{"id":37311,"date":"2018-08-08T13:04:59","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T10:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=37311"},"modified":"2022-03-05T23:36:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T21:36:00","slug":"what-is-with-you-hagar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-with-you-hagar\/","title":{"rendered":"What is With You, Hagar?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[452,361,363],"acf":{"old_id":"37311","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":77754,"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"What is with you, Angel?","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today\u2019s chapter, Hagar and her son, Ishmael, wander in the wilderness until they run out of water. Hagar, despondent, \u201ccast[s] the child under one of the bushes\u201d and declares \u201c\u2018Let me not see the child\u2019s death.\u2019\u201d At that point, a stranger appears and proclaims: \u201cWhat is with you, Hagar? Do not fear.\u201d Hagar\u2019s eyes are then \u201copened,\u201d and she perceives a well of water before her, from which Ishmael drinks and is saved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taken literally, the query posed to Hagar in this episode strikes us as tone-deaf. Here stands a mother about to lose her child. There should be little room to wonder \u201cwhat is with you?\u201d Nor do suggestions to \u201chave no fear\u201d seem particularly helpful, either; under the circumstances, Hagar has every reason to be afraid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet perhaps there lies another message in these words. After all, Hagar\u2019s interlocutor is no mere stranger; in fact, the text tells us, he is an \u201cangel.\u201d And perhaps his attempt to comfort her is, in turn, not merely aspirational, but also prophetic. For, parsed phonetically, the Hebrew words \u201cWhat is with you?\u201d \u2013 \u05de\u05d4 \u05dc\u05da, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mah lach<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 might also communicate <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05da,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">malach<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cangel.\u201d And the words \u201cDo not fear\u201d \u2013 \u05d0\u05dc \u05ea\u05d9\u05e8\u05d0\u05d9, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>al tiri<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 might also communicate \u05d0\u05dc <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u05ea\u05e8\u05d0\u05d9<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 \u201c<em>you shall not <\/em><\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">see<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d And so, there are in fact two conversations taking place in this text. A stranger assures Hagar that she need not fear; and if she listens closely enough, Hagar will readily realize why that is indeed so. \u05de\u05dc\u05d0\u05da, \u05d4\u05d2\u05e8\u2014\u201cI am an angel, Hagar.\u201d And with respect to your concern\u2014\u201clet me not <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>see<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the death of the child\u201d\u2014I promise you: \u201cYou shall <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>not<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">see!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The exchange between Hagar and the angel thus serves as a prime example of the ways in which Biblical texts play with phonetics to develop multiple layers of meaning simultaneously. It also offers an important lesson. Many times, when confronted by adversity, we would prefer to simply look the other way. Yet if, instead, we \u201copen our eyes\u201d\u2014and our ears\u2014to the challenge at hand, we may find that the solutions we seek lie much closer than we realize.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":37329,"id":37329,"title":"hagar2","filename":"hagar2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-with-you-hagar\/hagar2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hagar2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":37311,"date":"2018-08-09 06:15:39","modified":"2022-03-05 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