SMS/SMU Genesis 16-2

So Many Silenced, So Many Unnamed

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.

"An Egyptian servant, Hagar once belonged to the Pharaoh who gifted her to Sarai, Abram’s wife. Abram and Sarai were past 80 and still had no children. Spending 10 years in Canaan, Sarai became impatient and offered Hagar, as a second wife, to her husband to impregnate, due to her barrenness. As Sarai’s slave, Hagar’s baby would belong to the couple. “Listen, now! Since Yahweh has kept me from having children, go to my slave-girl. Perhaps I shall get children through her” (Genesis 16:1-2)." Marilyn A. Batchelor, Hagar and Intersectionality in Feminism and Religion.