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The prints in this series emerged from my essays on fairly marginal characters in the Bible. The material I discovered – mainly from the sages – was so rich that it inspired me to think in terms of a graphic interpretation of them. Naturally, what I had written influenced the way I portrayed these people, and I offer both of them to you.
– Mordechai Beck |
Parshat Vayiera:
Hagar
Genesis 21: 9-13
Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing.
She said to Abraham, “Exile this maidservant and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you.
“As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed.”
Hagar: A Visual Midrash
Hagar is part of a triangular relationship that comes apart. Thus in my print I emphasize her isolation from the master-couple, Abraham and Sarah. Not only that, she is holding on to her son, Ishmael, who clings to his mother with all the passion of a young, bewildered child.
Abraham, too, looks apprehensively at his wife, Sarah, as she points in no uncertain terms outward. “Exile this maidservant!” she demands of her husband.
It is more than exile, it is almost certain death in the desert. Perhaps this is the reason that Abraham looks so uncertain. God tells him later to listen to his wife, but he hesitates now to cast Hagar and their son into the wilderness.
Thus I depict him keeping close to Sarah, holding on to her, just as she holds onto her baby Isaac. It is though he is taking refuge behind the wife of his youth. He has done her wrong and now he is uncertain what to do, or if he is capable of repairing the breach.
Hagar, the Passive Egyptian Princess: Rabbinic Perspectives
Hagar’s first appearance is – significantly perhaps – totally passive: “Now Sarai.. had an Egyptian maid, Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from bearing children – Go to my maid and maybe I shall obtain children through her.’ ... And he went to her and she conceived, and when she saw she had conceived she looked contemptuously on her mistress.”
Rashi recalls that Hagar had been part of a deal between Abraham and Pharaoh following the near rape of Sarai by the Egyptian monarch (Genesis 12: 15-20). But this is no ordinary woman – “She is Pharaoh’s own daughter,” says Rashi. “When Pharaoh saw the miracles that had been wrought for Sarah, he declared: ‘Better my daughter is a maidservant in this household than a mistress in anyone’s else’s.’ ” (Rashi on Genesis 16:1).
From the very first, Hagar’s situation is almost untenable. She is the daughter of a powerful king, Pharaoh, yet in Abraham’s household she is treated as a near slave. This reversal of status must have had a deep impact on Hagar, so it is no surprise that the sages intuit a profound rivalry between Abraham’s two women.
After Sarah offered her maidservant to her husband – an act of radical altruism – does she really think that she will remain unaffected? She says to Hagar, “Happy are you to be connected to such a holy body as this (Abraham’s).” But no sooner does Hagar fall pregnant than Sarah casts an evil eye on her and the latter loses her child. (Bereshit Rabba 45: 3, 5) Hagar’s response is clear: “My mistress Sarai seems to be righteous but she isn’t really...After all these years, she has remained barren, whereas I, after one night with Abraham, fell pregnant.” (Ibid 4)
Sarah is now furious at the changing situation and continues to torture the hapless Hagar. Abraham himself tries to fend off his wife’s anger: “After you have transformed her into a wife,” he says, “you continue to oppress her?” (Bereshit Rabba 45: 6). Is he feeling guilty perhaps for having agreed to accept the maidservant as a legitimate wife in the first place? Sarah then prevents Hagar from sleeping with Abraham or being intimate with him (ibid).
Is it possible to infer from all these dramatic events something of Sarah and Abraham’s own relationship? Sarah is often portrayed as a woman standing in her husband’s shadow. Abraham is the one who encounters God, is involved in a war, chases the kidnappers of Lot, makes a pact “between the pieces”, argues over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.
Sarah is not seen in any of these events. Only when she herself is handed over to Pharaoh and later to Avimelech, does she seem to have a role to play – and even then it is a totally passive one. Traditional readings of these events suggest that Sarah is simply treated as an object to be traded, used as a bargaining chip between kings and a rich travelling merchant/farmer. The word “love” is never used to describe her relationship with Abraham.
Yet what if Sarah were a virago, a dominatrix? Would this help explain her husband’s apparent impotence – had he been emasculated by her? Or does his willingness to give her to an alien king – twice – reflect a deep, perhaps unconscious, desire to prove that it is she, and not he, who is the cause of their barrenness. In the bed chamber of foreign potentates, it is Sarah who again shows who’s boss. Rashi indeed brings a story of how Pharaoh found it impossible to approach her, and how he and Avimelech were more than happy to give her back to her husband – with gifts!
