Hagar – How Many Pregnancies/2

Hagar – How Many Pregnancies?

Exegetical Approaches

Commentators present two basic approaches to understanding the words "הִנָּךְ הָרָה" and Hagar's state:

Hagar had Miscarried

Sarai had cast an evil eye upon Hagar causing her to miscarry. The angel, thus, informs her that if she returns to Avram she will conceive once again and bear a child.

Sources: Bereshit Rabbah45:5About Bereshit Rabbah, RashiBereshit 16:5Bereshit 16:11Yeshayahu 7:14About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki

Omnisignificance – This approach is motivated by the seeming superfluity in the angel's comments. The Midrash views all words of the Biblical text as pregnant with meaning, leaving no room for redundancies.

Tense of "הִנָּךְ הָרָה" – This position assumes that the phrase is referring to a future event, and the angel is telling Hagar that she will become pregnant after returning home. As הנה clauses always take present tense verbs even when they refer to the immediate future, the fact that "הָרָה" is the present form of the participle does not preclude this read.¹

Shofetim 13 - Rashi compares our verse to the similar ones in Shofetim 13,² where the angel uses the same language to refer to a future conception.³

"וַתְּעַנֶּהָ שָׂרי" – There is no attempt here to defend or mitigate Sarai's harsh treatment of Hagar. In fact, the suggestion of Sarai causing the miscarriage exacerbates it.

The evil eye – The Midrash derives the concept of the use of the evil eye from an extra yud in the word "בֵינֶיך" (normally spelled defectively.) It is possible, though, that the idea is also a play on Avraham's words, "עֲשִׂי לָהּ הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינָיִךְ"‎.⁴

Entering into Conversation

Hagar is currently pregnant, and the angel is simply stating an already known fact in order to lead up to the next part of the conversation.

Sources: Ibn EzraShitah Acheret HaDikduk Bereshit 16:11About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RadakBereshit 16:11Shofetim 13:5Yeshayahu 7:14About R. David Kimchi, RalbagBereshit 16:11About R. Levi b. Gershom

Redundancy – Radak suggests that the angel's repetition is a natural part of everyday speech. At times, one states what is already apparent simply as a way of making conversation, or of steering it in a particular direction.⁵ This reading fits with Radak's general approach which allows for repetition in the Biblical text, explaining such cases as either being literary techniques or reflecting the mannerisms of people.

Tense of "הִנָּךְ הָרָה" – According to Ibn Ezra, Radak, and Ralbag, the phrase is making a statement about Hagar's present condition; the angel reminds her that she is presently expecting a child.⁶

Sarai's behavior – This position does not make any evaluation of Sarai's actions.

Yeshayahu 7:14 and polemics The decision to read the clause in the present tense might be related to the similar ambiguity regarding the almost identical clause in Yeshayahu 7:14: "לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא לָכֶם אוֹת הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן". As this verse is understood by Christians to be a prophecy later fulfilled by the virgin birth of Jesus,⁷ Radak and others prefer to distance themselves from that possibility by positing that the prophet is not talking about a future conception, but a present pregnancy (of a married woman).⁸

¹ See ShadalBereshit 16:11About R. S.D. Luzzatto who points out that within two verses in Shofetim 13:3-5, the word "הנה" refers once to the immediate future ("הִנָּךְ הָרָה") and once to the present ("הִנֵּה נָא אַתְּ עֲקָרָה"). For other cases where a הנה clause is followed by the present form of the verb even though it clearly refers to a future action, see Bereshit 6:17, Devarim 31:16 and Melakhim I 22:25.

It should be noted that in our verse it is not clear whether the word "הָרָה" is a stative participle (a verb which describes a state rather than an action) or is simply an adjective whose helping verb is assumed rather than stated. (The two forms are indistinguishable in this case.) Either way, the tense remains ambiguous.

² The Leipzig 1 manuscript of Rashi copies a gloss of R. Shemayah which notes that Rashi interpreted similarly also regarding Yeshayahu 7:14.

³ In Shofetim 13, both the context and the earlier words of the angel, "הִנֵּה נָא אַתְּ עֲקָרָה וְלֹא יָלַדְתְּ וְהָרִית וְיָלַדְתְּ בֵּן" suggest that the future tense is implied. Cf. Bemidbar Rabbah10:5About Bemidbar Rabbah, though, who attempts nonetheless to read the phrase "הִנָּךְ הָרָה" there as referring to the present.

⁴ Interestingly the noun עין comes up five times in the story, three times meaning eye and twice referring to the spring. In addition, the similar-sounding verb ענה comes up three times. The midrash might be making a word play, noting that Sari was looked down upon ("וָאֵקַל בְּעֵינֶיהָ") and thus, she decided to oppress her servant ("וַתְּעַנֶּהָ") with an evil eye (עין הרע).

⁵ As Hagar and the angel are in mid-conversation, one cannot say that these words serve as an opening in this particular case, but they can be seen as directing it to a new point, the birth and naming of the soon to be born child.

⁶ See above for the grammatical issues involved in reading the clause in one tense or the other.

⁷ The phrase הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה would be understood as, "Behold the virgin shall conceive."

⁸ See R. Yosef KaraYeshayahu 7:14About R. Yosef Kara, R. Eliezer of Beaugency,Yeshayahu 7:14About R. Eliezer of Beaugency and RadakYeshayahu 7:14About R. David Kimchi who all understand the phrase as saying, "Behold the young woman is with child." Each, then, must explain what is so wondrous about this that it constitutes a sign. Though one might have expected Radak to be consistent and read the phrase in the present tense in Shofetim 13 as well, the context there clearly points to a future conception making any other read difficult.