Dawn in the house of Abraham. Bread on a shoulder. A cruse of water tied to a woman's waist. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 21:14, the Aramaic paraphrase adds a detail the Hebrew does not speak: Abraham dismisses Hagar with a gitta — a formal letter of divorce.
This is a remarkable move. The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan, composed in the tradition of the Land of Israel, applies later halakhic categories to the patriarchal story. Hagar was not cast out as a slave discarded. She was released as a wife, with the legal protections of the get.
The binding of the water jar to her loins is read as a sign that she was a servant in the household, even if her union with Abraham had elevated her. The Targum will not let the reader forget her complicated status: half wife, half bondwoman, now a free woman walking into the wilderness.
She wanders from the way — the Aramaic says te'at me'orcha — into the desert of Beersheba.
The Maggidim read this verse as a lesson in how the righteous release those they must release. Abraham sends Hagar away with bread, water, and a document. The takeaway: when you must part, part with dignity. Provide. Protect. Put it in writing.