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Jacob Chanikuzhy
The story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac is well known. Much has been written on the pain and anguish suffered by Abraham as he led his beloved son to the place of sacrifice. The plight of a father who was commanded by divine instruction to kill his son with his own hands draws compassion from everyone who reads the story. But, this is not the first time that Abraham was made to suffer on account of his son. Even before the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham had to “sacrifice” Ishmael (Genesis 21:8-20). Bible records that when Sarah demanded the expulsion of Ishmael, Abraham was greatly distressed (Genesis 21:11). Before, when Sarah asked Abraham to oust the pregnant Hagar from his house, Abraham was not that worried (Genesis 16:6). But, to drive away Ishmael, the son whom he doted on for the last fourteen years, must have been heart rending sacrifice for Abraham.
But, why did Sarah insist on her demand? May be she was aware of Abraham’s increasing affection to Ishmael. According to the Code of Hammurabi, the sons in a slave were also heirs of the inheritance of their father. Sarah might have wanted to avoid a situation in which her son Isaac had to share his father’s inheritance with a son in the slave. But simply by sending Hagar and Ishmael away would not make Ishmael devoid of any right for inheritance. The laws prevailed in the neighbouring cultures can enlighten us in this matter. The Code of Hammurabi spells out that if the children born to the master in his slave girls are denied inheritance, they should be given freedom to compensate it. If, Abraham and Sarah were aware of it, and in all probability they were, Sarah’s demand to expel Hagar and Ishmael makes sense. If Ishmael’s reported boast during the banquet that he would get double inheritance as he was the first born of Abraham was heard by or communicated to Sarah, then her insistence to expel Hagar and Ishmael is perfectly understandable. Sarah was demanding Abraham to free Hagar and Ishmael in order to nullify Ishmael’s claim for inheritance.
It must have been with a heavy heart that Abraham sent away Ishmael and Hagar. If so, it is all the more puzzling why he sent them away just with bread and water and with no other gifts. Being a wealthy man he could have given them much more than what was needed just to survive in the desert. In fact, it seems that he did not give even what was needed for a journey through the wilderness. It has confused many Jewish and Christian commentators and many have tried to save the face of Abraham by saying that he must have given many more things than recorded in the Bible. Some say that he gave Hagar gold and silver. Cardinal Cajetan, famous Catholic theologian and philosopher during the Protestant Reformation, thinks that Abraham would not send Hagar and Ishmael empty handed and would have given copious provision and also asses for their journey and attendants to carry their things. But, all these do not match with the Biblical portrait of Hagar leaving the home of Abraham carrying bread and water on their shoulders. A plausible solution is that Abraham wanted to settle Hagar and Ishmael in a nearby place and gave her sufficient provision needed to reach that place. (Later stories narrate that Abraham used to visit the house of Ishmael and Hagar and finally married Hagar (Thus Keturah is the new name of Hagar) after the death of Sarah.
In the desert, Hagar seems to have lost the way and she began to stray in the wilderness frantically looking for water. Losing all hope, finally she leaves her son to die all alone and sobs bitterly. God is no indifferent onlooker of the plight of the poor. God hears the cry of Ishmael and opens the eyes of his mother Sarah to a well nearby. Actually the source of water was already there in her vicinity, but in her fear and anxiety, sorrow and despair she did not find it. Possibly she was so frustrated and hopeless that she could not even think of the possibility of having a water source in the desert. The cry of the poor always reaches God. But, his answer need not be always something spectacular and miraculous. Sometimes he helps us to open our eyes and see the solutions that are already there.
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