiner literarischen Geschichte: Festschrift für J. Becker / Hrsg. U. Mell, U.B. Müller. B., 1999. S. 59-84. (BZNW; 100).

Comparison results:

Allegory about Hagar and Sarah

Personalities and events

1. Two women: Hagar, the slave (Gen. 16:15). Sarah, a free woman (Gen. 21:2)
2. Two sons: Ishmael, normal birth (Gal. 4:22,23). Isaac, born of the promise (Gal. 4:23; Gen. 21:2)
3. Two categories of social status: Ishmael, slavery in the family (Gen. 16:15). Isaac, free in the family (Gen. 21:2; 18:10-14)
4. Two characters: Ishmael was a persecutor Isaac was persecuted (Gen. 16:12; 21:9; Gal. 4:29)
5. Two categories of material inheritance: Ishmael received a slave's share of bread and water (Gen. 21:14). Isaac received all his father's property and all blessings (Gen. 21:12; 25:2)
6. Two were cast out: Hagar and Ishmael, who did not receive an inheritance along with the son of a free woman (Gen. 21:10-12; Gal. 4:30,31)
7. Two remained in favor: Sarah and Isaac, the son of promise (Gen. 18:10-14; 21:2,12)

Conclusion: The former covenant is fulfilled (Col. 2:14-16; Eph. 2:14-16; Rom. 7:4; Gal. 3:23-25) The Jews are spiritually lost under the former covenant (Rom. 3:9,23 ; Heb. 10:4); they are not heirs.

Faith and Covenants

1. Two covenants (Gal. 4:24,26): Old covenant of slavery New covenant of freedom
2. Two religions: Jewish by ordinary birth Church of Christ by spiritual birth (Rom. 9:7,8; Heb. 11:11; John 3:5-8)
3. Two categories of spiritual condition: The Jewish religion in the bondage of legalism (Gal. 3:10-12) The Church of Christ in spiritual freedom (Gal. 5:1,13)
4. Two images: The Jewish religion is the persecutor. The Church of Christ is persecuted (Acts 8:1; 9:1,2; Gal.4:29)
5. Two categories of spiritual inheritance: The Jews received a temporary inheritance, the land of Canaan. Christians receive a spiritual inheritance, all God's mercy and all blessings (Rom. 8:17,28; Gal. 3:8,29; Eph. 1:3)
6. Two are cast out: the former covenant and carnal Israel, or the son who does not inherit with spiritual Israel (Gen. 21:10-12; John 8:35; Gal. 4:28-31)
7. Two remained in favor: the New Testament and Christians according to the promise (Acts 3:25; Gal. 3:8,16,29; 4:28)

Conclusion: The New Covenant remains (2 Cor. 3:6-11). Christians receive salvation under the new covenant (Gal. 3:26-29); they are heirs.

Biblical stylistics: images and prototypes