WHO IS HAGAR? WHO IS KETURAH? - PARASHAT LECH LECHA AND PARASHAH CHAYEI SARAH

WHO IS HAGAR? WHO IS KETURAH? - PARASHAT LECH LECHA AND PARASHAH CHAYEI SARAH
Andre Widodo

© ORI

Shalom,

Bereshit (Genesis) 16:1

וְשָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם, לֹא יָלְדָה לוֹ; וְלָהּ שִׁפְחָה מִצְרִית, וּשְׁמָהּ הָגָר

v'sa.rai e.shet av.ram lo yal.da lo v'la shif.cha mits.rit u.she.ma ha.gar:

Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Midrash Rabbah

"Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter. When Pharaoh saw what was wrought upon his house for Sarah’s sake, he took his daughter and gave her to her, saying: “Better that my daughter be a maid in this house, than a mistress in a different house."

According to the Midrash, Hagar was the daughter of King Pharaoh of Egypt. When she saw the miracle which G-d performed for the sake of Sarah, to save her from the hands of the Egyptian king during Abraham's visit there, she said: "It is better to be a slave in Sarah's house than a princess in my own."

Her name "Hagar," according to the Midrash, stems from this beginning of her association with Abraham's house. It comes from "Ha-Agar," meaning "this is the reward."

Many of the ancient Sages speak favorably of Hagar who never remarried. She lived together with her son who had built his home on the edge of the wilderness and became a famous hunter. The Sages say that he possessed Adam's coat which he had taken from King Nimrod. (This coat gave the wearer power over animals).

Despite living with Ishmael so far from Abraham's influence, Hagar remained faithful to him. Therefore, after Sarah's death, Isaac himself went to her and took her back to his father to be again his father's wife. The Torah now calls her "Keturah," meaning "tied" to Abraham, for she had kept her faithful bond to Abraham; and it also means an adornment," for her good deeds.

Hagar, as the Sages picture her, was a woman of humility and piety.