Hagar

Hagar (hā'gur) [key]or Agar (ā'gur) [key], according to the Book of Genesis, servant of Abraham's wife Sarah and mother of his eldest son, Ishmael. She and her son were sent out into the wilderness because of Sarah's jealousy. An angel aided her there. Islamic tradition associates various sites in and near Mecca with events in the lives of Hagar and Ishmael as recorded in Genesis. A site adjacent to the Kaaba is identified as the burial place of Hagar and Ishmael. St. Paul uses Hagar as a symbol for the bondage of the Old Law.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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