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2010-05-11
And poof! Suddenly, in Genesis 21:9-10, Hagar and Ishmael appear on the scene once more, only, this time, the bible seems to have forgotten Ishmael's name. For the rest of this story he is called child, lad, or son, but never Ishmael. It's kind of like this section of the story was written by a different author than the section that occurred several chapters earlier (starting at comic #201).
Forgetfulness aside, Sarah sees Ishmael mock Isaac, and demands that Abraham strike Hagar and Ishmael from his will, and banish them both into the desert where they may die.
However, there is some contention to how this verse is translated. The particular Biblical Hebrew word in question is tsachaq which could mean "mock", "laugh", "play", "to make sport of", etc. Most bibles translate it to say that Ishmael was mocking Isaac,
and for good reason. Obviously, if Sarah was so angered that she would want Ishmael hucked into the unforgiving wastes of the Promised Land, he must have been mocking Isaac, not playing with him, right? Nope, several translations say that Ishmael was merely playing with Isaac, thus Sarah seems like even more of a deranged bitch.
There is another, more sinister, possibility. The word tsachaq is also used in a later verse where a man sees two people "sporting" together, and through this "sport" he knows they are married! You can probably imagine what kind of "sport" those two must have been doing (hint: it's not hockey). Anyway, this gives the word tsachaq sexual connotations, which could mean that Ishmael was "playing doctor" with little Isaac.
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