16:2,3 then record that Sarai proposed that Avram have a child with Hagar who was their slave. Avram is very passive in this plan, as it was Sarai who pushed for it. 16:3 records va-tikach Sarai, that Sarai took, which indicates that Avram was not comfortable with the idea. Possibly the reason why Sarai took the initiative at this point is that she realized that she no longer could have children and that Avram was also on the verge of losing his virility. Thus, while here Avram was able to father Yishmael, thirteen years later, he knew that he could no longer have children, 17:17.
One question with regard to 16:3 is that within the verse after the Torah records that Sarai took Hagar and before the Torah records that Sarai gave Hagar to Egypt, the Torah notes that this action was occurring ten years after Avram was living in the land of Canaan. Why is this information important? Why also it is mentioned in between Sarai taking Hagar and giving her to Avraham, as opposed to being recorded at the beginning of the incident? The answer is that when Avram came to the land of Israel G-d told him that his children would inherit the land, 12:7. When Avram and Sarai were still in Haran it was known that Sarai was barren, 11:30, but undoubtedly the promise in 12:7 gave Sarai and Avraham hope that now in the land of Israel, G-d would enable her to have children. Yet, it had not happened. The Torah interrupted Sarai’s taking of Hagar and giving her to Avram with the information that it had been ten years since they had been in the land of Israel, i.e., ten years from G-d’s promise to Avram, to inform us that now she wanted Avram to have a child in order that the promise that G-d made would be fulfilled. This shows Sarai’s greatness that she was willing to give her husband to another woman in order to have G-d’s promise be fulfilled.
16:4 then records that after Sarai (Sara) gave Hagar to Avram (Avraham) for him to have a child with Hagar, Hagar became pregnant. This would seem to show that Sarai’s plan worked. However, 16:4 records that Hagar became insolent to Sarai, and then Sarai complained to Avram, using the strong language of hamasi, that Avram was the cause of the problem, 16:5. Why was Sarai complaining to Avram? Sarai has initiated the idea of giving Hagar to Avraham and the point was for Hagar to become pregnant. Furthermore, why would Sarai care what Hagar thought? Sarai could have ignored Hagar.
Hartom (1999, p. 63, on 16:5, see also R. Judan’s statement in the name of R. Yehuda in Bereshit Rabbah 45:5) writes that Sarai was upset with Avram since he did not stop Hagar from acting insolently. Yet, is that sufficient cause to explain Sarai’s statement in 16:5? She begins by saying that you Avram, hamasi, which means that she was accusing him of an outrage? What had Avram done so terrible? Sarai ends her statement by stating, that G-d should judge between you (Avram) and me (Sarai). This demand for justice is because Avram had simply not stopped Hagar from acting insolently? Was Avram really able to control Hagar’s actions? Was he always around Hagar when she was acting insolently to Sarai? Also, if this was the problem, Avram could have responded to Sarai’s complaint, that he would speak to Hagar and tell her to stop, but instead he “returned” Hagar to Sarai, and told her that Sarai could what she thinks is best, "whatever seems good in your eyes,"16:6.
In 16:5, Sarai was not accusing Avram of ignoring Hagar’s insolence, but of prompting it since Sarai thought that after Avram had been with Hagar, he was developing romantic feelings for Hagar. This was not such an unexpected outcome. To try to stop this from happening Sarai had chosen an Egyptian woman, 16:1, as opposed to a woman from Haran, to reduce the potential for Avraham to become enamored with her. Also, most likely, Sarai chose Hagar since Sarai thought that Hagar was a loyal servant.
Not with standing these attempts, Sarai thought that Avram was developing feelings for Hagar, and this was why Hagar was being insolent to her since Hagar thought that she had Avram’s support. The Torah hints to this development as when Sarai gave Hagar to Avraham the Torah mentions that Avraham was her husband, 16:3, which was known, to indicate that this issue of him being her husband was about to be a crucial question.
The proof for Sarai of Avram’s feelings for Hagar was that after Hagar became pregnant Sarai thought that Avram should have left Hagar since the purpose of his being with Hagar was to produce a child and this had happened. However, Avram had not left Hagar, possibly since he thought this would have been not nice to Hagar or maybe he thought that if he left Hagar when she was pregnant this would have stressed her and harmed the baby. However, for Sarai, Avram’s remaining with Hagar after Hagar was pregnant was an outrage to her, hamasi, a betrayal to her, and hence, she said that G-d should judge between her and Avram, 16:5.
16:6 then records that Avram “returned” Hagar to Sarai, and that Sarai afflicted, enui, Hagar to such an extent, that Hagar ran away. Sarai was taking out her bitterness to Avram, for what see viewed as his betrayal, on Hagar. Why did Avram allow Sarai to mistreat Hagar? Did he try to stop Sarai? In the end, Hagar’s son, Yishmael, received many blessings,16:12, 21:13,18, and this can be viewed as compensating him and his mother for having suffered. Yet, can this explain Avram’s behavior?
Speiser (1964, pp. 120,121) suggests that legally Avram was not able to intervene since in the Code of Hammurabi and the laws of Nuzi, they both seem to give the wife full power over the slave. Thus, he writes, "Abraham, who must know that, whatever his personal sentiments, he may not dissuade Sarah from following the letter of the law." N. Leibowitz (1975, p. 50) rejects this approach since even if Sarai’s actions were allowed and legal, this did not mean that Sarai had to ill-treat Hagar and that Avram could not have tried to dissuade her.
Another possibility as to why Avram did not interfere was because of the prophecy he was told in the previous chapter that "his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs and they would be slaves and abused for four hundred years," 15:13. Maybe Avram understood that the prophecy was to begin immediately and then his own children were destined to be afflicted. Thus, maybe he looked upon Sarai's treatment of Hagar as the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy, and then he accepted it as G-d's will. Later Avram would argue with G-d about the fate of Sedom, 18:23-33, but here he accepted G-d's decree with regard to his family, just as he would do by the akedah, chapter 22.
A third explanation for why Avram did not interfere with Sarai’s harsh treatment of Hagar could be because of Sarai’s accusation in 16:5, which put Avram in the middle between Sarai and Hagar. Sarai had been his wife for years, had accompanied from Haran, and had followed his request to say they were brother and sister when they went to Egypt, 12:13. Avram chose to remain loyal to Sarai, and the only way he could show this loyalty was by showing that he did not have feelings for Hagar. Thus, Avram “returned” Hagar to Sarai’s control and he could not request any special treatment for Hagar. Most likely he hoped that by doing this, Hagar would stop being insolent to Sarai, and that if Sarai would realize that he was not being disloyal to her, then she would treat Hagar better. It seems that Sarai was not convinced by Avram’s action and statement, and she was still very upset, as we see later in 21:9,10.
16:7 then records that after Hagar ran away, a malakh found her by a spring of water, and she and the malakh had a remarkable conversation, 16:8-12. Several years later, again there would be a remarkable conversation between a malakh and Hagar, 21:17,18. Hagar was a slave, a relatively unimportant person in society, but when she ran away, a malakh twice came to speak to her and help her. The Torah records how Hagar knew this first conversation was remarkable as she called the force (malakh) who spoke to her Kel-Roi and she said "Did I not go on seeing here after He (the force) saw me," (slight variation on Alter's translation, 2004, p. 80), 16:13. 16:14 then records that Hagar’s statement led to the spring, which would become a well, to be called Beer-Lahai-Roi.
These conversations between Hagar and the malakh teach an important lesson. Starting from Bereshit 12, the Torah focuses on the special relationship between Avraham and his descendants with G-d, what was to happen with other nations that were not part of this relationship? Could they also have a special relationship with G-d? The answer from the two conversations between the malakh and Hagar is yes. Both immediately prior to the announcement of a unique nation, the covenant of circumcision in chapter 17, and immediately after the nation was begun with Yitzhak’s birth, Hagar, a slave, was helped by G-d. In both episodes Hagar, the servant, is the representative in the Torah, for the idea that G-d intervenes in the world to help people not included in the covenant, see also Radak on 21:15, and the story of Yonah.
The lesson is that even with the founding of a unique nation that has a special relationship with G-d still all people can have a relationship with G-d. This idea is also demonstrated by the fact that while the new relationship began with the covenant of circumcision, Avraham's greatest vision of G-d was by the covenant of the pieces before the beginning of the new unique relationship with G-d. Also, after the covenant of circumcision, we see that the people of Sedom were judged by G-d and that Avraham attempted to pray for them, chapters 18,19. This shows that even after the founding of a nation with a special relationship with G-d, still G-d and Avraham were concerned with the fate of other nations.
Within the remarkable conversation between the malakh and Hagar, 16:9 records that the malakh told Hagar to go back to Sara even though it meant that Hagar would be mistreated or afflicted by Sara. Chapter 16 ends that Hagar listened to the malakh as she gave birth to Yishmael when Avram was 86 years old, 16:15,16. Later on, approximately 16 years later, G-d told Avraham to send Hagar and Yishmael away, 21:12. Thus, eventually Hagar would have to leave, why did the malakh tell her to return, especially as she was going to suffer when she returned?
One possibility is that Hagar returned in order that Yishmael would be born. Rashi (on 16:11) writes that the malakh told her that when she came back to Avraham and Sara she would conceive, which implies that she had a miscarriage, possibly from being abused or from running away. With this idea, had Hagar not returned, then Yishmael would not have been born. However, Luzzatto (on 16:11) rejects this understanding and argues that 16:11 is just stating that you are pregnant, and when you return you will give birth to a son. In addition, even if Hagar had to return for Yishmael to be conceived/ born, still the question would be why is there need for Yishmael in the book of Bereshit? It is true that he is blessed with many descendants, 25:12-16, but neither he nor his descendants have a major role in the Torah.
A second possibility is that Hagar returned for Yishmael's benefit, that at least he would live 15-16 years in Avraham's house, instead of not having a father his whole life. While this is possible, one could argue that it would have been better for him never to have known Avraham than for him to have been thrown out of Avraham's house when he was a teenager. Also, if Hagar was abused, then this must have hurt him also, and possibly he also suffered from Sara.
A third possibility is that Hagar returned for Avraham's benefit that Avraham would not be worried that he would not have a son since he had Yishmael. This is also unlikely since then Hagar had to suffer in order that Avraham would not have to worry about not having a son?
The most likely reason that Hagar had to return was because Yishmael had to be in Avraham's house until Yitzhak was born for G-d to make a covenant with Avraham and Yitzhak. In all the covenants between G-d and humankind there is a delineation who is within the covenant and who is not. By Noah, he was separated from the rest of world who died in the flood, Avraham was separated from Lot, Yaakov from Esav, and the Jewish people from the Egyptians, both by the covenants at Mount Sinai and on the plains of Moav. By Yaakov's children there was no separation, but then no covenant was established between them and G-d.
In Yitzhak's case, his challenger was Yishmael, and hence Hagar had to return to Avraham and Sara to have Yishmael live by them. Once Yitzhak was born then they could be separated, which signified that Yitzhak would be part of the covenant and not Yishmael.
Bibliography
Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company.
Hartom, E. S. 1999, Commentary on Bereshit, Tel Aviv: Yavne Publishing House.
Leibowitz, Nehama (1905-1997), Study of commentators on the Torah and the approach how to teach them: The book of Bereshit, Jerusalem: The World Zionist Organization (Hebrew).
Speiser, Ephraim Avigdor (1902-1965), 1964, Genesis: The Anchor Bible, Garden City: New York: Doubleday & Company.
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