| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is to ascertain the identity of honor and shame values in
Gen 16. The narrative presents nuances of honor and shame particularly in verse 4 and
clause in verse 13b. Most scholarly discussions on the narrative have construed the
narrative as (a) ethnographic, (b) theological, (c) personal event, and (d) birth narrative.
·The preliminary analysis of the Pentateuch shows that in ANE, the identity of honor and shame formed a key component of social values.
The semantic field of the term within the Pentateuch also impinges on the
understanding of the characteristics of honor and shame. The lexical analysis within
a various contexts in the Pentateuch indicates possible connotations of the values of honor
and shame in Gen 16. Lexical definitions offer a wide range of overlapping meanings for
honor and shame in the narrative.
T, e 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 ___ (Gen 16:4), "lower esteem," in the sense of Hagar (slave-wife)
lowering Sarai's (mistress) status, and the contentious phrase (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 the need for 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, provides 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 esteem of the downtrodden and
God's | en_US |
