Know any reason to say otherwise? It SAYS "wife". Worksfor me.
I have thought so for years.
All Bible stories about the Great Men are not examples of what we SHOULD do. Some are examples of what NOT to do. This seems one.
I've long noted that all of these great men seemed to have some point of blindness / weakness. And the devil does seem to find it. Yet God used them anyway. That gives me hope. Sarah seems to have been Abraham's. He did what she wanted instead of acting from principles that we can clearly see 3000+ years later. *grin* So, while not blaming him particularly, we can take note and learn.
Christianity popularly blames the schism and tensions of the middle east on this PM. I offer the hypothesis that the TRUE blame lies on the favoritism and husband-failure of Abraham.
See #2. Whether Sarai was right or wrong, I posit that the root was in Abraham's husbanding style. If he needed to SEPARATE the two women, he could/should have done so. Yeah, her being sent away, rather than simply separated, was wrong.
Later, when Isaac was born, Abraham sent her and Ishmael away. Popular Christianity says that Abraham divorced her, at God's instruction, to end this evil polygamous union. Not so! Nothing is said of divorce. Read THAT passage carefully, and you will see God PARTNERING with Abraham to finish raising Ishmael at a time of heartbreak -- the realization that after 13+ years of trying, Sarah and Hagar weren't going to be able to work it out. Alse, we know from non-Biblical sources, the book of Jasher, that Abraham continued to spend time with Hagar and Ishmael, visiting their camp for an extended period twice a year.
In doing so, she WAS submitting to Abraham. It is what he had told her to do in telling Sarai that Hagar was her servant and to do with her as she liked. (ok, too many pronouns!) Not good! Not good! But he HAD done it.
Indeed. Again, not all stories are for our example of what TO do. Why did it have to be either/or? I suggest that Lot's error was in not being able to bring himself to say the proper benediction upon the crowd -- "Go f--- yourselves!" or perhaps, more succinctly, "Know thyself!" :lol: :lol:
