Literary Devices – Bereshit 16/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 16

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Key Words

Seeing and Hearing

In Bereshit 16, there is an interplay between words relating to sight (“ראה” and "עין") and hearing (“שמע” and "ישמעאל") which serve as contrasting key words. 

• The angel twice refers to the faculty of hearing in verse 11, while Hagar focuses on the faculty of sight (see verses 13-14).¹
• Earlier, Avram, in contrast to Hagar, is described as “listening” to Sarai’s voice (verse 2) while Hagar "sees" herself as pregnant, so that Sarai is denigrated "in her eyes" (verses 4-5).
• Significantly, although Hagar is commanded to name her son Yishmael, it is Avraham who actually gives him that name (verse 15-16).

Articles

• R. Yonatan Grossman discusses these guiding words in his article, Leitwort,² noting that they indicate an incongruity between God’s message and Hagar’s understanding of it. Hagar assumes that she has been seen and chosen, while Hashem emphasizes that though He hears her and blesses her, He does not "see" her in the sense of selection.
• Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the contrast between hearing and seeing as reflecting the conflicting emotional landscapes of guilt and shame in The Art of Listening. 

Triple "ויאמר"

In many verses, one finds that the word "וַיֹּאמֶר" is mentioned twice despite there not being an an intervening response or explicit change in speaker in between. This might indicate resistance or opposition of some sort on the part of the other participants in the conversation. [For further discussion of the phenomenon and many other examples, see Redundancy].

Repeated Speech of the Angel

In verses 9-12, the angel instructs Hagar to return to Sarai and accept her affliction, then promises Hagar numerous offspring, and finally gives her a prophetic promise of the son she will bear, with each statement being introduced with a new "וַיֹּאמֶר".

Sources and Articles

• See AbarbanelBereshit 16:10About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel and R. D"Z HoffmannBereshit 16:10About R. David Zvi Hoffmann that the repetition of the unnecessary "וַיֹּאמֶר" implies that Hagar met the angel's words with resistance or disbelief, agreeing to return home only after all three statements.
• For insight into Hagar’s resistance and its significance, see R. David Silber’s article "Gerut, Avdut, and Innuy: The Covenantal Formula" in A Passover Haggadah: Go Forth And Learn (Philadelphia, 2011): 16-34.
• For discussion of the general phenomenon of the "doubled Vayomer" with many examples see: Redundancy. For a comprehensive discussion, see מאיר שילוח, "ויאמר... ויאמר", ספר קורנגרין (תשכ"ד): 251-267.

Character Titles

Throughout the chapter both Sarai and Hagar are referred to both with their proper names and in relationship to others.

Sarai

• Sarai – In verses 2, 5,and 6, Sarai is identified by her proper name.
• Avraham's wife – In verses 1 and 3, which speak of Sarai's barren state and decision to give Hagar to Avraham in marriage, Sarai is referred to in relationship to Avraham, as his wife, perhaps to underscore Sarai’s unparalleled status as "wife", despite her infertility and Avraham's taking of Hagar. See RambanBereshit 16:2About R. Moshe b. Nachman who similarly notes that the repetition of the relationship highlights how the couple remained close even after Hagar was given to Avraham.
• Mistress – In verses 4 and 8-9, which portray the perspective of Hagar, Sarai is consistently referred to as her "mistress".  In Hagar's eyes, Sarai is not first and foremost Avraham's wife (for Hagar thinks she shares that status), but rather her mistress.

Hagar

• Maidservant – Throughout most of the chapter, Hagar is referred to as either "Hagar the maidservant" (when the narrator is speaking) or as simply Sarai's "maidservant", without an accompanying proper name (when Sarai is speaking).  This, too, underscores that despite the marriage, both Sara and the narrator still view Hagar as secondary in status.
• Hagar – In verses 4 and 15-16, which speak of Hagar's conceiving from Avraham and bearing him a child, she is referred to by her proper name alone.  This might indicate that Avraham, in contrast to Sarai, did not view Hagar as simply a maidservant, but as an individual and wife in her own right.

Articles

• For discussion of these character titles, see Prof. Yonatan Grossman, אברהם: סיפורו של מסע (תל אביב, 2014):113-118

Word Play

• פֶּרֶא אָדָם – This might be  a word play on the place name "פארן", Yishmael's later abode.³
• יָדוֹ בַכֹּל וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ – 

¹ The word is highlighted even more through the use of epiphora; the three consecutive clauses of these verses end with the word "ראי".

² See also his book,אברהם: סיפורו של מסע (תל אביב, 2014):126-129.

³ See Da'at Mikra Bereshit, ed.Yehuda Keel (Jerusalem, 1997)  on the verse.