Vayera ~ Sarah, Abraham and Hagar: seeing, listening and power dynamics

(11) As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Here, please, I know what a woman pleasing to see you are. (12) If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. (13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” (14) When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. (15) Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. (16) And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.

(19) Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone!”

(1) Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. (2) And Sarai said to Abram, “Here, please, Ad-nai has kept me from bearing. Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her.” And Abram heard Sarai’s request. (3) So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian—after Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan ten years—and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife/woman. (4) He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was lowered in her eyes.

(7) An angel of Ad-nai found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, (8) and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” (9) And the angel of Ad-nai said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harsh treatment.” (10) And the angel of Ad-nai said to her, “I will greatly increase your offspring, And they shall be too many to count.” (11) The angel of Ad-nai said to her further, “Behold, you are with child And shall bear a son; You shall call him Ishmael, for Ad-nai has heard your suffering. (12) He shall be a wild ass of a man; his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he shall dwell alongside of all his kinsmen.” (13) And she called Ad-nai who spoke to her, “You are El-roi,” by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after He saw me!” (14) Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it is between Kadesh and Bered.— (15) Hagar bore a son to Abram, and Abram gave the son that Hagar bore him the name Ishmael.

(6) Abram said to Sarai, “Your female slave is in your hands. Deal with her as is good to your eyes.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her.

(12) But God said to Abraham, “Do not let this be bad in your eyes regarding the youngster or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you.

(1) Ad-nai appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. (2) He raised his eyes and saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, (3) he said, “My lords, if I found favor in your eyes, do not go on past your servant.

(10) Then one said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him.

(9) Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing.

(15) When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, (16) and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, “Let me not look on as the child dies.” And sitting thus afar, she burst into tears. (17) God heard the cry of the youngster, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the cry of the youngster where he is. (18) Come, lift up the youngster and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” (19) Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the youngster drink.

(1) ... Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai said Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. When he saw the deeds on behalf of Sarah in his house, he took his daughter and gave her to him, saying, 'better that my daughter by a maidservant in this house than a mistress in another house.' This is what is written: "She had an Egyptian handmaid whose name was Hagar." [In other words:] ha agrikh: 'This is your reward.'

And he went into Hagar and she conceived (Gen. 16:4). Rabbi Levi bar Hayta said: She became pregnant at the first intimacy. Said Rabbi Eleazar: A woman never conceives by the first intimacy. An objection is raised: surely it is written, So both of Lot's daughters got pregnant by their father (Gen. 19:36)? Said R. Tanhuma: By an effort of will power they brought forth their virginity, and conceived at the second “act of intercourse”. [The first act is what they did to themselves.]

Said Rabbi Chanina ben Pazi: Thorns are neither weeded nor sown, but they grow and spring up on their own. But how much suffering and effort for wheat to grow! Why were the matriarchs barren? Rabbi Levi said in Rabbi Shila’s name and Rabbi Chelbo in R. Yochanan’s name: Because the Holy One of Blessing yearns for their prayers and supplications, as it is written 'O my dove, you on the clefts of the rock let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice' (Song of Songs 2:14): Why did I make you barren? In order to 'see your face... hear your voice'. Rabbi ‘Azariah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan bar Papa: So that their husbands might cling to them in their beauty. Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Hiya bar Abba said: So that they might pass the greater part of their life without hard work. Rabbi Huna and R. Avun in the name of Rabbi Meir: So that their husbands might derive pleasure from them, for when a woman is with child she is disfigured and does not care for her appearance. The ninety years that Sarah did not bear she was like a bride in her canopy. Ladies would come to ask how she was, and she would say to them, 'Go and ask about the welfare of this wretched woman [Hagar]!'’ Hagar would tell them: 'My mistress Sarai is not inside what she is outside: she appears to be righteous but she is not righteous, had she been a righteous woman, see how many years have passed without her conceiving, whereas I conceived in one night!' Said Sarah: 'Am I going to argue with this woman?! I should argue with her master!

'And Avram said to Sarai: do it her what is good in your eyes!' (Gen. 19:6) He said to her: "what do I care about her well being or her harm? [But] It is written: 'You will not deal with her as a slave since you humbled her' (Deuteronomy 21:14), and this one, after we made her suffer, we will enslave her? I don't care about her well being or her harm. [But] It is written 'he shall not have the right to sell her to foreigners, since he broke faith with her' (Exodus 21:8) and this one, after we made her a master we will make her a slave? I don't care about her well being or her harm." 'Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her.' Rabbi Aba bar Kahana said: she forbade her from having sexual relations. Rabbi Berachia said: she slapped her face with a slipper. Rabbi Berachia in the name of Rabbi Aba Bar Kahana said: She made her carry water buckets and bath towels to the baths.

And she called the name of Ad-nai who talked to her 'You are El-Roi' (Gen. 16:13) Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon and Rabbi Yochanan said, in the name of Rabbi Eleazar Bar Shimeon: The Holy One of Blessing did not grant speaking with women, with the exception of that righteous one [Sarah], and even that had a particular reason. Rabbi Aba said, in the name of Rabbi Beiri: How many roundabouts He did in order to talk to her! 'He said: 'no, you did laugh!'' (Gen. 18:16) But it is written: 'and she called the name of Ad-nai who talked to her 'You are El-Roi''! Rabbi Yehoshua Bar Nechemiah said: it was through an angel. But it is written: 'And God said to her'(Gen. 25:23)! Said Rabbi Levi, in the name of Rabbi Eleazar, in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Zimra: it was through a name. 'You are El Roi' - said Rabbi Aivu: You are the one who sees the sufferings of the persecuted. 'Since she said: also, here [halom], I have seen after the One Who sees me.' She said: Not only I was granted a talk, but even royalty, as it is written: 'You that brought me this far [halom] (II Sam. 7:18). Not only I was granted to see with my mistress, but even if my mistress were with me right now she would not have seen. Another interpretation: Not only I was granted to see with my mistress, but now even when I am alone! Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman said: this is similar to a lady to whom the king said 'pass before me'. She passed before him but was relying on her slave, and hiding her face, and she did not see the king - but the slave did.

And Sarai oppressed her and she fled from her presence (literally face): Our mother sinned in this oppression, and also Abraham in permitting her to do so. And Ad-nai heard her [Hagar's] oppression and gave her a son who would be a wild ass of a man to oppress the descendants of Abraham and Sarah in all kinds of oppression.