Trigger warning<\/b>: This scriptural account contains slavery, rape, and other abuses.<\/p>\n
\nSarai<\/h2>\n
When we read of Abram marrying Sarai (Genesis 11:29), the very first detail we\u2019re told about her is that \u201cSarai was barren; she had no child\u201d (v. 30).1<\/a><\/sup> Thus her primary duty according the system of patriarchy\u2014to produce a male heir for her husband\u2014cannot be fulfilled. This detail, rather than any of the other wonderful qualities she no doubt possesses, defines her as a person, and it is the driving force behind much of the narrative that follows.<\/p>\n Despite Sarai\u2019s infertility, God promises to make Abram into a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great, to give land to his descendents\u2014all implying that he will indeed have a male heir (12:1\u20137). How God will accomplish this is not yet stated.<\/p>\n In the meantime, in order to save his own neck, Abram passes Sarai off as merely his sister, allowing her to be taken into Pharaoh\u2019s household (vv. 11\u201316). Ownership of Sarai then passes temporarily to Pharaoh, until God inflicts plagues on Pharaoh, at which point Pharaoh sends Abram back \u201chis wife and all that belonged to him\u201d\u2014lumping Sarai in with the rest of Abram\u2019s property (vv. 17\u201320).<\/p>\n Jumping forward a few chapters, Abram finally asks how God will get around Sarai\u2019s infertility in order to fulfil his promises. Will Abram\u2019s blessings pass to his head slave, Eliezer? No, God replies, a son from Abram\u2019s own body will be his heir (Genesis 15:1\u20134). But this still doesn\u2019t answer how such a son will be born, as Sarai is still unable to conceive (16:1).<\/p>\n Given the patriarchal framework under which she lived, Sarai comes to the understandable conclusion that Abram will have to take another wife in order to acquire an heir. So Sarai exerts what little power she has and suggests that Abram take her slave-girl, Hagar. In this way, Sarai reasons, the child will still be hers in a secondary sense, as Hagar is her slave (vv. 1\u20132). Better this than to be passed over entirely for a new wife over whom Sarai has no control.<\/p>\n But of course this just takes their patriarchy to an even further extreme. In as much as Sarai is already treated as Abram\u2019s property, Hagar is literally the property of his property. Unlike polyamorous polygamy<\/a>, there is no sense here in which Hagar becomes a beloved second partner to Abram. She is treated as nothing more than the means to an end. If Sarai is defined by her infertility, then Hagar is defined by her ability to provide Abram with an heir.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not told how old Hagar is, but the word used to describe her implies a young age\u2014certainly far younger than Abram. And as a slave, she has absolutely no say in this matter herself. Her sexuality is entirely at the disposal of others, so she cannot possibly offer true consent. Given the power dynamics and the lack of consent, this is nothing short of rape.<\/strong> I understand the pushback some will offer against judging ancient people by modern standards, and that is not my intent. But speaking from the perspective of the victim, what Hagar experienced was rape, plain and simple.<\/p>\n When Abram takes Hagar, she conceives, but the plan backfires on them. Hagar\u2014with good reason\u2014no longer respects Sarai. Can we expect any different after such treatment? Sarai complains to Abram about it, and spineless Abram gives Sarai permission to do whatever she wants to her slave. Hagar is nothing more than the property of property, after all. Sarai then inflicts even further mistreatment on Hagar, and Hagar runs away (vv. 3\u20136).<\/p>\n At this point, the patriarchal nature of this narrative reaches its height, as the narrator suggests that even God sides with Abram\u2019s patriarchy. Yahweh\u2019s angel visits Hagar in the wilderness, addressing her as \u201cHagar, Sarai\u2019s slave-girl\u201d\u2014lest she forget her standing as property (vv. 7\u20138). After rhetorically asking Hagar where she is going, God\u2019s angel then commands the unthinkable, \u201cGo back to your mistress and submit to ill-treatment at her hands\u201d (v. 9).<\/p>\n Lest there be any doubt, at this point we need to establish that the narrator is 100% wrong here. God does not approve of patriarchy. God never sides with oppressors over the oppressed. And God certainly does not ask victims to return to their abusers or submit to further abuse. Such suggestions are nothing short of blasphemous to the character of God, and they are unimaginably harmful to victims of abuse. God did not ask Hagar to return and submit, as the narrator would have us believe.