Hagar

Hagar’s evolving narratives in Genesis 16:1-15 and 21:8-21 raises the following questions: “What is the relationship of creation and communities of faith to God?” “And what are the implications of Hagar’s narrative in communities that have suffered and are broken?” Preceding the narrative of Hagar in Genesis 16 is the fundamental problem that sets into motion a chain of events.…

to see if it was him who could not bring about the child, “Her challenge is implicit: Let’s see if you can be built up through her, buster. And Abraham rises to the bait.” (Visotzky, 45) It is seen very soon after that Abraham has no problem bringing a child into the world because Hagar is pregnant. If this would be the true motive behind the act then it would now be clear as to why Sarah is so upset with Hagar, and it would also make sense as to why Hagar looks upon Sarah as her lesser because…

approaching him. Abraham prepares a meal for them. He runs to the tent to tell Sarah to prepare cakes. In verse nine the men ask about Sarah and make their birth announcement. The narrator tells us that Sarah is inside the tent listening and that she laughs to herself. The Lord asks why she is laughing and Sarah denies that she laughed. The author shows Abraham and Sarah as hospitable people. They make a feast in the heat of the day for three men. The author is winning over the…

This is what Paul is doing in much of Chapter 4. He restates his point about good works verses faith by employing the story of Hagar and Sarah as an allegory for slavery to and freedom from the Law. As a refresher for what was covered last week, watch this video about the debate between faith vs. good works as the path to salvation. Video Follow-up questions: • What is the result of good works alone? What is the result of grace, or faith, alone? • Which argument makes more sense, Paul’s about…

story of Hagar and Sarah is interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the biases and viewpoints of the interpreter. Biblical interpretations will vary based on what the interpreters are essentially interpreting for in the passage, which could be factors such as feminism, race, and social/economic status among others. Pertaining to the story of Hagar and Sarah, feminist interpreters say Hagar and Sarah are symbols of exploitation of women throughout the ages. Feminist/female interpretations…

Pride, what is it? According to Hagar Shipley, it includes her stubbornness, her rebelliousness and her refusal to respond naturally to her own feeling. Due to her stubbornness, Hagar doesn’t find true love. Instead, when she tells her father that she is going to marry Brampton Shipley, her father expresses angrily that she will not marry such a man, and to spite him, she does exactly the opposite thing, not knowing that her choice would be a meaningless one. Hagar’s rebellious ways find her…

In the readings, Shared Stories and Rival Tellings, the stories of Sarah and Hagar represent and reflect the legal norms regarding women in the Qur’an. It appears, the main objective of God is to defend the honor and reputation of Abraham, leaving the women subject to the expense of this. In Sarah and Hagar, the women are used to satisfy the desires of both God and Abraham, whom treat the women with carelessness and forcefulness. This overarching theme of Sarah and Hagar, reflects the Qur’an’s…

To Paul, being perfected in collective identity was a poor substitute to being made free in Christ. In the following passage, Paul makes an allegorical interpretation of the story of Hagar and Sarah. One of the sons are described as the son according to the σάρξ, and the other as the son of promise (4.21-30). The peculiar perspective in Paul’s account of the story is that the only persecution that occurs in the text is the persecution against Hagar and her son, not as commonly assumed against…

The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, the main character, refused to compromise which shaped the outcome of her life and impacted the lives of those around her. “Pride was my wilderness and the demon that led me there was fear… [I was] never free, for I carried my chains within me, and they spread out from me and shackled all I touched.” Hagar’s pride and stubbornness were the causes of her failed relationships and lack of love in her life. Pride destroyed her relationships with her father, brother…

The strength of Hagar shines to the forefront of Islam in Riffat Hassan’s piece “Islamic Hagar and Her Family.” In this piece, Hassan takes a feminist hermeneutic on the subject and puts the importance of females in Islam to question. She understands these women as important, but strives towards a more powerful basis in which an individual can truly understand the influence they can have. The Qur’an presents itself as a majority male dominated piece, in which either Sarah or Hagar never…