The Birth of Ishmael

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The Birth of Ishmael

Hagar

Pride and Jealousy

Yahweh’s Messenger

Hagar’s Blessing

A Wild Donkey

The God Who Sees

Ishmael

Image by Alexxx1979 from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Hagar

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, still had no children. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “Yahweh has prevented me from having children, so I want you to sleep with my servant. Maybe our family can grow through her.” Then Abram obeyed Sarai.

So Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave him Hagar, her Egyptian servant. Ten years after Abram settled in Canaan, she gave her to Abram, her husband, as his wife. Then Abram made love to Hagar, and she became pregnant.

Birth of Ishmael 1

Image by Ilzy Sousa from Pexels

God made a covenant with Abram that guaranteed he would have a son.1 But he said nothing about Abram’s barren wife having a son. Could God still give a child to Sarai in her mid-seventies? The next two chapters answer the question of who would be the mother of Abram’s promised son.

Sarai had grown old and given up hope of having children. So she decided to give her personal slave, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, to her husband as a second wife.2 Among the wealthy, this was a common solution to the problem of barrenness.3 As Sarai’s slave, Hagar served as an extension of Sarai, and any children she might have would be legally counted as Sarai’s. And Hagar had no say in the matter.

Although Sarai proposed the plan to Abram, it was not her idea. The culture of the time considered it the wife’s responsibility to produce an heir for her husband, one way or another.4 If she couldn’t give Abram an heir, she had to find someone who could. The adoption of Lot may have allowed Sarai to avoid sharing her husband up to this point. But with Lot now gone, she must have been under immense societal pressure to fulfill her duty to her husband.

As Adam obeyed Eve, Abram obeyed Sarai. Each man betrayed his role as the head of the family with disastrous results.5 Hagar had no trouble conceiving and soon realized she was pregnant. Sarai’s scheme to help God keep his promise initially seemed successful. But trouble would soon follow.

Pride and Jealousy

When she realized she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress. So Sarai told Abram, “This injustice is your fault! I’m the one who put my servant in your arms. But now that she has realized she’s pregnant, she looks down on me. May Yahweh judge between us!”

“Look, your servant is under your authority,” replied Abram. “Do whatever you think is right!” Then Sarai treated her so badly she ran away.

Birth of Ishmael 2

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Hagar took pride in being the wife who would finally give Abram a child. She succeeded where Sarai had failed, and she looked down on her mistress because of this. But if she thought her pregnancy would win her Abram’s favor, she was sorely mistaken.

The Hebrew verb qalal (“to look down on, belittle”) also occurs in Genesis 12:3, but in a different form. The form in chapter 12 is more intense and means “to show contempt for.” Those who show contempt for Abram (and, by extension, his wife) would incur God’s curse.6 Hagar’s attitude toward Sarai did not reach the level of contempt, but she was dangerously close.

Sarai noticed the change in Hagar’s attitude, but she could do nothing about it now that Hagar was also Abram’s wife. So she called on Abram to intervene. Although motivated by jealousy, Sarai had a legitimate complaint. Hagar was pregnant only because Sarai had fulfilled her cultural obligation. Sarai did not deserve to lose her status as a result.

As the head of the household, Abram should have kept the peace by affirming Sarai’s place in the family while also protecting Hagar. Instead, he deferred responsibility and gave Sarai free rein to retaliate. Her vengeance was unduly harsh and caused Hagar to run away in fear.

Yahweh’s Messenger

Yahweh’s messenger found Hagar at a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur.

Birth of Ishmael 3

Image by lalesh aldarwish from Pexels

Hagar left the family camp and fled down the road to Shur, a town in the wilderness near Egypt.7 Hagar the Egyptian was trying to return home. But as a woman traveling by herself, she was in a precarious situation. As she rested near a spring beside the road, alone and afraid, she became the first person in the Bible to encounter the mysterious malʾak YHWH.

The Hebrew word malʾak and the Greek equivalent angelos both mean “messenger” and can refer to either human messengers or angels, the members of the divine council who serve as God’s messengers to humanity.8 In Haggai 1:13, Yahweh’s messenger is Haggai himself, and in Malachi 2:7, the phrase refers to priests. Elsewhere, however, Yahweh’s messenger is a single spiritual being.9 He is both equated with Yahweh and distinguished from him.10 But is he an angel?

