Remembering Hagar and Her Son (Gen 21)
(9-21): A Narrative Reading of Helpless Victims and Hopeful Survivors in the Wheel of Providence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3390435 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Blessing Onoriode Boloje (0000-0002-7480-3805, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 1474 |
| Publication date | 2023-11-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14121474 |
| OpenAlex | W4389085024 |
| Language | DE |
| References cited | 8 |
Narratives are fundamentals of storytelling. In Biblical literature, narratives do not only tell what happened (the context for God's revelation), they also indicate why what happened matters (the purpose of history). Employing a narrative methodology and a hermeneutic of identification as an interpretive approach, this article explores the Hagar-Ishmael narrative in Genesis 21: 9-21 against the background of those who have been marginalized, exploited, excluded, trafficked, and sitting in a wilderness of despair, struggle, and mistreatment and are in need of survival. The exploration seeks to understand the narrative structure, plot, characters, and themes within the text. The Hagar-Ishmael position is too painfully close to the realities of many today. In this narrative account, one finds a pitiable scene of human suffering and misery, and yet it is bounded by divine mercy and compassion. The stream of helplessness and consequent hope of survival shows that, no matter how mistreated people might have been, they can rise above their "victimization" and embrace the promises of God by staving off defeat, shaking off despair, and vanquishing discouragement. Thus with a hermeneutic of identification, readers are encouraged to identify with the characters, situations, and experiences described in the biblical narrative
Aesthetics · Art · Compassion · Literature · Narrative · Narrative criticism · Narrative inquiry · Psychoanalysis · Revelation · Sociology · Storytelling · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · History · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |