The year is 1850 BC and Abram and Sarai can't conceive so Sarai allows her maid, Hagar, to become her husband's concubine to bear children. The two eventually bore a son and named him Ishmael. He was the first son to Abram and born of a slave women.
Thirteen years later God came to Abram and made with him a covenant, changed his and his wife's name to Abraham and Sarah and promised them a son. Not long after, Sarah bore Isaac, Abrahams second, freeborn son.
Later in the New Testament of the Bible, it is suggested that these two events act as an analogy for the Old and New Covenants, Ishmael signifying the Old Covenant while Isaac obviously represents the New Covenant.
There is much significance relating to the covenants in these events. The timeline, for example, is significant being that Ishmael was conceived first and representing the first of the two covenants. Also the fact that Ishmael was born to Abram by Hagar, a slave, is considerable because the Jews were slaves during the Old Covenant. Hagar was ugly (probably representing the harsh years of slavery the Jews went through), and aggressive (representing the escape of the Jews from Egypt).
Isaac, on the other hand, was freeborn, signifying the freedom of the Jews during the New Covenant. Also the name Isaac comes from the Hebrew word meaning "Laugh", which most like represents the lighter years after slavery.
Finally, God and Abraham started the tradition of circumcision and others with Ishmael and continued it with Isaac, much like the Old Covenant's tradition and culture was carried over to the New Covenants.
I feel this is a good analogy, whether planned out or deriving on some higher level or just a theory, and can be used to explain something deeper within the Bible.
"Hagar" is introduced and recognized in the Old Testament as the Egyptian hand-maiden of Sarah, the wife of Abraham. By reason Sarah was unable to provide offsprings for Abraham. Since Sarah could not conceive, she gave her servant, Hagar, to her husband, so she can produce heir under Abraham's name. ... And Abraham hearkened unto the voice of Sarah. ... The name Hagar is explained to mean "to flee". ...
Since Sarah was unable to conceive, Hagar bestowed her house servant to her husband. ... Hagar, by law, is bound to Sarah. ... The Biblical Hagar does not honour or respect Sarah just like Hagar Shipley ridicules and does not like Bram's first wife. ... Unlike Sarah, Clara dies at a young age and Bram marries Hagar. Hagar cannot bring herself to love Marvin and accept him for who he truly is, and yet Rebekah, Hagar and Sarah love their children unconditionally. ...
The Biblical Hagar is an Egyptian woman bought for Sarah as a servant. This means that Hagar, by law, is to serve and respect Sarah. ... In the same way that Abram and Sarah have power over the Biblical Hagar, Hagar Shipley is controlled by the Currie principles. ... When the Biblical Hagar has a son with Abram, her pride grows, and she ends up being rude to Sarah. ... We know that Isaac is not really Hagar's son, he is the son of Sarah, but since Hagar had a son with Abram it is almost like her son too. ...
The escapades of Sarah and Hagar is like two children who cannot play with each other because one has a bike and the other does not. Hagar has a child, Sarah does not, thus they must taunt and seek revenge upon one another. ... Rachel complains to Jacob, much like Sarah complained to Abraham, " " Give me children, or I shall die!" ... Sarah is not petty and childish with her distaste for Hagar, she is competitive, wanting to ensure her blood line is associated with the great nation. ... In the modern day when the idea of a female controlling the inheritance is not as absurd, the stories of ...
For many years Abrahams wife, Sarah, could not bear him a child. Sarah did not believe in God's promise to give her a son so Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and gave her slave Hagar to Abraham as a second wife hoping that they could have a child through her. Hagar gave them a son named Ishmael and since Hagar was a slave the child automatically became Sarah's. When Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 God fulfilled his promise and Sarah had a son named Isaac. ... Since Sarah now had a son of her own she did not want Ishmael to share Isaac's inheritance and told ...
When Hagar conceived she held Sarai in lower esteem and Sarai became harsh with her so that Hagar ran away. ... He had food made for them and they said that in one year Sarah would have a son. ... When Abraham was 100 years old Sarah bore him a son and named him Isaac. It was after this that Sarah and Abraham cast out Hagar and Ishmael so that Ishmael would not inherit with Isaac. ... Isaac and Ishmael buried him next to Sarah in the field that he had bought. ...
Mary Beth Whitehead, from Financial Times Limited states most people believe that surrogacy started from the biblical of Hagar, Sarah, and Abraham. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, and Hagar was the servant of Sarah. God promised Abraham a son, but Sarah could not conceive from Abraham. So Abraham had sexual intercourse with Hagar and she conceived from him. ...
Abraham was married to his half-sister, Sarah (originally Sarai). ... When no son came, however, his wife suggested he take her maid Hagar as his concubine (Genesis 16:2). When Abraham was eighty-six, Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Thirteen years later, God told Abraham that the yet-to-come son of Sarah, not Hagar, would be his heir. ... A treaty between Abimelech and Abraham at Beersheba followed Hagar and Ishmael's being sent away. ...
Abraham has a child with Hagar, Sarah's slave, and names him Ishmael. ... He then promises that Abraham and Sarah will have child, which seems impossible to Sarah because of her age. ... The story returns to Abraham, and as God promised Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Sarah then asks Abraham to send Hagar and her son, Ishmael, away into the desert. ... Years pass and Sarah dies. ...
