Reclaiming our Stories: Hagar

By Sarah Locke

Read more of Hagar's story: Genesis 16; 21:1-21

The story of Hagar that we read in Genesis consists of three main acts. It is a difficult story to read for some, as it involves multiple layers of abuse.  

Act I - Sarai gives her slave-girl Hagar to Abram in order for Sarai to “obtain children by her” (Genesis 16:2) and Hagar becomes pregnant. Sarai becomes jealous, is cruel to Hagar, and Hagar runs away (Genesis 16:6). 

Act II - An angel of the Lord appears to Hagar and speaks directly with her, making an annunciation and giving a name to her child. God tells Hagar to return to Abram and Sarai. Hagar names the Lord, returns to Abram, and gives birth to Ishmael (Genesis 16:7-16). 

Act III - Sarah gives birth to Isaac and, after some time, sends Hagar and Ishmael away. God saves Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness. God is with the boy as he grows up and Hagar finds him a wife in Egypt (Genesis 21:1-21). 

The first thing that I recognize about Hagar’s story is that I should not be the one reflecting on it and giving my own perspective. I am, for all intents and purposes, Sarai in this story. I have a comfortable home, I have privilege and status inherent in my ethnicity (whiteness for me, Hebrew for Sarai), I hold promises from God that I do not always understand or believe. Who am I to shed light on Hagar’s story? When people who look like me have spent the majority of history using, oppressing, and discarding women in positions like Hagar’s? 

Perhaps all I can do is confront the harsh reality of this story and the ways in which it has been distorted throughout history. Perhaps I can allow space for Hagar to speak into her own story. 

This story is about two women pitted against one another, under the forces and pressures of a patriarchal society. But unlike we hear in this text, Hagar “foreigner” is not just some random slave woman. Many rabbinical commentators claim that Hagar is actually pharaoh's daughter, given to Sarai when she was part of the pharaoh's harem (Genesis 12:15). Some rabbis even say that Hagar’s true name is Keturah, and that when Sarah died Abraham sought her out, married her, and had six more children with her. 

It stands to reason that many rabbinical commentators regard Hagar with much more dignity than Paul, who uses Hagar as an example of being in bondage to the law, while Sarah is freed by grace (Galatians 4). Later Christians like Augustine, Aquinas, and Wycliffe continue to abuse an already abused woman, claiming that she is "unredeemed." Perhaps Christianity’s hatred toward Hagar has more to do with her part as the matriarch of the Islamic faith (the prophet Muhammed would come through Ishmael). 

Whatever the reason, Hagar has received very little sympathy and almost no voice in the Christian tradition. 

In fact, the only time that Hagar speaks in the entire Genesis narrative is when she is approached by a messenger of the Lord in the wilderness, stating that she is running away from her mistress and when she names God (Genesis 16:8, 13). Then God sends her back to her abusers. Read that again. God sends her back to her abusers. I imagine this is why Phyllis Trible includes this story in her book Texts of Terror-- not even God is on the side of the oppressed in this story.

This encounter with the divine is remarkable. Hagar is the first woman to receive an annunciation from God and “the only person in the Bible who named God... [and] the one doing the naming has a kind of power over the one who is named” (Rev. Dr. Lynn Japinga, Preaching the Women of the Old Testament). She is also the only woman to receive a divine promise of descendants. 

How is it that a woman with this much power in the wilderness, even power over God, is held captive and silenced in the bondage of Sarai and Abram? Perhaps this woman is more than a slave, perhaps she is the daughter of the Pharaoh, perhaps she is one who is seen by God and redeemed by the birth of her son. Perhaps we owe her the dignity of telling her story truthfully and fully every time we encounter it. 

Questions for reflection: 

Have you ever lost your voice or the ability to tell your own story? Has it ever been taken from you? 

What can we do to advocate for and amplify the voices of minorities and the historically oppressed? How can we tell stories more truthfully and fully?

Reclaiming our Stories: Eve

by Sarah Locke

Read more of Eve's story: Genesis 1; 2; 3:1-23; 4:1-15 

"The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:20-21). 

There is a lot that can be said about the story of Eve. In fact, a lot has already been said about Eve, and generally speaking, it has not been favorable to her or the rest of her sex. But what seems to be the very end of Eve’s story is my favorite part. She would become “the mother of all the living,” so her name would literally mean “to give life.” 

Unlike Adam, who is made from the soil and would toil in the soil, Eve was made from the living and brings forth life into all the world. Her name, even without knowing all the details of the narrative, tells the story of a woman who will go forth into the world, providing for the world, abiding in God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, creating as God first created. 

Even before I became pregnant with our son, my husband and I talked endlessly about names. We looked up meanings of names, thought of people we admired, and went back and forth until we settled on something that felt right. Eventually we decided on Bennet Alexander. Bennet is the surname of my favorite literary family from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It also means “blessed.” Alexander is my brother’s middle name and means “defender,” making Bennet Alexander a “blessed defender,” something we hope he will grow into some day. 

Regardless of how we read these stories in Genesis— as history, as allegory, or as truth— this is strong encouragement to women throughout the world who are given the names of their ancestors. May it give courage to those who are named into a legacy, those whose names carry the weight of thousands of women before them, and those whose names hold deep and abiding meaning for the namers. Eve would give life to all living. Even us. Especially us. 

What is the story of your name? Does it have significant meaning? Does it hold a certain power or give you a certain power? If you could choose meaning for your name (and you can), what would you choose? Who would you be? How does your name give life to all living?

Reclaiming our Stories: Women of Genesis

If you know me at all, you know that I don't think the women of the Bible get the credit that they deserve. They barely get any face-time in the three-year lectionary, and are mostly used to prop up the stories for, of, and about men. I don't love it.

But I do love the stories of these women. So as time got slower and my theological brain began to fill with cobwebs, I reached out to some of my trusted and fantastic colleagues and friends, wondering about what it could mean for us to write for, of, and about the incredible women of Genesis.

Over the next twelve weeks we will be looking at parts of these women's stories and lifting up our own reflections and inviting you into the conversation as well. You'll find it posted every Monday morning right here.

Here are the women we will encounter:

Eve by Sarah Locke
Noah's Wife by Vicki Hamilton
Sarai/Sarah by Mandy Achterberg
Hagar by Sarah Locke
Lot's Wife by Alexandria Long
Rebekah by Tobi Fleck
Rachel by Hannah Bardin
Leah by Sarah Locke
Bilhah & Zilpah by Sarah Locke
Dinah by Sarah Locke
Tamar by Vicki Hamilton
Potiphar's Wife by Jennifer Roberts


I invite you into this sacred space over the next twelve weeks to explore a little more of what these women's stories might be speaking into your own story. They are our ancestors, after all. Their blood runs in our veins and we are made of the same breath that created them. Dig deep into their stories and you might find out something about yourself along the way.

Peace to you and be well.



**If you're a church leader and your context is fully affirming and celebrating of the LGBTQIA+ community, please feel free to use these reflections in your own contexts. If your community is not, please feel free to ask permission before using. At the end of the twelve weeks, we will package it all into a pretty little Bible study booklet for your use.**