Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/388

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be built up—or obtain children (v.i.)—from, her] by adopting Hagar's son as her own; cf. 303.—3 is P's parallel to 2b. 4a.—4. and went in, etc. (see on 64)] the immediate continuation of 2b in J.—was despised] a natural feeling, enhanced in antiquity by the universal conviction that the mysteries of conception and birth are peculiarly a sphere of divine action.—5. My wrong be upon thee] i.e. 'May my grievance be avenged on thee!'—her injured self-respect finding vent in a passionate and most unjust imprecation.—6. Thy maid is in thy hand] Is this a statement of fact, or does it mean that Abram now hands Hagar back to her mistress's authority? The latter is Gu.'s view, who thinks that as a concubine Hagar was no longer under the complete control of Sarai.—treated her harshly] The word ((Symbol missingHebrew characters)) suggests excessive severity; Hagar's flight is justified by the indignities to which she was subjected (v.11).

7-14. The theophany at the well.7. the Angel of Yahwe] (see below) is here introduced for the first time as the medium of the theophany. The scene is a fountain of water (as yet nameless: v.14) in the desert . . . on the way to Shûr. Shûr is an unknown locality on the NE frontier of Egypt (see Dri. DB, iv. 510b), which gave its name to the adjacent desert: 201 2518, Ex. 1522, 1 Sa. 157 278 (v.i.).


The (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (or (Symbol missingHebrew characters)) is "Yahwe Himself in self-manifestation," or, in other words, a personification of the theophany. This somewhat subtle definition is founded on the fact that in very many instances the Angel is at once identified with God and differentiated from Him; cp. e.g. vv.10. 13 with 11. The ultimate explanation of the ambiguity is no doubt to be sought in the advance of religious thought to a more


whether the purpose of presenting a newly-married woman with a (Symbol missingHebrew characters) may not have been to provide for the event of the marriage proving childless. In usage it is largely coextensive with (Symbol missingHebrew characters), and is characteristic of J against E, though not against P.—(Symbol missingHebrew characters)] The motive of Hagar's 'flight' may have been suggested by a supposed connexion with Ar. haǧara, 'flee.' For another etymology, see Nö. EB, 19332.—2. (Symbol missingHebrew characters)] (so only 308) may be either a denom. from (Symbol missingHebrew characters) (so apparently GVΣ), or a metaphor from the family as a house (Ex. 121, 1 Sa. 285, Ru. 411 etc.).—5. (Symbol missingHebrew characters)] gen. of obj., G-K, § 128 h (cf. Ob. 10). G (Symbol missingGreek characters).—(Symbol missingHebrew characters)] The point over [H] indicates a clerical error: rd. (with [E]) (Symbol missingHebrew characters).

7b seems to be a duplicate of 14b, and one or other may be a gloss. The words (Symbol missingHebrew characters)(Symbol missingHebrew characters) are omitted by GL entirely, and partly in several