Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Genesis, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God, Humanity, and Creation
Mistrust, Disobedience, and Death
Covenants and Faith in God’s Promises
The Role of Women
Summary
Analysis
After they have lived in Canaan for 10 years, Sarai has born Abram no children. She tells Abram that because God has kept her from having children, perhaps she is meant to have children by means of Hagar, her Egyptian slave-girl. Abram listens to Sarai and takes Hagar as a wife; Hagar soon conceives a child and looks on Sarai with contempt. Then Sarai gets angry at Abram and mistreats Hagar, who runs away.
Ancient customs held that women could give their maids to their husbands to become surrogate mothers; any children born to these unions would belong to them. In other words, Sarai is trying to solve the problem of her barrenness through human means instead of relying on God to keep his promise. In a move resembling Adam listening to Eve in the garden, Abram follows Sarai’s lead in this, mistrusting God’s provision.
Themes
The angel of the LORD finds Hagar by a spring in the wilderness and tells her to return to Sarai. He also promises Hagar that he will give her innumerable offspring. She will soon bear a son whom she must call Ishmael, because God has heard her affliction. In response, Hagar calls the LORD “El-roi,” which means “God who sees.” When Abram is 86 years old, Hagar bears him a son, whom he names Ishmael.
Though God has mostly made promises to those who are within Abraham’s direct line, his encounter with Hagar shows that he doesn’t deal with them exclusively—he also listens to outsiders and cares about their struggles. The name Ishmael means “God hears,” emphasizing that God heard Hagar’s troubles, too.
Themes
