After ten years’ residence in the land of Canaan, Abram, by the
persuasion of his wife, who had been barren heretofore, and now
despaired of bearing children herself when she was seventy-five years
old, took, as a second wife, or concubine, her handmaid, Hagar, an
Egyptian. When Hagar conceived, she despised her mistress, who dealt
hardly with her, Abram giving her up to his wife’s discretion; so that
she fled toward Egypt from the face of her mistress, but was stopped in
her flight by the angel of the Lord, who foretold that she should bear a
son called Ishmael, because the Lord heard her affliction, and that his
race should be numerous, warlike, and unconquered; a prediction, as seen
under the article _Arabia_, remarkably fulfilled to the present day.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael. When Isaac was
weaned, Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who was now about fifteen years of
age, offended Sarah by some mockery or ill treatment of Isaac; the
original word signifies elsewhere, “to skirmish,” or “fight,” 2 Samuel
ii, 14; and St. Paul represents Ishmael as “persecuting” him, Gal. iv,
29. Sarah therefore complained to Abraham, and said, “Cast out this
bond-woman and her son, for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir
with my son Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight,
because of his son Ishmael;” but God approved of Sarah’s advice, and
again excluded Ishmael from the special covenant of grace: “For in Isaac
shall thy seed be called: nevertheless, the son of the bond-woman will I
make a nation also, because he is thy seed.” God renewed this promise
also to Hagar, during her wanderings in the wilderness of Beersheba,
when she despaired of support: “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in
thine hands, for I will make him a great nation. And God was with the
lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and became an
archer. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.” See
ABRAHAM and ISHMAEL.
We do not know when Hagar died. The rabbins say she was Pharaoh’s
daughter; but Chrysostom asserts that she was one of those slaves which
Pharaoh gave to Abraham, Gen. xii, 16. The Chaldee paraphrasts, and many
of the Jews, believe Hagar and Keturah to be the same person; but this
is not credible. Philo thinks that Hagar embraced Abraham’s religion,
which is very probable. The Mussulmans and Arabians, who are descended
from Ishmael, the son of Hagar, speak mightily in her commendation. They
call her in eminency, Mother Hagar, and maintain that she was Abraham’s
lawful wife; the mother of Ishmael, his eldest son; who, as such,
possessed Arabia, which very much exceeds, say they, both in extent and
riches, the land of Canaan, which was given to his younger son Isaac.
persuasion of his wife, who had been barren heretofore, and now
despaired of bearing children herself when she was seventy-five years
old, took, as a second wife, or concubine, her handmaid, Hagar, an
Egyptian. When Hagar conceived, she despised her mistress, who dealt
hardly with her, Abram giving her up to his wife’s discretion; so that
she fled toward Egypt from the face of her mistress, but was stopped in
her flight by the angel of the Lord, who foretold that she should bear a
son called Ishmael, because the Lord heard her affliction, and that his
race should be numerous, warlike, and unconquered; a prediction, as seen
under the article _Arabia_, remarkably fulfilled to the present day.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bare Ishmael. When Isaac was
weaned, Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who was now about fifteen years of
age, offended Sarah by some mockery or ill treatment of Isaac; the
original word signifies elsewhere, “to skirmish,” or “fight,” 2 Samuel
ii, 14; and St. Paul represents Ishmael as “persecuting” him, Gal. iv,
29. Sarah therefore complained to Abraham, and said, “Cast out this
bond-woman and her son, for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir
with my son Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight,
because of his son Ishmael;” but God approved of Sarah’s advice, and
again excluded Ishmael from the special covenant of grace: “For in Isaac
shall thy seed be called: nevertheless, the son of the bond-woman will I
make a nation also, because he is thy seed.” God renewed this promise
also to Hagar, during her wanderings in the wilderness of Beersheba,
when she despaired of support: “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in
thine hands, for I will make him a great nation. And God was with the
lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and became an
archer. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.” See
ABRAHAM and ISHMAEL.
We do not know when Hagar died. The rabbins say she was Pharaoh’s
daughter; but Chrysostom asserts that she was one of those slaves which
Pharaoh gave to Abraham, Gen. xii, 16. The Chaldee paraphrasts, and many
of the Jews, believe Hagar and Keturah to be the same person; but this
is not credible. Philo thinks that Hagar embraced Abraham’s religion,
which is very probable. The Mussulmans and Arabians, who are descended
from Ishmael, the son of Hagar, speak mightily in her commendation. They
call her in eminency, Mother Hagar, and maintain that she was Abraham’s
lawful wife; the mother of Ishmael, his eldest son; who, as such,
possessed Arabia, which very much exceeds, say they, both in extent and
riches, the land of Canaan, which was given to his younger son Isaac.