Hagar (Hebrew הָגָר "Stranger", Standard Hebrew Hagar, Tiberian Hebrew Hāḡār; Arabic هاجر; Hajar), according to the Abrahamic faiths, was an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah, wife of Abraham. Pieter Lastman (1583 Amsterdam - buried 4 April 1633, Amsterdam was a Dutch painter. Tiberian Hebrew is an extinct (yet very well documented Oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. A handmaiden (or handmaid) is a female attendant assistant servant, or slave. Sarah (; Arabic: سارة, Sārah; "a woman of high rank" is the wife of Abraham as described in the Hebrew Bible Abraham ( Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: At Sarah's suggestion, she became Abraham's second wife. Her story is reported in the Book of Genesis in Judeo-Christian tradition. In Islam, her story is mentioned in the Quran. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran She is regarded as the mother of Abraham's son, Ishmael, who is regarded as the the patriarch of Arabs. Abraham ( Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Ishmael ( Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Standard Yišmaʿel Tiberian Yišmāʿêl Arabic: إسماعيل The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding
Contents |
Hagar in the Hebrew Bible
The story of Hagar is found in the Bible in the book of Genesis, chapters 16 and 21. The narrative states that Hagar was an Egyptian servant belonging to Sarah, who, being barren, gave Hagar to her husband Abraham "as a wife', so that he might still have children. Sarah (; Arabic: سارة, Sārah; "a woman of high rank" is the wife of Abraham as described in the Hebrew Bible Abraham ( Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: She gave birth to a son, whom she named Ishmael. Ishmael ( Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Standard Yišmaʿel Tiberian Yišmāʿêl Arabic: إسماعيل
Fourteen years after this, following Sarah's repentance to God for her sins, God allowed Sarah to give birth to Isaac. According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq According to Judaic teachings, God commanded Abraham to obey Sarah's wishes and expel Hagar and Ishmael into the desert alone. Abraham is reluctant to send his son away, but God promised to make a great nation out of Ishmael, because he was Abraham's seed. Rising early in the morning, therefore, Abraham took bread and a container of water and sent his former consort, Hagar, and his son, Ishmael, away.
Hagar intended to return to Egypt, but lost her way, and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Beersheba (בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע Be'er Sheva, بئر السبع, Birüssebi is the largest City in the Negev desert of southern The water in her container failing, she placed Ishmael under one of the trees in the wilderness to cry as she went in search of water a small distance away from him. God ended up rescuing them by showing Hagar a well. Hagar eventually settled in the Desert of Paran. The Desert of Paran or Wilderness of Paran ( Hebrew מדבר פארן Midbar Par'an) is quite likely the place where the Israelites spent part of their
Rabbinical commentary
Rabinical commentators asserted that Hagar was "Pharaoh's daughter". The midrash Genesis Rabbah states it was when Sarah was in Pharaoh's harem that he gave her his daughter Hagar as slave, saying: "It is better that my daughter should be a slave in the house of such a woman than mistress in another house"; Abimelech acted likewise (xlv. Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic Genesis Rabba ( Bereshit Rabba in Hebrew: בראשית רבה) is a religious text from Judaism 's classical period Abimelech or Avimelech ( was a common name of the Philistine kings. 2). Sarah treated Hagar well, and induced women who came to visit her to visit Hagar also.
