Genesis Chapter 16: Hagar and Her Point of View
Hagar and Her Point of View
After God affirms the covenant with Abram, the Bible now moves on to tell us more about Sarai, his wife. Sarai had not, at this point, had any children with Abram. This is a source of stress for Sarai.
Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Many times this story is not told from the perspective of Hagar, who is a maid to Sarai. Here you have two women who are in desperate situations because of the society they live in. Sarai feels as if she has no choice, because she has not had a child and the society she’s in values her based on her ability to have children, in particular male children. And Hagar, an Egyptian woman, is in the awful position of someone telling her that she has to sleep with Abram in order to bear Abram and Sarai a child. Her body is not her own to do with as she decides and her child is not her own as others, namely Sarai, would have some control it.
This is the curse that the Bible speaks of, in Genesis chapter 3, exemplified. Sarai is subservient to her husband and has no real power in her society and Hagar is a servant, who is being required to do more than clean and cook, she is required to have sex with Abram in order to give him and Sarai an heir—that’s more than simply service.
Genesis 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
Genesis 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Now, Hagar, after having conceived a child doesn’t have as much respect for Sarai, who she is supposed to serve. This speaks to the importance placed on child bearing for women in this society—that this one act would make her be less respectful to Sarai and feel as if she has more power, because that is the only power she had in the situation. Don’t get me wrong, having a child is a wonderful and miraculous event (as you are having someone made in the image and likeness of God formed in your womb), but you are having that child for the glory of God and for yourself and the other parent. A woman’s body should not be used as a play thing or as a tool for someone else to get satisfaction from. In the Bible you will see many examples of women being framed up only in terms of their relationship to the man in the story and that is not the way it was intended to be—you are a direct reflection of God whether you are a woman or a man.