King Abimelech's Analysis

Once again, Abraham lies in an alien land and uses Sarah to safeguard his life. Similar to the fate of the Pharaoh, the deity threatens King Abimelech’s life because of Abraham’s deceit. However, this time, the deity states that Abraham is a prophet and informs the king that Abraham has the power to pray for him and save his life. King Abimelech gives Abraham sheep, oxen, and male and female slaves just as the Pharaoh had done in Egypt. Thus, from one narrative to the next, as Abraham journeys through alien lands, he gains not only material resources, including livestock and slaves, which improves his social-economic status, but he also receives land and silver (20:16) and increased socio-religious status and power through his covenant with the Lord and the Lord’s conference of the position “prophet” upon him. Also important to emphasize, Genesis 20:17-18 reflect the deity’s acts of sexist oppression to other women in the Sarah-Abraham narrative by revealing that after Abraham prays to God, God heals Abimelech, his wife, and female slaves so that …show more content…
This explains why Hagar is repeatedly excluded and silenced in the Sarah-Abraham narratives. She is excluded from colonial structures of power and domination instituted by the Lord solely for Abraham, Sarah, and their offspring. Moreover, in the first scene, she is silenced by the angel of the Lord and sent back to her oppressor. In the second scene, the deity ignores her when she utters, “Do not let me look on the death of the child” (21:16) but responds to Hagar only after hearing the voice of her son. This illustrates the Lord’s continued sexism, as the angel of the Lord only responds to the voice of the male. The Lord disregards Hagar’s needs but responds to the needs of her male