Like the angels, Yahweh’s messenger communicates God’s word to humanity, as he did with Hagar.11 He also appears with sword in hand as the agent of God’s justice.12 He sometimes refers to God as “I” and “me,” but this was a common practice among diplomatic envoys, and the prophets frequently did the same.13 However, when the prophets spoke on behalf of God, there was never any suggestion that the listeners actually heard or saw God. Yet in verse 13, Hagar believed she had seen God, and the narrator affirms she was correct.

The messenger who spoke to Hagar was not an angel but a visible manifestation of God himself, simultaneously Yahweh yet not Yahweh.14 This quandary is not new but continues the mystery of the plurality of God introduced in Genesis 1:26.15 As he later explained to Samson’s father, Manoah, his true identity is beyond human understanding.16

Hagar’s Blessing

“Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from? And where are you going?”

“I’m running away from Sarai, my mistress.”

Then Yahweh’s messenger told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. I will greatly increase the number of your offspring. They will be too numerous to count.”

Birth of Ishmael 4

Image by Christine Schmidt from Pixabay

Although Hagar didn’t know who she was talking to, Yahweh’s messenger made it clear he knew who she was. As God often does, he began the confrontation with his wayward child by asking a simple question—where? Hagar’s response was surprisingly forthright. She probably had no idea where she was going, other than back to Egypt. But she freely admitted she had run away from Sarai, even though runaway slaves could be severely punished.

This is the third time God asks someone “where” in Genesis. He asked Adam where he was, Cain where Abel was, and Hagar where she had come from.17 Of the three, only Hagar didn’t know she was talking to God. Yet she alone was completely honest. It seems Abram’s rejection had humbled her foolish pride.18 God responded to Adam’s evasive answer and Cain’s outright lie with punishment.19 He responded to Hagar’s confession with a blessing.

Yahweh’s messenger commanded Hagar to return and submit to Sarai. She and her child belonged in Abram’s household, and that was where they would be safest. God did what Abram had failed to do. He restored both Sarai and Hagar to their rightful places in the family. But the command came with a promise. If Hagar returned, God would give her an uncountable number of offspring, just as he had promised to Abram.20

A Wild Donkey

Then Yahweh’s messenger said,

“Your pregnancy will result
in the birth of a son.
You are to name him Ishmael
because Yahweh has heard about your suffering.
He will be a man like a wild donkey,
opposing everyone
and everyone opposing him.
So he will live with no regard for his brothers.”

Birth of Ishmael 5

Image by Alexxx1979 from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

After blessing Hagar, Yahweh’s messenger also blessed her child. She would have a son and name him Ishmael (yishmaʿeʾl), which means “God hears.” God heard how much Hagar had suffered and came to her rescue.

Yahweh’s messenger compared Ishmael as an adult to a species of wild donkey called the Persian onager.21 The Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute notes that “ancient civilizations attempted to domesticate the onager without success due to the animal’s unruly nature.”22 Like this notoriously untamable species, Ishmael would submit to no one. His brothers would endure four hundred years of slavery, but Ishmael would enjoy the freedom his mother longed for.23

The rest of the prophecy concerning Ishmael should be read in the context of this comparison. Wild donkeys are stubborn and independent, but they are not aggressive or violent. Ishmael’s defiant opposition to any attempt to control him does not imply hostility, nor does the Hebrew ʿal-pene ever have this meaning.

The meaning that best fits the context is “with no regard for,” as in Deuteronomy 21:16. There God forbade a man with two wives from disregarding (ʿal-pene) the rights of his firstborn in favor of a younger son born to the wife he loves—exactly what happened to Ishmael.24 As Ishmael’s family would disregard his status as Abram’s firstborn, Ishmael would disregard his relationship with his brothers. In his quest for independence, he would abandon even close family ties.

The God Who Sees

Then Hagar named Yahweh, who spoke to her: “You are a God Who Sees.”

“Have I really looked upon the one who sees me?” she wondered. That’s why the well is called Beer Lahai Roi. It’s between Kadesh and Bered.

Birth of Ishmael 6

Image by S B from Creation Swap

Yahweh’s messenger delivered his message and left, leaving Hagar bewildered. This stranger knew not only who she was but also who her unborn child would be. Even the fact that she carried a son was information only a deity could know. No wonder her initial response was to question whether she had really seen God!

Scripture doesn’t say whether Hagar worshiped Yahweh or the gods of Egypt after joining Abram’s household. She didn’t seem to realize the one who spoke to her was Abram’s God. Though the narrator confirms it was Yahweh, Hagar didn’t know his name. So she decided to name him the God Who Sees (ʾel roʾi).

