8 The child grew,
and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was
weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had
borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10 So she said to
Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave
woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” 11 The matter was
very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said
to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave
woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac
that offspring shall be named for you. 13 As for the son of the
slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” 14
So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water,
and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and
sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15 When the water in
the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then
she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a
bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as
she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God
heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven,
and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard
the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Come, lift up the boy and hold
him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then
God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin
with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the
boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the
bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a
wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:8-21 is the story
of the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael. Paul will deal with this theme in
Galatians 4:21-30. In the Quran, Abraham takes Hagar and Ishmael to Mecca and
establishes them in that place. The
text uses the term Elohim for God. The turning points in the story involve
“seeing” and “hearing.” It suggests the importance of what we choose to see and
hear as well. The words of Mother
Teresa reflect our concerns well when reading this passage.
“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for,
forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater
poverty than the person who has nothing to eat … Loneliness is the most
terrible poverty.”
The story is
distressing regarding the character of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah observes Isaac
and Ishmael playing together and wants Abraham to cast them into the
wilderness. To the credit of Abraham, her request concerning his son distresses
him. Yet, he still does as she requests. God assures Abraham that Hagar and
Ishmael will be all right. However, things become desperate for them as they
wander in the wilderness. Mother places her child in the bushes because she
does not want to watch him die. She weeps. Here is one of the places in the Old
Testament where the text moves between “angel of God” and “God,” apparently God
being so present in the angel as to make an encounter with one an encounter
with both. Such a text prepares us for the Christian view of the Trinity as
seeking to resolve the tension between the transcendence and immanence of God.
In any case, she hears from the divine from heaven a promise that her son will
be the ancestor of a great nation. She opens her eyes and sees water, which
shares with her son. The boy becomes the ancestor of the Bedouins, hunters, and
plunders. The story reminds us that God protects those whom human beings
reject. It hints that God has a plan and blessing for all peoples and not just
for Israel.
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