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Sarah’s גָּרֵשׁ (Gāreš) and Abraham’s שַׁלְּחֶ (Šellach) of Hagar: Expulsion or Apostolic Mission?
Version 1
: Received: 19 December 2023 / Approved: 20 December 2023 / Online: 20 December 2023 (06:12:48 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 29 December 2023 / Approved: 29 December 2023 / Online: 29 December 2023 (09:19:12 CET)
Version 3 : Received: 2 March 2024 / Approved: 3 March 2024 / Online: 4 March 2024 (09:37:04 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 29 December 2023 / Approved: 29 December 2023 / Online: 29 December 2023 (09:19:12 CET)
Version 3 : Received: 2 March 2024 / Approved: 3 March 2024 / Online: 4 March 2024 (09:37:04 CET)
How to cite: Teke, M. Sarah’s גָּרֵשׁ (Gāreš) and Abraham’s שַׁלְּחֶ (Šellach) of Hagar: Expulsion or Apostolic Mission?. Preprints 2023, 2023121505. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1505.v1 Teke, M. Sarah’s גָּרֵשׁ (Gāreš) and Abraham’s שַׁלְּחֶ (Šellach) of Hagar: Expulsion or Apostolic Mission?. Preprints 2023, 2023121505. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1505.v1
Abstract
Abraham’s sending forth of Hagar and Ishmael in Gen 21:14 has generally been viewed as an expulsion. Popularly it is held that the primary, if not sole, purpose behind this act was to prevent Ishmael from interfering with Isaac’s inheritance. Interpreting, however, Sarah’s גָּרֵשׁ (gāreš) demand and Abraham’s שַׁלְּחֶ (šellach) of Hagar through the lens of the narratives of Israel, Jesus, and Adam opens the passage to a new dynamic, one in which Hagar has been sent on a mission to establish a colony as an extension of their faith-based activity. An examination of the LXX and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews supports this view. Finally, an analysis of Abraham’s rule and motivations enables a mission objective behind Hagar and Ishmael’s being “sent forth” quite plausible. These approaches to the biblical story bring into focus a picture that is different from the standard interpretation where there are multiple objectives of Hagar and Ishmael’s being sent into the wilderness primary among them being expanding Abraham and Sarah’s evangelical mission.
Keywords
Hagar; Sarah; Abraham; drive; expulsion; Israel; Jesus; Adam
Subject
Arts and Humanities, Religious Studies
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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