Bible Seminar | Rev. Ira. D. Mangililo, Ph.D.

For many Christians, the story of Abraham and Sarah is a very familiar narrative, having been introduced to it since childhood. However, unlike Abraham and Sarah who often take centre stage, the story of Hagar is often on the periphery of Bible reading. Yet Hagar is an important figure in Abraham's family narrative. She was Sara's Egyptian slave girl who later gave birth to Ishmael, Abraham's first son, at Sara's request. This story is not just a story of family conflict, but a complex portrait of power, slavery, patriarchy, women's suffering, and God's presence for the marginalised.

 

Hagar in Two Narrative Traditions

The story of Hagar is mainly found in Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:8-21. In Old Testament studies, these two texts are often discussed through a source criticism approach. Scholars argue that the two narratives come from different traditions. Genesis 16 is ascribed to a Yahwist source because it uses the name Yahweh for God, while Genesis 21 is attributed to an Elohist source because it uses the term Elohim.

 

The difference between these two stories is evident in the portrayal of Hagar. In Genesis 16, Hagar is referred to as shiphah, the slave girl belonging to Sarai. She ran away on her own initiative due to oppression. In contrast, in Genesis 21 she is referred to as amah, Abraham's slave girl, and went into the wilderness because she was driven out by Abraham at Sarah's request. Scholars also see the role of priestly traditions connecting these two stories through the story of Ishmael, the covenant of circumcision, and God's promise of his future descendants.

 

Despite indications that the two stories come from different sources, the final form of Genesis presents them as a single narrative unit. Hagar's story can therefore be read as the life journey of a woman who experiences exploitation, exile, as well as divine providence.

 

Sara, Sterility, and the Search for Progeny

The narrative begins with the fact that Sarah was unable to bear Abraham a child. In Ancient Near Eastern culture, the inability to bear offspring was a serious matter, as it related to family continuity, inheritance, and social status. Sara understood this condition as God's act of "closing her womb". Thus, she placed the cause of her barrenness outside of herself.

 

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However, instead of waiting for God's action, Sara took the steps available in the culture of her day. Under Hammurabi's law, a barren woman could give her slave to her husband to procreate. The slave functioned as a surrogate mother. Therefore, Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham with the hope that she would be “built up” through Hagar. In Hebrew, the expression ibbaneh immennah is used, which means "I am built up through her".

 

According to studies cited by Mangililo, including the views of Philip Drey, Sara's desire to have offspring was not solely to fulfil God's promise to Abraham. Sara also had economic and social interests, especially with regard to the inheritance that came from the property and dowry she brought in marriage. Thus, the issue of offspring not only concerns covenant theology, but also the future of Sara's own identity and belonging.

 

Hagar as an Objectified Body

One of the most important aspects of this story is how Hagar is treated as an object. Sara orchestrates the entire reproductive process: she hands Hagar over to Abraham, controls their relationship, and decides the fate of the child that will be born. Sara's actions towards Hagar have similarities to Abraham's actions towards Sara when they were in Egypt. In both cases, women's bodies were used to fulfil the interests of others. Sara was once an object for Abraham's benefit; now Hagar is an object for Sara's benefit.

 

The narrator portrays Hagar as a person who is transferred from one owner to another. She is only valued to the extent that her body can produce offspring. But when she showed her humanity through her own attitudes, expressions or feelings, she was immediately perceived as a threat. This is where the conflict between Sarah and Hagar arose. After Hagar became pregnant, Sara felt herself looked down upon by her slave. However, the text never explicitly explains what Hagar really thought. Sara interpreted Hagar's attitude herself and then reacted based on that assumption.

 

Interpreters like Wilma Bailey argue that Hagar may have felt her self-esteem boosted by successfully conceiving. But Grimes offers a different reading. According to her, Hagar may have experienced anger and uncertainty because her body had been used as a tool. The child she conceived would not be hers, while she herself lost the right to determine her future. Renita Weems even sees that the humiliation Sara feels could be a projection of the humiliation she has been directing to herself due to infertility. In other words, the conflict between these two women is not just a personal conflict, but a reflection of the wounds produced by the patriarchal system.

