Sarah: A wife ignored (Gen. 15–16)

This article argues that the divine oracle in Gen. 15 neglects Sarah’s role as mother and that Abraham ignores Sarah’s sacrifice when she offers Hagar to Abraham in Gen. 16. This neglect of Sarah and her social needs and contributions helps to explain her anger at Abraham and aggression toward Hagar. To demonstrate this, I begin with a brief outline of previous scholarship on Sarah in Gen. 16 before exploring literature on sacrifice and motives in romantic relationships from a psychology perspective. I build upon this background by reading Gen. 15–16 against ancient Near Eastern practices relevant to the text and other Hebrew Bible barrenness narratives to show how Abraham’s neglect of Sarah is not solely the product of ancient Near Eastern or Hebrew Bible cultural expectations. Finally, I show how Sarah’s responses to Abraham and Hagar can be explained through Abraham’s, and God’s, neglect of her sacrifice for the household.