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Re-reading ‘the Abraham-Sarah Story’ from the feminist-theological perspective

Lee Hee Hak 1

1목원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

From the story of Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, Abraham appears as a perpetrator of discrimination and violence in many cases. He abandoned his wife Sarah twice, and then handed her over to another men(Gen 12:10~20; 20:1~18). Moreover, he conspired with his wife to drive Hagar out to the desert(Gen 16). He was the indirect perpetrator who kept silent at the violence that his wife had done. Abraham forced Hagar and Ishmael into the desert again and led them to suffer deadly threats(Gen 21). Abraham and Sarah inflicted the merciless violence upon the slave woman and her son. The Old Testament texts mentioned above are saying the message in common. Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael, who were the victims of oppression and violence, were rescued by God. God does not want anyone to be oppressed by distorted society or the strong. God was the one who rescued Sarah from Pharaoh of Egypt. Thus, Sarah was the first object of salvation, pointing to the salvation of Israel. God solve her problem of sterility and also changed her unbelieving ridicule into true pleasure(Gen 21:6). He consoled Hagar who had been driven out to the desert with tears, and also gave her a message of redemption. He did not discriminate her on the basis of her Egyptian origin or slavery. While God continued to be the problem solver, Abraham was the perpetrator of violence. God is the only the one who are able to resolve the problem of class discrimination as well as sexual violence. He takes care of the oppressed people all the time. To experience the true liberation in the situations of oppression and pain is possible only when God directly interferes with the scene of history. Abraham, who lived in the Patriarchal age, was a victim as well as an offender under the discriminating social structure. He was not evil in origin but social structure made him act as such. That is why it appears that the biblical text defends him. Although he was related to many discriminatory thoughts and behaviors, he was the first noble patriarch of Israel!

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.