Genesis 21:9, 12: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. (12) And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

 

I read something very interesting in the Jewish Eastern Babylonian Targum aka the Jonathan Targum.  The Targum came about during the last century before the birth of Christ.  When the Jews returned to Israel after the Babylonian captivity their language was in transition from Hebrew to Aramaic. Hebrew became a ceremonial language much as the Latin became a ceremonial language within the Catholic Church.  Just like in the Catholic Church fewer and fewer people spoke and even understood Latin, so too within the Jewish community fewer and fewer people really spoke or understood Hebrew.  Eventually, like the Catholic Church it became necessary to start reading the Scriptures and explaining the passages in the language common to the people which in the Jewish community was the Aramaic. These readings and explanations in the common language of the people were known as Targumim. The Jonathan Targum is in Aramaic. It is believed that the Old Testament version of the Peshitta (the Aramaic Bible) is based upon rabbinic Targumim.  The study of the Targumim can be very valuable as it reflects the most ancient understandings and interpretations of the Old Testament.

 

What I found interesting in the Eastern Babylonian Targum with regard to Genesis 21:12 was its interpretation of the words in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, harken unto her voice. The words in all that Sarah hath said unto thee is kol asher to’mar ‘aleyka sarah shema’.  God is just not saying, “Listen to Sarah” but to listen to all that she says.  God was reminding Abraham of something.  The Eastern Babylonian Targum indicates that Sarah was a prophetess.

 

It was easy to see that Abraham thought his wife was partial to Isaac rather than Ishmael, after he was the child of another woman and Ishmael was the eldest and in line to receive the inheritance, that was, of course, tradition, but not God’s Word.  From reading this chapter in English we get the impression that Ishmael was tormenting poor Isaac and Sarah in trying to defend her son and out of a jealous rage demands that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael.

 

We get this idea that Ishmael from verse 9 which indicates that Ishmael was making sport, mocking or making fun of Isaac.  That sounds a little harsh for simple childish play.  Actually, this word for mocking is metsachak which comes from the same root as the word for Isaac which is tsachak which means to laugh.  If you will recall Isaac got his name because Sarah laughed when she heard the news that she was pregnant.  The name Isaac is a play on the word tsachak  and represents tsachak as laughter of rejoicing not mockery. When Ishmael tsachak we have another play on that word.   Scripture does not say he mocked Isaac.  Isaac’s name is not even mentioned in that verse, it simply says that Ishmael tsachak, he did the same thing Sarah did when she discovered that she was pregnant with Isaac.  Most commentators agree this was all about who was getting the inheritance and not about any cruel treatment Isaac was receiving. Ishmael was simply rejoicing with his mother Hagar that he was the eldest and was going to receive the inheritance.

 

Abraham was about to make the same mistake his son Isaac would make many years later.  Isaac wanted to give the birthright to Esau who was the eldest yet God intended for Jacob to have the birth right and Rachel, like her mother in law Sarah had to do many years earlier, intervened to make sure God’s plan was carried out.

 

Sarah was not a nagging wife and Abraham a henpeck husband. Sarah was a prophetess and Abraham listened to her when she spoke about God’s plans.  Yet, in this case he would not listen to her until God spoke to him either in a dream or in some other overt fashion and told him in no uncertain terms, “Listen to you wife.”  After being married to this woman for over eighty years you would think he would have really learned to respect her prophetic office.  Yet, he was torn, like his son Isaac would be later on, between tradition and the Word of the Lord.

 

What amazes me about this story is that after all these years Abraham was still listening to tradition and not to the Word of the Lord.  He knew his wife was not infallible when coming up with nifty little husband and wife plans which were not prophetic like tell the king I am your sister.  But in matters that concerned God’s prophetic plans he knew she was on the spot and God was reminding Abraham of this.  Abraham’s problem was discerning when she was speaking prophetically and when she was not and the problem got all mixed up when you add the ingredient of tradition.

 

Today we have the Bible as the Word of God, the prophetic word and we do not hesitate to hold it up as our only authority.  Yet, just as one example from many, how about the clear instruction in James 2:3 “If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor“—well.”   Come on, admit it, we do it all the time, we play our politics, we will smooze the rich man and patronize the poor man. It is tradition, it is the American way to honor the successful person and pity the loser. We know the Word of God but like Abraham we just know the Word of God with our minds and not our hearts. When the Word of God just rest in our minds and not our hearts, tradition will dictate.

 

Sarah let the Word of God go to her heart and she reminded Abraham that he too must take the Word of God not to his mind but his heart.

 

 

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