Geographically Irrelevant

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.  Genesis 21:17 NIV

As he lies there – We’ve looked at this verse twice before.  Once in connection with Julia Blum’s fictional account of Hagar and Ishmael’s mental state (CLICK) and once in relation to Robert Alter’s criticism of English translations employing synonyms (CLICK).  Now we need to elucidate another subtlety in the text that the English completely misses.  The phrase “as he lies there” moves us to think of a geographic location, but the Hebrew is anything but geography.  The Hebrew is baʾăšer hûʾ šām, literally, “in that he is where,” or idiomatically “where he is.”  But this phrase does not use the typical Hebrew word for location.  Instead, it’s made up of pronouns and adverbs.  It tells us about Ishmael’s state of being, not about his current physical position.  What God is communicating to his mother is that He sees Ishmael’s emotional and cognitive state.  He knows him.  He hears Ishmael’s noise (not crying) and discerns Ishmael’s inner condition.  Ishmael is no child, no baby boy.  He’s already a young man, and this young man is at a turning point in life.  He can accept the injustice of his circumstances at the hands of Abraham and Sarah, and follow the guiding of the Lord, or he can fight back, embrace animosity and revenge and carve out a different path.  You will notice the conclusion of this brief encounter: “And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer” (Genesis 21:20  NASB).

Rabbinic commentaries notice this unusual combination of pronouns and adverbs.  They conclude, as we have mentioned, that this means God knows the full psycho-emotional state of Ishmael at that moment.  Why “at that moment”?  Because, argue the rabbis, God also knows what might become of Ishmael, that he might be an antagonist to God’s purposes later, but (and this is the key) God does not judge Ishmael for what he might do or be.  He interacts with Ishmael as he is right now; in other words, “where he is” at this moment.  God takes Ishmael at face value.  God is certainly able to see ahead and evaluate the various paths Ishmael could chose, but He does not base His interaction on some future possibility.  There is no “pre-crime division” (Cf. Minority Report) with God.  Despite the tenth commandment, which only a divinity could know if it were transgressed, God never judges a man or woman on what they might or might not do; only on what they actually do.

There’s one other important lesson here.  God is with us even in our sins.  Forget the Christian doctrinally-based claim that God can’t look upon sin.  As you read the stories in the Tanakh, you discover that God doesn’t abandon His own even when they sin.  God stays with Moses after Moses strikes the rock.  Moses is punished, but not with excommunication. God sticks with Joshua after Joshua violates the direct commandment not to make any concessions with the people of Canaan.  And David?  Yes, God is still there, in fact, honoring David long after David is dead.  There’s no getting away from God once He decides you’re among His own.  He doesn’t judge you in advance, and He doesn’t abandon you after the fact.

Topical Index: where he is, baʾăšer hûʾ šām, Minority Report, Genesis 21:17