However Hagar, when pregnant by Abraham, began to act superciliously toward Sarah, provoking the latter to treat her harshly, to impose heavy work upon her, and even to strike her (ib. xlv. 9). [1] Later Sarah is said to have been motivated by Ishmael's sexually frivolous ways because of the reference to his "making merry" (Gen. 21:9), a translation of the Hebrew word 'Mitzachek'. This was developed into a reference to idolatry, sexual immorality or even murder; some rabbinic sources claim that Sarah worried that Ishmael would negatively influence Isaac, or that he would demand Isaac's inheritance on the grounds of being the firstborn. Others take a more positive view, emphasising Hagar's piety, noting that she was "the one who had sat by the well and besought him who is the life of the worlds, saying 'look upon my misery'". [2]
Hagar in Islamic traditions
According to Qisas Al-Anbiya, an Islamic collection of tales about the prophets, Hagar was the daughter of the King of Maghreb, a descendant of the Islamic prophet Salih. The "Qisas Al-Anbiya" (قصص الأنبياء or Stories of the Prophets refers to various collections of tales adapted from the Quran. Muslims regard as Prophets of Islam ( Arabic: نبي) those non-divine humans chosen by Allah as Prophets Not to be confused with the city of Salט, Morocco. Saleh ( Arabic: صالح is an Arabic name meaning Righteous Her father was killed by Pharoah Dhu l-'arsh and she was captured and taken as slave. Later, because of her royal blood, she was made mistress of the female slaves and given access to all of Pharoah's wealth. Upon conversion to Abraham's faith, the Pharoah gave Hagar to Sarah who gave her to Abraham. In this account, the name "Hagar" (called Hajar in Arabic) comes from Ha ajruka (Arabic for "here is your recompense"). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language [3]
According to another Islamic tradition, Hagar was the daughter of the Egyptian king, who gifted her to Abraham as a wife, thinking Sarah was his sister. [4] Ishmael's birth to Hagar caused strife between her and Sarah, who was still barren. Abraham brings Hagar and their son to Mecca, where angel Gabriel shows him the Ka'aba. [5] The objective of this journey was to "resettle" rather than "expel" Hagar. [3]
The journey begins in Syria, when Ishmael is still a suckling. Angel Gabriel personally guides them on the journey, and part of the journey happens on a winged steed Al-Buraq. This article is about the creature of Islamic legend For the chemical element see Boron. Finally, upon reaching the site of the Kaaba, Abraham left Hagar and son Ishmael under a tree and provided them with water. [5] Hagar, learning that God had ordered Abraham to leave her in the desert, respected his decision. [4] Muslims believe that God ordered Abraham to leave Hagar in order to test his obedience to God's commands. [6]
However, soon Hagar ran out of water, and baby Ishmael began to die. Hagar, according to Islamic tradition, panicked and climbed two nearby mountains repeatedly in search for water. After her seventh climb, Ishmael scratched the ground, and water gushed forth from a spring. [5]
Like many other significant figures in the Quran, Hagar is never mentioned by name in the text. The reader never hears her talking to Abraham. However, the reader lives Hagar's predicament indirectly through the eyes of Abraham. [3]
In Hajj
Hagar's repeated attempts to find water for her son, by running between the hills Safa and Marwa has become a Muslim rite (known as the sa`i, Arabic: سَعِي). Marwa may refer to Marwa a Lebanese singer Marwa a Raga of Hindustani Classical Music During the two Muslim pilgrimages (the Hajj and Umra), pilgrims are required to walk between the two hills seven times in memory of Hagar's quest for water. The Hajj (حج is a pilgrimage to Mecca (Makkah It is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world The ʿUmrah or ( عمرة) is a pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year The rite symbolizes the celebration of motherhood in Islam, as well as leadership of the women. "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here [4]
To complete the rite, Muslims drink from the well of Zamzam. The Well of Zamzam (or the Zamzam Well, or just Zamzam; Arabic: زمزم) is a well located within the Masjid al Haram in According to Islamic tradition the well was God's answer to Hagar's quest for water. Often Muslims will bring back the water, regarding it as sacred, in memory of Hagar. [7]
Hagar in Christian tradition
Christian commentary on Hagar begins with Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, which asserts that the story of Hagar is a complex allegory:
- For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. The Epistle to the Galatians is a book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of early Christian communities in the Roman province of But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4)
