As Isaac grew, tensions flared between the two half-brothers over inheritance rights. Ishmael, the elder, believed he deserved a double portion, while Isaac should receive only one. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Ishmael, skilled with a bow and arrow, would aim his missiles at Isaac, claiming it was just a jest. But Sarah saw through the "jesting."
Sarah, deeply concerned about the future, insisted that Abraham give everything to Isaac, ensuring no disputes would arise after his death. "Ishmael," she declared, "is not worthy of being heir with my son." And, as if that weren't enough, she demanded Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, severing all ties between them and Isaac, both in this world and the world to come.
Of all the trials Abraham faced, this was the most agonizing. The thought of separating from his son tore at his heart. But that very night, God appeared to him. "Abraham," He said, "knowest thou not that Sarah was appointed to be thy wife from her mother's womb? She is thy companion and the wife of thy youth… What Sarah spoke unto thee was naught but truth." (Legends of the Jews)
The next morning, Abraham rose early, gave Hagar a get, a bill of divorcement, and sent her and Ishmael away. To publicly mark her status, he bound a rope around her waist, signifying she was a bondwoman.
As they journeyed, Sarah's "evil eye," as the text puts it, made Ishmael sick with a fever. Hagar, carrying him, depleted the water Abraham had provided. Desperate, not wanting to witness her son's death, she cast him under a willow bush. Interestingly, the Legends of the Jews specifies this was the very same spot where angels had once appeared to Hagar, promising her a son.
In her anguish, she cried out to God, "Yesterday Thou didst say to me, I will greatly multiply thy seed… and to-day my son dies of thirst!" But Ishmael, too, cried out to God. And it was his prayer, coupled with the merits of Abraham, that brought them salvation.
However, even as Ishmael prayed, the angels argued against him before God. "Wilt Thou cause a well of water to spring up for him whose descendants will let Thy children of Israel perish with thirst?" they asked. God, in his infinite wisdom, responded, "What is Ishmael at this moment—righteous or wicked?" When the angels conceded that he was righteous, God declared, "I treat man according to his deserts at each moment." (Legends of the Jews)
According to the Legends of the Jews, Ishmael prayed, "O Lord of the world! If it be Thy will that I shall perish, then let me die in some other way, not by thirst, for the tortures of thirst are great beyond all others." (Legends of the Jews)
But Hagar, perhaps lacking the same faith, turned to the idols of her youth. It was Ishmael's prayer that was answered. God commanded Miriam's well, a miraculous well created in the twilight of the sixth day of creation, to spring forth and provide water.
Yet, even after this miracle, Hagar's faith remained weak. She refilled the bottle, fearing the water would run out again. This reminds me of the saying, "Throw the stick into the air as thou wilt, it will always land on its point." Hagar, having come from Egypt, returned there with her son, seeking a wife for him.
It’s a poignant tale of faith, doubt, and the enduring bond between a mother and her son. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How much does our past shape our future, and what role does faith play in overcoming life's most challenging trials?