Honor and shame : an exegetical-thematic analysis of the narrative of Hagar and Sarai in Genesis 16

Abstract

The exegetical-thematic analysis of Gen 16 expresses a larger network that includes propositions linked to honor and shame. The prominence of familial, childbearing and appointment values accrue ascribed shame to the characters in the first section of the narrative. The second section honor comes to Hagar after her encounter with God. The term bbp (Gen 16:4), “lower esteem,” in the sense of Hagar (slave-wife) lowering Sarai’s (mistress) status, and the contentious phrase ’ifi 17tJS q 1?3 (Gen 16:13b) translated as a rhetorical question: “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” (Gen 16:13b) provide an orientation close to the OT grammar without need of textual emendations. Contempt and ridicule all describe shame, all loss of honor. Hagar’s encounter with God in the theophany reverses the ascribed shame to honor. Furthermore, Hagar, the maidservant (Egyptian) bearing of a child to Abram, a man called from Ur, provide an appropriate framework of how God’s presence converges societal marker of honor and shame. Thus, this study shows that the narrative is strongly ethnological, theological, and missiological in the context of honor and shame. It is an esteem of the downtrodden and God’s honor to people.