Sarah may in fact be the stronger of the two divine missionaries – forceful where Abraham is forgiving, stubborn where he is flexible. It does not say anywhere that Sarah is tested, only Abraham. Her worth and her faith, as it were, do not have to be tried, they are known. At one point God tells Abraham, regarding Hagar, “listen to her (Sarah’s) voice.” (Gen: 21:12)
By contrast, Hagar would appear to be – despite her lineage – a subservient spirit. She may be born a princess but, as soon as she is introduced into Abraham’s household, she is treated as a subservient maid, there to do her mistress’s bidding. So successful is Sarah in dominating her, that she feels she can offer her as a wife, and not even as a concubine (Bereshit Rabba 45:3).
Only when Hagar becomes pregnant, does Sarah feel threatened by her and tries to re-impose herself upon her.
However passive Hagar is, when she is driven from Abraham’s home, she is privileged (for a woman) to be visited by an angel by God. She is unafraid, says another source, since she is used to be in the company of angels (Bereshit Rabba 45:7). All the internal conflicts and tensions between these three characters, almost inevitably, have a deleterious impact on Hagar. She brings up her son Ishmael as an idolater (Zohar part 1:138) while she herself returns to the gods of her father. She had become thoroughly disillusioned with Abraham, Sarah and their God, and turns to her own ancestral deities to help her and her son, now dying of thirst in a pitiless desert (Targum Yonatan Genesis 21:16).
If Abraham received Hagar simply as a way of acquiring an heir, this marriage to his wife’s maidservant makes perfect sense. Yet there is a growing suspicion that he has actually fallen in love with this Egyptian princess, to the extent that he allows her to bring up their child in the ways of idolatry. Moreover, the feelings are mutual. Even though he throws her out, she does not take up with any other man. Quite the contrary. She undergoes a period of repentance, so that after Sarah’s demise, Abraham is able to take her back as a wife (Midrash Leket Genesis 25 and Zohar part 1:133). This “new woman” naturally has a new name, Keturah – literally incense – suggesting perhaps that she had returned to her high spiritual potential, smelling sweetly and bristling with good deeds (ibid Zohar).
With neither Sarah to boss her, nor Ishmael to depend on her, Hagar and Abraham are free to reunite and give birth to another six sons, who are later sent to the East. Neither Hagar nor Abraham receive divine revelations. Neither are tested. Life becomes natural, normal. Hagar does not replace Sarah – Abraham places her in a new house/tent (Sarah’s home is filled only by Rebecca).
This return to a “normal family life” might help explain how Ishmael is able to attend his father Abraham’s burial alongside Isaac; any tension that might have existed in the family disappears with Sarah’s demise. We are not told when or where Hagar dies, but it is fairly safe to assume that she is not buried in the family mausoleum in the Cave of Machpelah!
Hagar is part of a triangular relationship that comes apart. Thus in my print I emphasize her isolation from the master-couple, Abraham and Sarah. Not only that, she is holding on to her son, Ishmael, who clings to his mother with all the passion of a young, bewildered child.
Abraham, too, looks apprehensively at his wife, Sarah, as she points in no uncertain terms outward. “Exile this maidservant!” she demands of her husband.
It is more than exile, it is almost certain death in the desert. Perhaps this is the reason that Abraham looks so uncertain. God tells him later to listen to his wife, but he hesitates now to cast Hagar and their son into the wilderness.
Thus I depict him keeping close to Sarah, holding on to her, just as she holds onto her baby Isaac. It is though he is taking refuge behind the wife of his youth. He has done her wrong and now he is uncertain what to do, or if he is capable of repairing the breach.
Hagar, the Passive Egyptian Princess: Rabbinic Perspectives
Hagar’s first appearance is – significantly perhaps – totally passive: “Now Sarai.. had an Egyptian maid, Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, ‘The Lord has prevented me from bearing children – Go to my maid and maybe I shall obtain children through her.’ ... And he went to her and she conceived, and when she saw she had conceived she looked contemptuously on her mistress.”
Rashi recalls that Hagar had been part of a deal between Abraham and Pharaoh following the near rape of Sarai by the Egyptian monarch (Genesis 12: 15-20). But this is no ordinary woman – “She is Pharaoh’s own daughter,” says Rashi. “When Pharaoh saw the miracles that had been wrought for Sarah, he declared: ‘Better my daughter is a maidservant in this household than a mistress in anyone’s else’s.’ ” (Rashi on Genesis 16:1).
From the very first, Hagar’s situation is almost untenable. She is the daughter of a powerful king, Pharaoh, yet in Abraham’s household she is treated as a near slave. This reversal of status must have had a deep impact on Hagar, so it is no surprise that the sages intuit a profound rivalry between Abraham’s two women.
