So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing [children].  Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.”  And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Genesis 16:2

Please – Did you think Sarai simply forgave Abram for betraying her by “selling” her to Pharaoh?  Did you think she was the obedient, submissive little wife who said, “If you insist, darling.  I’ll do whatever you ask”?  Sarai might have ended up in Pharaoh’s harem but there are plenty of indications that she wasn’t very happy about it.  Furthermore, this verse shows us another layer of the broken relationship with her husband.  Now she uses his tactics to get what she wants.  In this part of the story, we also see something else.  A return to the Garden where it all fell apart.

First, let’s look at “please.”  There are actually two instances of the particle na in this verse.  In translation, you only see one, but the other opens the entire dialog.  Sarai says, “hine-na has prevented me YHWH from bearing.”  In other words, “Abram, notice please.”  Just as Abram began his request with “please” before he used her for his protection, she begins her request to be “built up” with the same tactic, “please.”  She is going to use him for her gain.  She learned.  If her husband can disguise his intentions with a na, so can she.

Notice that she projects the real responsibility on YHWH.  “The LORD has prevented me.”  It’s really not her fault.  She is being cooperative.  But God is the giver of life and He has interfered in the normal process.  You can see in the Hebrew text that the verb “prevented” comes before the subject YHWH.  God’s action is a personal affront and certainly not her own doing.  “So, Abram, what am I supposed to do?  We’re trying, but nothing is happening.  We’ll have to take another path.”  Sarai introduces the second na.  “Please go in to my maid.”  It’s significant that Sarai never mentions Hagar’s name.  Hagar is not a person.  She is a means to an end.  She is merely the storage bin for Sarai’s expected child.  She’s a thing to be used, in the same way that Sarai was merely a thing to be used.  “bo-na,” says Sarai.  “Go, please.”

Our translation softens Sarai’s motivation.  We extract “perhaps I will obtain children” from a Hebrew passage that literally says, “perhaps I may be built up.”  We should notice that the decision to use Hagar is not for Abram’s benefit even though God’s promise is to Abram.  Sarai hopes to gain personal esteem with this maneuver.  There is no greater humiliation in this cultural setting than be to childless.  Sarai’s plan is about Sarai, and only accidentally about God’s promise.  The dysfunctional dynamics created by Abram’s decision to protect himself have now spilled over into the motivation of his wife.  Abram’s betrayal will now be repaid, and along the way, damage will be done to another person, Hagar, the innocent slave.

How is this connected to the Garden?  How does this conversation replay the betrayal of Adam and Havvah?  We will see – tomorrow.  But today it is sufficient to realize that the great pillars of faith, Abraham and Sarah, are experiencing the same consequences of betrayal that occur today.  Measure for measure.  One acts dishonorably.  The other reciprocates.  We call it getting even or settling the score.  But does it?  Or does it just widen the circle of damage?  What do you think?  Can you fight fire with fire and win?  Do you think winning is the objective?

There is another way.  But Sarai and Abram have not found it yet.  Until they do, they will simply show us an ancient lesson that we must learn.  Unless we choose the other way, measure for measure will always be the result and it will always grow larger.

Topical Index:  measure for measure, na, please, Genesis 16:2