Ishmael
Torah Study
Genesis 21:20-21
All about Ishmael. “God was with the boy.”
David Kimkee. Means that he prospered. Odd language using the word 'et'.
Akivah says this implies that not only he prospers but all his descendants also.
Few verses later God is with Abraham. No problem with God being with both of them.
In Abrahams house not enough room for Ishmael contrast to this view that there is enough room in God’s house. Forecast to the concept that God is with both the Arabs and the Jews.
He dwelt in the wilderness.
Rashi - word keshet – bow(rainbow) - here kashat - like profession or occupation. So it means bowman. "shooter of bowmen" might be an error. Interpret he was an archer and bowman. Or that he also made bows. Many other interpretations to determine what he did. Talmud. Different imagery- that he robbed passerbys. Shows him in a negative light. Back to the angel from v16 who says he will be a "wild ass of a man".
This is more about the people who descend from Ishmael. Later his people are referred to as people of the bow. In Gen 25 find the descendants of Ishmael named. He dwelt in wilderness of Eastern Sinai is where it is usually referenced as the location. "wild" -wilderness.
His mother took a wife for him. (Common practice of the times.)
Ishmael has two wives. First 3 years after expelled Abraham visits and he meets a woman who is his first wife who turned Abraham away. Later Hagar finds him a new Egyptian wife. Abraham goes again and is then welcomed.
Wife from Egypt. Hagar was also from Egypt... Wanted him to have a wife like her.
Rashi - from the place where she grew up. Throw stick in air and it will stand upon it's root. Go back her origins. Some say back to idolatry but others say it is just that “Mom knows best.”
The text itself is made to make us sympathetic toward the others.
Precarious fate of the child on the brink of death but go ahead and prosper. Historic fortune of the people is precarious.
Hagar and Ruth (essay by professor) Tamara Enazi
Ethics derive from a face to face encounter with others. Revelation of the face makes a demand.
Haggar's name implies an outsider/stranger. Torah wants you to sympathize with the stranger.
Narrative forces us to see Hagar in a sympathetic view and to see another side of Abraham and Sarah.
Contrast with Ruth. Solicitude. Story of a return and inclusion - a literary tshuvah for the episode in Genesis story of exclusion.
V22 - 31
Wells. Avimelach. Beershivah.
At that time. What time? After Isaacs weening. Avimelach invited to party and this is when it happens.
Change status. Avimelach no longer referred to as king. Change of status of Abraham elevated to equal with Avimelach.
There with military. Nachum Sarna says it was a military expedition not a party.
The general's name - Phichol. mouth –all - mighty. General could command and people listened and obeyed.
Rashi. God is with him. Why? Good things happening and prosperous and had a child.
Robert Altar. Avimelach is proposing a treaty and expressing concern.
V23. Now swear to me. Word for "Swear" root "shevah" = seven.
Trying to deal with conflict in a peaceful way. Making an agreement ahead of time.
Peace treaty. Ways of dealing with conflict. First time a formal negotiation method.
Next time why swear and seven are connected. And all about the well!
All about Ishmael. “God was with the boy.”
David Kimkee. Means that he prospered. Odd language using the word 'et'.
Akivah says this implies that not only he prospers but all his descendants also.
Few verses later God is with Abraham. No problem with God being with both of them.
In Abrahams house not enough room for Ishmael contrast to this view that there is enough room in God’s house. Forecast to the concept that God is with both the Arabs and the Jews.
He dwelt in the wilderness.
Rashi - word keshet – bow(rainbow) - here kashat - like profession or occupation. So it means bowman. "shooter of bowmen" might be an error. Interpret he was an archer and bowman. Or that he also made bows. Many other interpretations to determine what he did. Talmud. Different imagery- that he robbed passerbys. Shows him in a negative light. Back to the angel from v16 who says he will be a "wild ass of a man".
This is more about the people who descend from Ishmael. Later his people are referred to as people of the bow. In Gen 25 find the descendants of Ishmael named. He dwelt in wilderness of Eastern Sinai is where it is usually referenced as the location. "wild" -wilderness.
His mother took a wife for him. (Common practice of the times.)
Ishmael has two wives. First 3 years after expelled Abraham visits and he meets a woman who is his first wife who turned Abraham away. Later Hagar finds him a new Egyptian wife. Abraham goes again and is then welcomed.
Wife from Egypt. Hagar was also from Egypt... Wanted him to have a wife like her.
Rashi - from the place where she grew up. Throw stick in air and it will stand upon it's root. Go back her origins. Some say back to idolatry but others say it is just that “Mom knows best.”
The text itself is made to make us sympathetic toward the others.
Precarious fate of the child on the brink of death but go ahead and prosper. Historic fortune of the people is precarious.
Hagar and Ruth (essay by professor) Tamara Enazi
Ethics derive from a face to face encounter with others. Revelation of the face makes a demand.
Haggar's name implies an outsider/stranger. Torah wants you to sympathize with the stranger.
Narrative forces us to see Hagar in a sympathetic view and to see another side of Abraham and Sarah.
Contrast with Ruth. Solicitude. Story of a return and inclusion - a literary tshuvah for the episode in Genesis story of exclusion.
V22 - 31
Wells. Avimelach. Beershivah.
At that time. What time? After Isaacs weening. Avimelach invited to party and this is when it happens.
Change status. Avimelach no longer referred to as king. Change of status of Abraham elevated to equal with Avimelach.
There with military. Nachum Sarna says it was a military expedition not a party.
The general's name - Phichol. mouth –all - mighty. General could command and people listened and obeyed.
Rashi. God is with him. Why? Good things happening and prosperous and had a child.
Robert Altar. Avimelach is proposing a treaty and expressing concern.
V23. Now swear to me. Word for "Swear" root "shevah" = seven.
Trying to deal with conflict in a peaceful way. Making an agreement ahead of time.
Peace treaty. Ways of dealing with conflict. First time a formal negotiation method.
Next time why swear and seven are connected. And all about the well!
posted by Chavarah @ 3:58 PM
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