Did Hagar give Ishmael up for dead? Gen. 21.14-21 re-visited

This article advances the thesis that Hagar’s statement in Gen. 21.16, ‘Let me not look upon the death of the child’, is not so much a despairing whimper of resignation as it is a cohortative prayer for divine intervention. Accordingly, the ‘casting’ of her son under a bush is not an act of exposure...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Authors: Janzen, John Gerald 1932- (Author) ; Noble, John T (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2020]
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Adoption / Hagar, Biblical person / Ishmael / Death / Abandonment (Criminal law) / Freigabe
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B cast
B exposure
B Ishmael
B Death
B Gen. 21.14-21
B Hagar
B Bibel. Genesis, 21,14-21
B Adoption
B Keywords Adoption
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article advances the thesis that Hagar’s statement in Gen. 21.16, ‘Let me not look upon the death of the child’, is not so much a despairing whimper of resignation as it is a cohortative prayer for divine intervention. Accordingly, the ‘casting’ of her son under a bush is not an act of exposure, but a signal of the child’s availability for adoption. Attending to the vocabulary and syntax of Hagar’s ordeal, then, we understand the scene to represent the enactment of Ishmael’s name, ‘God hears’.
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0309089219862822