<\/strong><\/p>\n The supposed blessing that follows hardly makes it any better. It amounts to nothing more than that her (male) descendants will be numerous (v. 10). Hagar herself will have to remain in an abusive situation (v. 11). As for her son, Ishmael, \u201cHe will be like the wild ass; his hand will be against everyone and everyone\u2019s hand against him; and he will live at odds with all his kin\u201d (v. 12). Not very comforting.<\/p>\n Following this whole debacle, it turns out that God actually is going to give Sarai a child after all. With her defining feature of barrenness reversed, Sarai becomes Sarah. She can now fulfil her patriarchally prescribed duty and give her husband a male heir (17:15\u201321).<\/p>\n For the sake of space, we\u2019ll skip past the account of Lot, who offers up his daughters to be raped in order to spare his male guests. And we\u2019ll skip past the second time that Abram\u2014now called Abraham\u2014passes his wife off as merely his sister, allowing King Abimelech to take her. And we\u2019ll come to chapter 21, where Sarah conceives and bears \u201ca son to Abraham in his old age,\u201d whom \u201cAbraham named Isaac\u201d (vv. 2\u20133).<\/p>\n As Ishmael and Isaac grow older, Sarah sees the two interacting,2<\/a><\/sup> and she says to Abraham, \u201cDrive out this slave-girl and her son! I will not have this slave\u2019s son sharing the inheritance with my son Isaac\u201d (v. 10). Abraham is \u201cvery upset at this\u201d\u2014not because he cares about Hagar, but \u201cbecause of Ishmael\u201d (v. 11). But God steps in again and supposedly tells Abraham, \u201cDo as Sarah says\u201d (v. 12). Abraham sends them out into the wilderness of Beersheba, where God\u2019s angel again visits Hagar (vv. 14\u201318). God directs her to a well, Ishmael grows up to become an archer, and Hagar finds him a wife from Egypt (vv. 19\u201321).<\/p>\n Apart from a later list of descendants, this is the last we hear about Hagar. Sarah eventually dies (23:2). After mourning her for a while, Abraham marries another wife, named Keturah\u2014about whom we are told very little, other than that she bears six sons for Abraham (25:1\u20132). The text goes on to imply that Abraham has multiple concubines as well, but it provides no further details about them (v. 6).<\/p>\n That Abraham\u2019s wives had a messy and complicated relationship is beyond dispute. But by my reading, the reason for such complications is clear\u2014Abraham treated them like property. They existed, for Abraham, to produce a male heir, and they could otherwise be disposed of as he pleased. This is the essence of patriarchy, and this is the source of their problems. Such patriarchal polygamy<\/a> is absolutely not polyamory<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the next post, I\u2019ll examine the marriage of Jacob to Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah.<\/p>\n 1<\/a><\/sup> All scripture quotations that follow are taken from The Revised English Bible<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n 2<\/a><\/sup> The Hebrew text here is vague and has several possible meanings. It could be that Ishmael was simply playing with Isaac, but it could also be that he was mocking or making fun of him. A more extreme possibility is that he was molesting him. The examination of this question lies beyond the scope of our current discussion.<\/p>\n Sarai and Hagar had their fair share of disputes. Did their conflicts stem from polygamy? Or was Abram\u2019s patriarchal treatment of them the real problem?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2925,"featured_media":1498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,7],"tags":[10,21,14,17,131,51,140,132,142],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scripture","category-social-justice","category-theology","tag-family","tag-feminism","tag-god","tag-love","tag-marriage","tag-old-testament","tag-patriarchy","tag-polyamory","tag-polygamy"],"yoast_head":"\nHagar<\/h2>\n
![\"Abraham](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/759\/2017\/11\/abraham-casting-out-hagar-and-ishmael.jpg\")
Keturah & others<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
\nFootnotes<\/h2>\n
\nPosts on polyamory<\/h2>\n
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