Throughout Scripture, God’s people commemorate his acts of divine intervention by naming places and objects after different aspects of his nature. Later, the spring Hagar sat next to would become a well called Beer Lahai Roi (“Well of the Living One Who Sees Me”), named in honor of God’s appearance there. But Hagar is the only person the Bible records directly naming God himself.25

In the ancient Near East, naming someone was an act of authority, so naming God was rather audacious.26 But this strange deity cared enough about Hagar to seek her when she was alone in the middle of the desert. She needed to know who he was.

His unexpected visit in her moment of need showed Hagar that this was a deity who cared about even a runaway slave.27 Her name for him reflects this revelation. In Genesis 22, the verb raʾah (“to see”) metaphorically means “to provide.” Whatever Abram, Sarai, or the rest of the world thought of her, God saw her and would provide for her. He did not miraculously fix Hagar’s situation. She still had to return and face her mistress. But he acknowledged her and her pain, and for Hagar that was enough.

Ishmael

Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son. Abram named the son Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son Ishmael.

Birth of Ishmael 7

Image by Sweet Publishing from Free Bible Images, CC BY-SA 3.0

Hagar obeyed Yahweh’s messenger and returned to Abram’s camp. Several months later, she gave birth to his firstborn son. She must have told Abram about the messenger’s prophecy because he was the one who named the boy Ishmael. At the age of eighty-six, Abram finally had the son he longed for.

The brief account of Ishmael’s birth names Abram four times, Hagar three times, and Ishmael twice. Sarai, however, does not appear at all. Her plan to build a family through her slave failed. Ishmael was the son of Abram and Hagar. He was not her son. In that moment, Sarai could only watch as her husband celebrated with another woman. Was Ishmael the son Yahweh had promised to Abram? Would Yahweh fulfill his promise without her?

Ishmael’s birth resulted from Abram and Sarai’s failed attempt to fulfill God’s promises through their own power. In Galatians 4:21–31, Paul uses this story as an allegory for trying to find salvation through works of the law.28 His allegory does not criticize Hagar and Ishmael themselves. They were victims of the foolish scheme. Rather, Paul used their story to show that the new covenant’s reliance on faith was nothing new. It has never been possible to receive God’s promises through human effort.

Since Ishmael was born through human effort, he could never inherit Yahweh’s promise. The promise belonged to the son whose birth would come solely through the miraculous power of God.

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Genesis 17:1–27 →

  1. See The Promise of Offspring.
  2. See Riches and Regret.
  3. Walton, “Genesis,” 86–87; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 12. Both Leah and Rachel later employed the same strategy, even though Leah wasn’t even barren. Genesis 30:1–13.
  4. See Barren.
  5. See Genesis 3:17
  6. See Contempt.
  7. Genesis 25:18; Exodus 15:22; 1 Samuel 15:7.
  8. See Cherubs.
  9. Although there are many angels (malʾakim), the phrase malʾak YHWH is always singular.
  10. See Exodus 3:2–4; Judges 6:11–14; 13:21–22; Zechariah 3:1–2; 12:8; compare 2 Samuel 24:16; Zechariah 1:11–13.
  11. See also Genesis 22:11–18; Judges 2:1–3; Zechariah 3:6–10.
  12. Numbers 22:22–33; 2 Samuel 24:15–16; 2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:11–15; Psalm 35:4–6; Isaiah 37:36.
  13. Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, Bible Background Commentary, Genesis 8:20–21.
  14. Heiser, Angels, 57–63; Reyburn and Fry, Handbook on Genesis, 355; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 9.
  15. See The Plurality of God.
  16. Judges 13:18.
  17. Genesis 3:9; 4:9.
  18. See Pride and Jealousy.
  19. See The Blame Game; Cain’s Punishment.
  20. Genesis 13:16; 15:5.
  21. Hope, Animals, 2.32 Wild Ass.
  22. Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, “Persian Onager,” accessed March 26, 2021, https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/persian-onager.
  23. Constable, Genesis, 240; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 10–11; see The Exodus Foretold.
  24. Genesis 21:9–14.
  25. Hamilton, Book of Genesis: Chapters 1–17, 455; Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, Bible Background Commentary, Genesis 16:13.
  26. See Naming the Animals.
  27. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 11.
  28. See Allegory.