Hagar the Egyptian: Wife, Handmaid,

and Concubine

PHIIIPY. YOO
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5S ICI, Canada

Abstract: This article addresses the presentation of Hagar as sîphâ, 3issâ, and 3ämä in
Gen I6:l-I6and21:9-21. largue that these episodes contain three original stories that
are complete, coherent, and independent of one another. Informed by ancient Near
Eastern customs, each story contains its own depictions of Hagar, her relationship to
Abraham and Sarah, and the legal status of her son. After the collation of the three
original stories, the precision of each story is lost and Hagar emerges as a multidimen-
sional figure.
Keywords: Hagar ٠ Ishmael ٠ household relations ٠ source criticism ٠ ancient
Near Eastern law

As PRESENTED IN Gen 16:1-16 and 21:9-21, the figure of Hagar the Egyptian
continues to attract attention in biblical studies and beyond.! Some of the early
interpreters were drawn to the portrayals in Genesis of Hagar, her son Ishmael, and
their place in Abraham and Sarah’s h0useh01d.2 Jubilees lacks Sarah’s treatment
of Hagar or Hagar’s reaction (cf. Gen 16:4-14) and, upholding a high regard for
Ishmael’s children, elevates Hagar to a status greater than the Hagar of Genesis

My thanks to the anonymous readers of CBQ for their helpfol remarks and suggestions. Any
remaining errors are my own.
1 Although the Egyptian origins (if any exist) of Hagar’s name are unclear, Hagar is clearly
depicted as an Egyptian‫ ؛‬see Manfred GOrg, “Hagar, die Ägypterin,” BN 33 (1986) 17-20. For
connections between Hagar and Moses in Egypt and in the wilderness, along with parallels between
c.
Ishmael and the Israelites in the wilderness, see Thomas Römer, "Isaac et Ismael, concurrents ou
cohéritiers de la promesse? Une lecture de Genèse 16,” ETR 74 (1999) 161-72, here 167-69.
2 In Genesis 17, Yhwh changes Abram’s name to Abraham (v. 5) and Sarai’s name to Sarah
(v. 15). The latter names will be used throughout this article.

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(Jub. 14:21-243.(14-17:1 ‫ ؛‬In the Genesis Apocryphon, when Pharaoh restores

Sarah to Abraham, he bestows gifts on Sarah (and not onAbraham‫ ؛‬cf. Gen 12:16)
and includes Hagar among these gifts (lQapGen ar 20.30-32).4 Paul juxtaposes
Hagar with Sarah as opposing covenants of law and promise and elevates Sarah
over Hagar (Gal 4:21-31). According to some of the rabbis in Bereshit Kabbah,
Isaac brings Hagar from Beer-lahai-roi 60:14‫ ؛‬cf. Gen 16:1324:62 ‫ )؛‬and
Hagar, here identified by her personal name Keturah through a connection not
explicitly established in the biblical text, marries Abraham (jBer. Rab. 61:4‫ ؛‬cf.
Gen 25:1). In the Quran, there is perhaps an allusion to Hagar and Ishmael when
Abraham prays for “some of my offspring in a valley" {Surah 14:31). Modem
critics focus on Hagar as an importantfigure in her own right through the lens of-1
list here a few—feminist theology, anthropological interests, interreligious dia-
logue, African American hermeneutics, and postcolonial interpretation.5
Exegetes have long observed that the biblical text reveals a confused portrait
of Hagar. In Genesis 1625‫־‬, Hagar is variously (25:12 ‫שפחה‬: 16:1, 8‫)؛‬, Hssâ
(16:3 :‫ )אשה‬and Dâmâ (13 ,12 ,21:10 :‫)אמה‬. Some critics propose that, all things
considered, Hagar was actually Abraham’s concubine.^ Yet a clearer sketch of
Hagar, one that considers her depictions as ‫שפחה‬,‫אשה‬, and ‫אמה‬, remains desirable.
As is the case with the description of Hagar in 16:3, when preceded by ‫ לקח‬or ‫נתן‬
and the preposition -‫ל‬, ‫ אשה‬generally means “wife.”? The question of what both
‫ שפחה‬and ‫ אמה‬precisely mean in Biblical Hebrew and any lexical relationship that
.exists between these two words is a vexing one that will be discussed below3 4 5 6 7

3 For a treatment of Hagar in Jubilees, see David Rothstein, "Text and Context: Domestic
Harmony and the Depiction of Hagar in Jubilees,” JSP 17 (2008) 243-64.
4 This detail is also in Ber. Rab٠ 45:1, here with Hagar stated as Pharaoh’s daughter.
5 See, e٠g., Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror: LiteraryrnFeminist Readings ofBiblical Narratives
(Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984) 9-35‫ ؛‬Naomi A. Steinberg, Kinship and Marriage in Genesis: A
Household Economics Perspective (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993) 61-65, 77-81‫ ؛‬Irmtraud Fischer,
Die Erzeltern Israels: Feministisch-theologische Studien zu Genesis 12-36 ‫ יי‬m،TtaÉ*. de
Gruyter, 1994) 264-66, 288-90, 296-97‫ ؛‬Dora R. Mbuwayesango, “Childlessness and Woman-to-
Woman Relationships in Genesis and in African Patriarchal Society: Sarah and Hagar from a
Zimbabwean Woman’s Perspective (Gen 16:1-621-21:8 ‫)؛‬,” Semeia 78 (1997) 27-36‫ ؛‬Pamela T.
Reis, “Hagar Requited,” JSOT 25 (2000) 75-109‫ ؛‬André Wénin, “Saraï, Hagar et Abram: Une
approche narrative et contextuelle de Gn 16,1-6,” RTL 32 (2001) 24-54‫ ؛‬James c.Okoye, “Sarah
and Hagar: Genesis 16 and 21,” JSOT 32 (2007) 163-75‫ ؛‬and the essays in Hagar, Sarah, and Their
Children: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives (ed. Phyllis Trible and Letty M. Russell‫؛‬
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006). For the bold yet speculative view that Hagar was a rival
matriarch to Sarah (here, apriestess), see Savina j. Teubal ,HagartheEgyptian: TheLost Traditions
of the Matriarchs (New York: Hamer Collins, 1990), maintained in Scott Nikaido, “Hagar and
Ishmael as Literary Figures: An Intertextual Study,” ΡΤ51 (2001) 219-42.
6 E.g., E. A. Speiser, Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes (AB 1‫ ؛‬Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1964) 117‫ ؛‬Bernard Jackson, “The ‘Institutions’ of Marriage and Divorce in the Hebrew
Bible,” 56 (2011) 221-51, esp. 227 n. 23.
7 Elsewhere in Genesis: 29:2841:45 ‫ ؛‬30:4, 9‫ ؛‬34:8,12‫ ؛‬38:14‫؛‬.