 

Two Equally Injured Women

Both Sara and Hagar were women living under the same patriarchal cultural pressures. Sara suffered because her identity was defined by her ability to bear children. She felt like a failure, abandoned by God, and lost her dignity. Meanwhile, Hagar suffered because her body was used as a reproductive tool. Her hopes of gaining a better status through pregnancy were not realised. Both women tried to find a way out through available cultural mechanisms, but both failed. They end up hurting each other because they don't have a safe space to express their anger against an oppressive system.

 

In patriarchal societies, women's anger against oppressive structures is often not accepted. What is allowed is only women's anger towards other women. Therefore, the conflict between Sarah and Hagar can be understood as a form of venting of deeper wounds.

 

God Heard and Saw Hagar

When Sarah oppressed Hagar using the power given to Abraham, Hagar chose to flee into the wilderness. The Hebrew word used to describe the oppression is anah, a term also used to describe the Egyptian oppression of Israel.

 

In the wilderness Hagar met the angel of the Lord. This encounter was an important turning point because for the first time Hagar appeared as a subject in God's plan. Previously she was known only as a slave, but now God spoke directly to her. While the angel's command for Hagar to return to Sarah is contentious, the narrative also contains an incredible promise. God guaranteed Ishmael's future and made Hagar part of His saving work. The name Ishmael itself means "God hears", an acknowledgement that Hagar's cries did not go unnoticed by God.

 

Furthermore, Hagar became the first character in the Bible to give God a name, El-Roi, “God who sees me”. This confession shows a profound experience of faith: God not only hears her suffering, but also sees her as a human being of value.

 

Desert as a Space of Liberation

In Genesis 21, Hagar again experiences exile with Ishmael. They were sent into the wilderness with inadequate provisions. But it was in a place that seemed empty and hopeless that God opened Hagar's eyes to see a source of water. Here water became a symbol of future, restoration, and freedom.

 

The wilderness itself has deep spiritual significance. In Israelite tradition, the wilderness is a place of struggle, identity formation, and liberation. Quoting feminist thinker Bell Hooks, Mangililo describes the wilderness as a space to declare independence and creativity. It is there that one sheds the shackles of the past and discovers a new self. For Hagar, the wilderness was not a place of death, but of rebirth. There she had the freedom to determine her own future and even choose a wife for Ishmael without any interference from anyone else.

 

Hagar and Modern Slavery

Mangililo then brings Hagar's story into the context of contemporary Indonesia, especially the experience of the people in East Nusa Tenggara. According to him, Hagar is still present in the faces of women who are victims of trafficking and exploitation of migrant labour.

 

Poverty, lack of education, lack of employment, gender injustice, and weak social protection are the main driving factors of human trafficking. On the other hand, globalisation, the need for cheap labour, social media, and the capitalistic economic system are pull factors that strengthen the practice.

 

Stories like those of Nirmala Bonat, Adelina Lisao, and Wifrina Soik show that relations between employers and domestic workers are often still marked by violence, humiliation, and dehumanisation. In many ways, their experiences are reminiscent of Hagar's, whose body and life were controlled by others. Thus, Hagar is not just a figure from the past. She is present in women who have lost their freedom, identity, and the right to determine their own lives.

 

Closing

The story of Hagar and Sara teaches that patriarchy not only produces victims, but also creates relationships that make women hurt each other. Therefore, liberation is not enough to be done at the individual level. It requires a cultural transformation that enables a more just and equal relationship.

 

From Hagar, the church learns about the courage to seek one's own voice, escape oppression, and find the source of life that God provides. From Sara, the church learns that those with privilege are called to use their position to fight for shared justice, not maintain dominance.

 

In the end, this story presents a God who sides with the marginalised. The God who heard Hagar's cry is still present in the cries of today's victims of injustice. He is El-Roi, the God who sees, and Ishmael, the God who hears. Therefore, the church is called not just to talk about Hagar, but to walk with the Hagar of today towards the space of liberation, restoration, and true freedom.