After Sarah offered her maidservant to her husband – an act of radical altruism – does she really think that she will remain unaffected? She says to Hagar, “Happy are you to be connected to such a holy body as this (Abraham’s).” But no sooner does Hagar fall pregnant than Sarah casts an evil eye on her and the latter loses her child. (Bereshit Rabba 45: 3, 5) Hagar’s response is clear: “My mistress Sarai seems to be righteous but she isn’t really...After all these years, she has remained barren, whereas I, after one night with Abraham, fell pregnant.” (Ibid 4)
Sarah is now furious at the changing situation and continues to torture the hapless Hagar. Abraham himself tries to fend off his wife’s anger: “After you have transformed her into a wife,” he says, “you continue to oppress her?” (Bereshit Rabba 45: 6). Is he feeling guilty perhaps for having agreed to accept the maidservant as a legitimate wife in the first place? Sarah then prevents Hagar from sleeping with Abraham or being intimate with him (ibid).
Is it possible to infer from all these dramatic events something of Sarah and Abraham’s own relationship? Sarah is often portrayed as a woman standing in her husband’s shadow. Abraham is the one who encounters God, is involved in a war, chases the kidnappers of Lot, makes a pact “between the pieces”, argues over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.
Sarah is not seen in any of these events. Only when she herself is handed over to Pharaoh and later to Avimelech, does she seem to have a role to play – and even then it is a totally passive one. Traditional readings of these events suggest that Sarah is simply treated as an object to be traded, used as a bargaining chip between kings and a rich travelling merchant/farmer. The word “love” is never used to describe her relationship with Abraham.
Yet what if Sarah were a virago, a dominatrix? Would this help explain her husband’s apparent impotence – had he been emasculated by her? Or does his willingness to give her to an alien king – twice – reflect a deep, perhaps unconscious, desire to prove that it is she, and not he, who is the cause of their barrenness. In the bed chamber of foreign potentates, it is Sarah who again shows who’s boss. Rashi indeed brings a story of how Pharaoh found it impossible to approach her, and how he and Avimelech were more than happy to give her back to her husband – with gifts!
Sarah may in fact be the stronger of the two divine missionaries – forceful where Abraham is forgiving, stubborn where he is flexible. It does not say anywhere that Sarah is tested, only Abraham. Her worth and her faith, as it were, do not have to be tried, they are known. At one point God tells Abraham, regarding Hagar, “listen to her (Sarah’s) voice.” (Gen: 21:12)
By contrast, Hagar would appear to be – despite her lineage – a subservient spirit. She may be born a princess but, as soon as she is introduced into Abraham’s household, she is treated as a subservient maid, there to do her mistress’s bidding. So successful is Sarah in dominating her, that she feels she can offer her as a wife, and not even as a concubine (Bereshit Rabba 45:3).
Only when Hagar becomes pregnant, does Sarah feel threatened by her and tries to re-impose herself upon her.
However passive Hagar is, when she is driven from Abraham’s home, she is privileged (for a woman) to be visited by an angel by God. She is unafraid, says another source, since she is used to be in the company of angels (Bereshit Rabba 45:7). All the internal conflicts and tensions between these three characters, almost inevitably, have a deleterious impact on Hagar. She brings up her son Ishmael as an idolater (Zohar part 1:138) while she herself returns to the gods of her father. She had become thoroughly disillusioned with Abraham, Sarah and their God, and turns to her own ancestral deities to help her and her son, now dying of thirst in a pitiless desert (Targum Yonatan Genesis 21:16).
If Abraham received Hagar simply as a way of acquiring an heir, this marriage to his wife’s maidservant makes perfect sense. Yet there is a growing suspicion that he has actually fallen in love with this Egyptian princess, to the extent that he allows her to bring up their child in the ways of idolatry. Moreover, the feelings are mutual. Even though he throws her out, she does not take up with any other man. Quite the contrary. She undergoes a period of repentance, so that after Sarah’s demise, Abraham is able to take her back as a wife (Midrash Leket Genesis 25 and Zohar part 1:133). This “new woman” naturally has a new name, Keturah – literally incense – suggesting perhaps that she had returned to her high spiritual potential, smelling sweetly and bristling with good deeds (ibid Zohar).
With neither Sarah to boss her, nor Ishmael to depend on her, Hagar and Abraham are free to reunite and give birth to another six sons, who are later sent to the East. Neither Hagar nor Abraham receive divine revelations. Neither are tested. Life becomes natural, normal. Hagar does not replace Sarah – Abraham places her in a new house/tent (Sarah’s home is filled only by Rebecca).
This return to a “normal family life” might help explain how Ishmael is able to attend his father Abraham’s burial alongside Isaac; any tension that might have existed in the family disappears with Sarah’s demise. We are not told when or where Hagar dies, but it is fairly safe to assume that she is not buried in the family mausoleum in the Cave of Machpelah!
