HAGAR'S JOURNEY: FROM KING'S PALACE TO NOBILITY - A STORY OF TRIUMPH, RESILIENCE AND THE UNVEILING OF ROYAL GLORY
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Abstract
Hajerah A.S, a mysterious and intriguing figure, exists at the intersection of two contrasting worlds - that of a slave girl and that of a princess. Her story unfolds as a complex tapestry woven with threads of hardship, resilience, and perhaps even royalty. The dichotomy inherent in her identity raises questions about the circumstances that shaped her life and the societal forces that molded her existence.In the annals of history, Hajerah A.S emerges as a character whose narrative challenges conventional expectations and stereotypes. The juxtaposition of her dual roles invites exploration into the dynamics of power, privilege, and the human spirit's capacity to endure and overcome adversity.This introduction serves as a gateway into the enigmatic world of Hajerah A.S, a woman whose life story transcends traditional boundaries, offering a unique lens through which to examine the complexities of social structures and individual identity. As we delve deeper into her tale, we may uncover not only the details of her personal journey but also broader insights into the nuanced interplay between societal expectations and individual agency.
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References
The Bible, Gen 11:31 KJV.
Mesopotamia’ is the entire country between the two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates [Dajlah and Furāt]. This is a tract nearly 700 miles long and from 20 to 250 miles broad, extending in a south easterly direction from Telek to Kurnah. The Arabian geographers term it as ‘the Island’ [al-Jazīrah] (Smith’s BD, p. 400).
Haran’: is a city on the river Balikh in Turkey on the Turkish-Syrian border. It retained its importance as a market and caravan town down in the Hellenistic period. It lay on the main route between Nineveh and the commercial cities of N Syria. The last king of Assyria, Ashur-Uballit established his capital at Haran in 612 BC after the destruction of Nineveh. Laban, the kinsman of Isaac and Jacob, lived at Haran. It is more than a thousand km NW of of Ur. Negeb lay at about the same distance to SW of Haran through Halab, Hamath, Damascus, Scechem, Bethel, Jerusalem, Hebron (J. L. McKenzie’s Dic of the Bible, 33738).
The Bible, Gen KJV 11:31; Acts 7:2-4, too, states as follows:
The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, (…). Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, (…), he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
The Bible, Gen KJV 11:32.
The Bible, Gen 11:29: ‘the name of Abram's wife was Sarai’.
The Bible, Gen 12:5 KJV.
The Bible, Gen 12:8-9 KJV.
The Bible, Gen 12:5 KJV.
The Bible, Gen 12:10 KJV. According to the Bible story, Lot family remained there and did not go to Egypt with Abraham. Like Abraham Lot had also got a lot of flocks and herds and men. Was the famine only for Abraham family and not for Lot family? This is not the true picture of the affairs. Actually it was a da’wah (missionary) expedition to explore fertile field for the purpose. Later on the Bible states that there was a divide between Lot and Abraham people due the scarcity of the grazing provisions for the flocks and herds of the two and Lot chose the fertile fields of Jordan for himself (Gen 13:5-12). This also does not seem to be a true picture. There is no scarcity of the meadows in the area. The fact is that Abraham sent Lot to the said areas for the Da’awh/missionary purposes and remained himself in Canaan for the purpose.
A modern Jewish Commentary on the Pentateuch by Rabbi Nosson Scherman, The Chumash, The Stone Edn., 2007, p. 57 states:
because the Egyptians were notorious for their immorality.. Ramban comments that it was a ‘great sin’ for him to put her in danger.
So it was unbecoming of Abraham to decide to go to Egypt when he already knew the repercussions.
The Stone Chumash, 2007, p. 57 states:
Abraham concocted the claim that she was his sister. The honesty of the Patriarch makes it impossible to believe that Abraham would have told an outright lie.
It is better to believe that this is a corruptionin in the text of the Bible than ‘to believe that Abraham would have told a lie.’ 13 The Chumash, 2007, p. 57 remarks:
They will give me gifts (Rashi) [how mean a man would he have been who thinks in these terms!]. The sense of Abraham’s statement was that if the nobles of Egypt were to shower him with gifts to win his “sister’s” hand, the masses would be afraid to harm him, and Sarah’s safety would be assured (Gur Aryeh).
No man on earth can ever believe that the Patriarch and Prophet Abraham could have thought so. Very obnoxious, putrid, and pungent remarks! Such like assertions of the Bible rather render its authenticity dubious.
The Hebrew word for this ‘had is ‘היה’ (hayah, i.e. hah-yaw). It means: ‘to exist, have, pertain’ (Strong’s Dic of the Words in the Heb Bible, p. 32, entry 1961). As such this word does not mean that Abraham was given these things by the Pharaoh of Egypt or his officials. It is also to be noted that he had brought a lot of moveable property with him from Haran ‘that they had gathered there, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran (Gen 12:5)’. But some of the Versions or Translations of the Bible render it otherwise, which means that, in addition to his own assets, Abraham was granted gifts by the Egyptians as well.
The Chumash, 2007, p. 57 remarks:
In sharp contrast to his later behavior toward the king of Sodom, from whom he was entitled to monitary compensation but vehemently refused to accept anything (14:23), Abraham did accept lavish gifts from Pharaoh. In the context of Abraham’s claim that Sarah was his sister and the implication that he would allow her to marry a suitable person, Abraham had no choice: Had he refused gifts, he would have aroused Pharaoh’s suspicions (Abarbanel).
It is hard to believe that Abraham could have thought so.
The Bible, Gen 12:11-20 KJV.
The Soncino Chumash has recorded a footnote which asserts that Hagar was Abraham’s wife; not a concubine:
To be his wife. Not his concubine (N [i.e. Rabbi Mosheh ben Nachman]), p, 76.
The Bible Gen 16:1-3 KJV.
The Soncino Chumash, ed. Dr a Cohen (Surrey: Hindhead, The Soncino Press, 1947), p. 75.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman, The Chumash, The Stone Edn., 2007, p. 71.
The Bible Gen 16:5 KJV.
The Soncino Chumash, 1947), p. 76. 23 The Bible Gen 16:6,16 KJV.
The Soncino Chumash, 1947), p. 76.
The Stone Chumash, 2007), p. 71.
Robert Hunter explains ‘Manoah’ in Sunday School Teacher’s B Manual (London: Cassel & Co Ltd, 1894), 468:
A Danite belonging to the village of Zorah, to whose wife an angel appeared, promising her that she should give birth to a son who should deliver Israel from Philistine oppression. The angel was afterward seen by Manoah himself, who, regarding him as Jehovah, offered him a sacrifice, in the flame of which the mysterious visitor ascended to heaven. The promise he gave was in due time fulfilled, and Manoah’s wife became the mother of Samson [the Judge].
The Jewish Enc. 6:138, s.v. ‘Hagar’. 28 The Jewish Enc., 6:139, s.v. ‘Hagar’.
Enc. Judaica 2nd Edition, s.v. 'Hagar', 8:206.
The Stone Chumash, p. 96 (Commenting on Gen. 21:9-14).
The Chumash (NY: Mesorah Publn. Ltd, 2007), 157.
Dic. of Bible, ed James Hastings, etc (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38 George Street, 1903), 2:278.
Enc. Biblica. Ed. Rev. T.K. Cheyne. London: Watts & Co. 1899, p. 1933.
The Jewish Enc., 6: 138.
The New Jerome Bible Com, p. 24.
The Collegeville Bible Com., OT, ed. Dianne Bergant, 1992, p. 60.
The Expositor’s Bible {in 25 Volumes}, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll (NY: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1903), 1: 214-15, 17-19.