Rereading Torah Towards Liberation

Hagar, the Egyptian, is a fascinating biblical character, with an interesting relationship to YHVH and a long, deep history in midrash in several cultural contexts (see Hagar-Related Resources, posted in 2023, plus older resources post). In Genesis 16, Hagar is maid-servant to Sarai, concubine to Abram, and, eventually, mother of Ishmael. When she becomes pregnant, she is treated harshly by Sarai and so flees from her [va-tivrach mipaneha] (16:6).

Fleeing from…

The expression used in Gen 16:6, mipaneha, is often translated as “from her,” which makes solid narrative sense. More language-sensitive translations are “from her presence” and “from her face.” The latter readings focus on the face(s) [panim] embedded in the preposition mipnei.

When she is out in the wilderness and asked where she’s coming from and where she’s going, Hagar responds:

מִפְּנֵי שָׂרַי גְּבִרְתִּי אָנֹכִי בֹּרַחַת

mipnei Sarai g’virti anokhi borachat

from the face of Sarai, my mistress, I am fleeing. (Gen 16:8)

…wisdom and virtue?

Philo of Alexandria (1st Century CE) focuses in on “face” in this verse, explaining Hagar’s statement to mean:

“I have recoiled at the outward appearance of wisdom and virtue; since, beholding its royal and imperial presence, she trembled, not being able to endure to look upon its majesty and sublimity, but rather thinking it an object of avoidance; for there are some people who do not turn from virtue from any hatred of it, but from a reverential modesty, looking upon themselves as unworthy to live with such a mistress.” — The Midrash of Philo 16:8

It seems at least as likely to me, however, that the face(s) Hagar was fleeing were not so wise and virtuous. My first and strongest reaction to the expression “from her face” is a kind of mash-up of three formative songs of my youth.

…or smiling faces?

It’s not a perfect match, of course, but I can imagine Hagar with Tina Turner’s voice:

Tina Turner (1939-2023) released her version of “Backstabbers” in 1979 (United Artists): link to lyrics and Turner’s official lyrics video. Written by Huff, McFadden, and Whitehead, “Backstabbers,” was first released by the O’Jays in 1972 (Philadelphia International).

Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist
Aimin’ straight at your back
I just don’t think they’ll miss

Ostensibly describing relationship jealousy — a theme not unrelated to the Abraham-Sarah-Hagar story — the song has always carried other resonance as well.

The O’Jays’ outro, not included in all versions and not in Turner’s cover, sounds less specific to the romantic jealousy theme: “…Smiling faces sometimes tell lies…Might be your neighbor…Your next door neighbor, yeah…” These lines also reflect the 1971 “Smiling Faces Sometimes” (written by Strong & Whitfield; recorded by various Motown artists). And they are picked up, too, in the more pointed, if more uplifting, “I’ll Take You There” (written by Al Bell; recorded by the Staple Singers; Stax, 1972):

The impossible task
Is to figure out which of the smiles is a mask

Ain’t no smilin’ faces,
Lyin’ to the races

Fleeing Toward

Hagar was treated harshly [va-t’aneha — from ענה, afflicted] by Sarai and so flees. Sforno (16th Century CE, Italy) elaborates on her “I am fleeing” response as follows: “I am not going to a place I have chosen myself; I am simply escaping intolerable conditions.”

Phyllis Trible wrote (1984) about Hagar’s place in a “narrative that rejects her,” and calls us to “answer for the terror” in her story:

“As a symbol of the oppressed, Hagar becomes many things to many people. Most especially, all sorts of rejected women find their stories in here. She is the faithful maid exploited, the black woman used by the male and abused by the female of the ruling class…

“…she experiences exodus without liberation, revelation without salvation, wilderness without covenant, wanderings without land, promise without fulfillment, and unmerited exile without return.

“…All we who are heirs of Sarah and Abraham, by flesh and spirit, must answer for the terror in Hagar’s story. To neglect the theological challenge she presents is to falsify faith.” – p.28, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984, p.28 (more at SongEveryDay)

Hagar, and so many oppressed people who find their stories reflected in hers, are still forced to flee intolerable conditions without a good destination ahead. Those of us who are heirs to the story “that rejects her” still have much theological work to do. And figuring out which faces Hagar was fleeing and why is one part of that effort.