Paul has been interpreted to be saying that Mount Sinai was also called "Agar", and that it was named after Hagar. For other places named Mount Sinai see Mount Sinai (disambiguation Mount Sinai (Arabic طور سيناء, Hebrew הר סיני also [8] He links the laws of the Torah, given on Mount Sinai, to the bondage of the Israelite people, implying that it was signified by Hagar's condition as a bondswoman, while the "free" heavenly Jerusalem is signified by Sarah and her child. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to
Saint Augustine developed this view, by saying that Hagar symbolised the earthly "city", or sinful condition of humanity: "In the earthly city (symbolised by Hagar). . . we find two things, its own obvious presence and the symbolic presence of the heavenly city. New citizens are begotten to the earthly city by nature vitiated by sin but to the heavenly city by grace freeing nature from sin. " (City of God 15:2)[2] This view was developed by medieval theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe (ˈwɪklɪf also spelled Wyclif, Wycliff, Wiclef, Wicliffe, or Wickliffe) (mid-1320s – 31 December The latter compared the children of Sarah to the redeemed, and those of Hagar to the unredeemed, who are "carnal by nature and mere exiles". [2]
Paul's view was also used to link Hagar to Judaism, on the basis that the bondswoman Hagar represented bondage to the "old law", which the Christian dispensation had supplanted. In this respect Jews were seen - spiritually speaking - as descendants of Hagar, not Sarah. [9] The equation of Jews with descendents of Hagar was also also used to justify the subordination of Jews in medieval Christian kingdoms, and even their expulsion, on the model of the subjection and expulsion of Hagar. [9]
Arts and popular culture
Many artists have painted scenes from the story of Hagar and Ismael in the desert, including Pieter Lastman, Gustave Doré, Frederick Goodall and James Eckford Lauder. Pieter Lastman (1583 Amsterdam - buried 4 April 1633, Amsterdam was a Dutch painter. Frederick Goodall ( March 17 1822 &ndash July 29 1904) was an English artist James Eckford Lauder ( August 15, 1811 - March 27, 1869) was a notable mid- Victorian Scottish artist famous for both portraits and
William Shakespeare refers to Hagar in The Merchant of Venice Act II Scene 4 line 40 when Shylock says "What says that fool of Hagar’s offspring, ha?". The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598 This line refers to the character Launcelot, who Shylock is insulting by comparing him to the outcast Ishmael. It also reverses the conventional Christian interpretation by portraying the Christian character as the outcast. [2]
Hagar's destitution and desperation are used as an excuse for criminality by characters in the work of Daniel Defoe, such as Moll Flanders, and the conventional view of Hagar as the mother of outcasts is repeated in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's play Zapolya, whose heroine is assured that she is "no Hagar's offspring; thou art the rightful heir to an appointed king. Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 — April 24, 1731 was an English Writer, Journalist, and Pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (commonly known as simply "Moll Flanders") is a Novel written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 &ndash 25 July 1834) was an English Poet, Critic and philosopher This article is about the János Szapolyai For his son see John Zápolya II. "[2]
In the nineteenth century a more sympathetic portrayal became prominent, especially in America in novels and poems in which Hagar herself, or characters named Hagar, were depicted as unjustly suffering exiles. These include Hagar by Pearl Rivers, Hagar in the Wilderness by Nathaniel Parker Willis and Hagar's Farewell by Augusta Moore. Nathaniel Parker Willis, also known as N P Willis, (January 20 1806 – January 20 1867 was an American Author, Poet and editor
A similarly sympathetic view prevails in more recent literature. The novel The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence has a protagonist named Hagar married to man named Bram, whose life story loosely imitates that of the biblical Hagar. The Stone Angel, first published in 1964 by McClelland and Stewart, is perhaps the best-known of Margaret Laurence 's series of novels set in Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss) ( 18 July 1926 – 5 January 1987) was a Canadian Novelist and A character named Hagar is prominently featured in Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon, which features numerous Biblical themes and allusions. Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18 1931 is a Nobel Prize -winning American author editor and professor Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Hagar is mentioned briefly in Salman Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses, where Mecca is replaced with 'Jahilia', a desert village built on sand and served by Hagar's spring. Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie Kt (born 19 June 1947 is an Indian - British novelist and essayist The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie 's fourth Novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad.
