Week 3 Story: Sarah's Beef
The beef between Hagar and Sarah begins way back when Sarah was younger. She overheard in a conversation between her husband Abraham and an angel that Sarah would in fact conceive a child. However, as both her and Abraham aged her womb continued to be barren and no children were given to the two. Sarah thought to herself that maybe she was not to conceive the child herself, but someone else would and the child would then become her. We can think of this as modern day surrogacy. The surrogate that Sarah had in mind would be her maid, Hagar. She instructed her husband and Hagar to conceive a child, with no consent from Hagar mind you. Hagar and Abraham, ya know, get it on and Hagar becomes pregnant. Sarah believes that since Hagar is pregnant with her husband's child, that she is now being looked down on by the maid. However, that is not the case, but that doesn’t stop Sarah from being rude as heck! Hagar, pregnant and scared of Sarah, flees into the desert. While wandering, she is met by an angel who tells her to go back and obey Sarah, and when her son is born, to name him Ishmael. The maid heads back to the household and does as the angel told her, she obeyed Sarah. When Sarah and Abraham were very old, it happened. Sarah conceived a child of her own. Worried that Ishmael may be an heir of Abraham, as he is also a son of his, she tells Abraham to send the mother and son away. The Lord tells Abraham to listen to his wife, so he does as she says. Hagar and Ishmael are sent out of the household with little water and food into the desert once more. Like the last time an angel appears to Hagar as Ishmael sleeps. The angel proclaims in a way that the Lord has big plans for her son as he says Ishmael will become “a great nation” and then he guides them to a drinking well. The duo is spared from the desert.
Author’s note: In this story I chose to do a basic retelling of one of the stories out of Bible Women. I took the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, and wrote it in more simpler terms. I had to go back before the time of Hagar being in the household to display why Sarah was so dead set on having a child. This created a want so bad that she wished to use another person in order to have their child. However, when she had her own child, she kicked her surrogate and child (that she made Hagar have) to the curb because she was scared of how the inheritance would be split.
Old Woman and a Baby (UnSplash)
Bibliography
Gibbs, L. (n.d.). Bible Women: Hagar. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-hagar.html
Gibbs, L. (n.d.). Bible Women: Hagar. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-hagar.html
Hi Keana!
ReplyDeleteI loved your simple retelling of the story of Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar and how their sons were born! I currently just read this story in a bible study and I loved hearing it again with a modern language. It made me laugh when you made light of Hagar and Abraham "getting it on" to conceive their child Ishmael. I wonder what would have happened if Abraham never conceived a child with Hagar and she never got involved. What would the rest of the Bible look like? Also, just be careful with the character's names because Abraham doesn't have that name until later in the Bible. His name is Abram when these events are occurring. God changes his name later in the Bible when he makes a covenant with him. No worries though since I know it can be confusing! Additionally, I would have loved to hear more details on Sarai's son too! Consider writing about his birth and the aftermath because it's pretty important! Overall, great job! I loved reading this story you wrote! Keep up the good work! :)
Hey Keana, I enjoyed your retelling of this story, especially by simplifying it, since I haven't personally read any of the bible, so my knowledge is so-so. That said, I think it would benefit the story to break it up into different paragraphs, that way the transitions might not seem so abrupt! Of course, it's still comprehensible, I'm just a fan of multiple paragraphs. Likewise, it would be cool to see more about Sarah's child, and what it is exactly that she fears Hagar's child will get as an inheritance from Abraham. Besides that, it was definitely an entertaining piece! I hope to read more of your work later on!
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