Hagar’s Firsts

In her contribution to Hagar, Sarah and their Children (WJK), Phyllis Trible develops an interesting feminist reading of the story of Hagar. Her targets (surprise!) patriarchy and hierarchy, but along the way she makes some insightful observations on the text. She notes, for instance, that Hagar’s departure from the household of Abraham into the wilderness (Gen 16) is described in language reminiscent of the expulsion from Eden and anticipatory of the exodus. She “suffers affliction” from Sarah, just as Israel will be afflicted in Egypt.

Once in the wilderness, she is the subject of a number of firsts. She is the first and only woman in the Bible to be promised a numerous progeny. She is the “first woman in the Bible to receive an annunciation.” She is the first to weep in the Bible.

Trible’s take on this passage is not compelling, but her interpretation makes it clear that Paul was not making it up when he found an allegory of Israel and the church in the story of Hagar and Sarah.