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Hagar: The M/Other patriarch

2018; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 115; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0034637318803073

2052-9449

Susan M. Pigott,

Archaeology and Historical Studies

Most readers of the Old Testament know the matriarchs Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah along with their counterpart patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). But fewer know the other matriarch, Hagar, the Egyptian, wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael. If they know her, they often have negative misconceptions about Hagar and Ishmael. But when one reads the stories of Hagar in Genesis 16 and 21 carefully and without modern prejudices, one discovers that Genesis portrays neither Hagar nor Ishmael negatively. In fact, Hagar is exceptional among the matriarchs in that she is actually a Mother Patriarch, being promised multiplied seed (just like the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac) and providing for Ishmael’s future as a patriarch would. Her son, Ishmael, mirrors Isaac in numerous ways and, like Jacob, he is the father of twelve princes. Hagar, the ultimate “other” as an Egyptian, is also the ultimate mother. She should be accorded her place as the mother of a nation and, indeed, a patriarch in her own right.