Hagar in contemporary politics
Israel
The story of Hagar's expulsion to the desert has acquired some political connotations in modern Israel, being taken up as a symbol of the massive expulsion and exodus of Palestinians during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, being depicted as such by some Israeli writers and artists. The 1948 Palestinian exodus (الهجرة الفلسطينية al-Hijra al-Filasteeniya) referred to by Palestinians as al Naqba (النكبة Palestinian people or Palestinians ( الشعب الفلسطيني, ash-sha`b al-filasTīni; الفلسطينيون, al-filasTīnīyyūn
It was also the subject of a famous debate on the floor of the Knesset between two women parliamentarians - Shulamit Aloni, founder of Meretz (Civil Rights Movement) and Geula Cohen of Tehiya (National Awakening Party) - who argued about the right interpretation which the Bible in general and Hagar's story in particular should be given in curriculum of Israeli schools. For Beit Knesset a Jewish Place of worship, see Synagogue. The Knesset (כנסת lit Shulamit Aloni (שולמית אלוני born November 29 1928) is an Israeli politician and left-wing activist Meretz-Yachad (מרצ-יחד Vitality - Together) previously known as Meretz and then Yachad, is a left-wing social democratic
Since the 1970's the custom has arisen of giving the name "Hagar" to newborn female babies. The giving of this name is often taken as a controversial political act, marking the parents as being left-leaning and supporters of reconciliation with the Palestinians and Arab World, and is frowned upon by many, including nationalists and the religious. The connotations of the name were represented by the founding of the Israeli journal Hagar: Studies in Culture, Polity and Identities in 2000. [10]
The Israeli Women in Black movement has unofficially renamed Jerusalem's Paris Square, where the movement has been holding anti-occupation vigils every Friday since 1988, as "Hagar Square". The name commorates the late Hagar Roublev, a prominent Israeli feminist and peace activist, who was among the founders of these Friday vigils.
African-Americans
In America, black feminists have read the story of Hagar to reflect their own situation and concerns. According to Susanne Scholz,
| “ | Enslaved, raped [sic], but seen by God, Hagar has been a cherished biblical character in African-American communities. Womanist theologian Delores S. Williams explains:
The story of Hagar demonstrates that survival is possible even under harshest conditions. [11] |
” |
Several black American feminists have written about Hagar as though her story was comparable to that of slaves in American history. Wilma Bailey in an article entitled "Hagar: A Model for an Anabaptist Feminist," refers to her as a "maidservant" and "slave". She sees Hagar as a model of "power, skills, strength and drive. " In the article "A Mistress, A Maid, and No Mercy," Renita Weems argues that the relationship between Sarah and Hagar exhibits "ethnic prejudice exacerbated by economic and social exploitation. "[12]
References
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia, Hagar
- ^ a b c d e Jeffrey, David L. , A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1992, p. 326 ISBN:0802836348
- ^ a b c Fatani, Afnan H. (2006), “Hajar”, in Leaman, Oliver, The Qur'an: an encyclopedia, Great Britain: Routeledge, pp. 234-236
- ^ a b c 'Aishah 'Abd al-Rahman, Anthony Calderbank (1999). "Islam and the New Woman/ ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻡ ﻭﺍﻟﻤﺮﺃﺓ ﺍﻟﺠﺪﻳﺪﺓ". Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (19): 200.
- ^ a b c Firestone, Reuven (1992). "Abraham's Journey to Mecca in Islamic Exegesis: A Form-Critical Study of a Tradition". Studia Islamica (76): 15-18.
- ^ Schussman, Aviva (1998). "The Legitimacy and Nature of Mawid al-Nabī: (Analysis of a Fatwā)". Islamic Law and Society 5 (2): 218.
- ^ Delaney, Carol (August, 1990). "The "hajj": Sacred and Secular". American Ethnologist 17 (3): 515.
- ^ Charles Forster, The Historical Geography of Arabia, Duncan and Malcolm, 1844, p. 182
- ^ a b Deeana Copeland Klepper, "Jewish Expulsion and Jewish Exile in Scholastic Thought", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, UK, July 2002
- ^ Oren Yiftachel, Launching Hagar: Marginality, Beer-Sheva, Critique, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
- ^ Susanne Scholz, "Gender, Class, and Androcentric Compliance in the Rapes of Enslaved Women in the Hebrew Bible", Lectio Difficilior (European Electronic Journal for Feminist Exegisis), 1/2004 (see especially section "The Story of Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16; 21:9-21)".
- ^ Bailey, Wilma Ann Black and Jewish women consider Hagar, Encounter, Winter 2002
See also
- Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, a controversial book discussing the origins of Islam. Hagarism The Making of the Islamic World (1977 is a controversial book on the early history of Islam written by the historians Patricia Crone and
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic