Despite several promises from God, Sarah was getting old and had still not had a child. She had an Egyptian servant named Hagar, whom she had raised herself, and according to the accepted custom of the times she said to Abraham, "Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her." According to Hebrew legends, Hagar was herself a princess, a daughter of Pharaoh, who had been given to Abraham and Sarah to give her a better life.
So Abraham and Hagar spent a night together and she conceived. At first everyone was happy, but the pregnant Hagar soon began to treat the barren Sarah scornfully, reversing their roles and trying to increase her own importance, and Sarah complained to Abraham. He told her to do whatever she thought was right. She started treating Hagar harshly and Hagar ran away.
But God sent an angel to find her, and when the angel found her near a well (which always signifies a source of divine truth) he told her she must return home and put up with Sarah's treatment. But he promised her that God had heard her cries, and that through her son, who was to be named 'Ishmael', she would be the mother of a race of great warriors. Satisfied, Hagar responded joyfully, "The Lord has seen me!" She named the well 'Beer-lahai-roi' which means 'the well of the Living One who sees me", and then she returned to Sarah.
Thirteen years later, when Sarah was 99 years old, she gave birth to Isaac. Once again, a conflict arose between Hagar and Sarah. This time, Sarah became worried that Hagar's son Ishmael was going to share the inheritance she wanted exclusively for Isaac, so she told Abraham to cast them out! Abraham consulted God, and God told him to obey Sarah but not to worry - God would take care of them and Ishmael would father a great nation.
Abraham gave them supplies of food and water, and mother and son left. Soon the water ran out, and Hagar wandered away from Ishmael, not wanting to see him die. But again, God sent an angel to find her, and to open her eyes so that she saw yet another well which sustained her and Ishmael in the wilderness.
Hebrew legends confirm that Abraham loved his eldest son and visited him often during his long life.
Why this conflict between Hagar and Sarah? Remember, this is a symbolic inner story. Women in the Bible represent Emotions. Both of these women are called 'princesses', which means they certainly represent positive attributes. But Sarah represents emotions from the highest, most sacred part of the soul: Sarah comes from Canaan, the Promised Land. Hagar is a child of the Ego; she comes from biblical 'Egypt', which signifies the material level of the soul, the level of illusions. Now Abraham is the Bible's great personification of Mercy and Loving-kindness, the highest qualities of a human being. But it is possible for loving-kindness to go too far, becoming undisciplined, and generous-to-a-fault. Sarah is once again protecting Abraham, this time from himself! Hagar and Ishmael represent very high level qualities, but they are worldly qualities, not spiritual qualities, and Abraham must not become too attached to them. Ishmael is a great and powerful warrior - a man of this world. The name 'Hagar' means 'stranger' - she is a stranger in Canaan, where it was completely inappropriate for her to try to reverse roles with Sarah and make herself superior. This, of course, is exactly what her father, the Ego, tried to do to Abraham when Abraham and Sarah were in his palace. So, Sarah is once again protecting Abraham and making sure that lower influences do not take advantage of him and usurp his authority.
About the Author
Dr. Andrew Cort is the author of Love, Wisdom and God, The Sacred Quest in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and The American Psyche in Search of its Soul. Come find out more about the meaning of Biblical and Mythological Symbolism at his website www.andrewcort.com and receive a Free Report: Reconciling Science and Religion
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