The first Old Testament patriarch and his wife

[Olympiada]

The Holy Spirit Has Descended

I have been participating in a lively discussion in the secular community about men and mating and it has got me thinking about Patriarchs and Marrying. If I recall correctly Abraham was the first Patriarch of the Old Testament. I would like to know two things:

1. What defines a Patriarch?

2. How did the Patriarchs choose and marry their wives, starting with Abraham. I am most interested in how he courted his wife.

Thank you
Olympiada

[Herman Blaydoe]

Patriarch or Matriarch simply means leader of the family or tribe. A patriarch is just "Big Daddy". In that he was promised by God to father the House of Israel, he is the "Biggest Daddy" besides Adam the father of us all.

I don't believe that Holy Scripture has much to say about how he met or courted his wife, but you have to wonder how and why she put up with him, he treated her rather shabbily, even by the standards of his own time. He got her maid pregnant and later pretended his wife was his sister and let a foreign king carry her off because he was afraid. It was God who defended Sarah's honor, not Abraham.

[Olympiada]

Patriarch or Matriarch simply means leader of the family or tribe. A patriarch is just "Big Daddy". In that he was promised by God to father the House of Israel, he is the "Biggest Daddy" besides Adam the father of us all.

I don't believe that Holy Scripture has much to say about how he met or courted his wife, but you have to wonder how and why she put up with him, he treated her rather shabbily, even by the standards of his own time. He got her maid pregnant and later pretended his wife was his sister and let a foreign king carry her off because he was afraid. It was God who defended Sarah's honor, not Abraham.

So are there any Big Daddies today? You should come join me on Orthodox Singles where I am discussing Sugar Daddies. Is that today's equivalent of a Patriarch?

I like how you wrote. Was Abraham fornicating with his maid then? And what foreign king did he let carry his wife off? That is awful! She must have been a petite and weak and small woman then, yes? Not a warrior or a solider. Were there any wives in the Bible who were soliders?
Why was Abraham afraid of the foreign king? What a coward! I wouldn't marry Abraham. Yuck. Next. How about Isaac? How did he treat his wife?

Oh wait, how did God defend Sarah's honor?

You have a *great* understanding of the Old Testament. You should be a professor!

[Tim Grass]

This is possibly the silliest thing I've ever heard..... a patriarch is the great father of a large family.... of a nation. Not some "sugar daddy" .... come on, let's at least once in a while read what's actually in the Bible.... not just what we'd find entertaining to be there.

--tim

[Herman Blaydoe]

There are Patriarchs and there are patriarchs. By definition a patriarchal group is a group with a dominant male leader, be it an extended family, a tribe, or a nation. There are also matriarchal groups where the dominant leader is female. We do single out certain "patriarchs" as Patriarchs because of all the patriarchs out there these played a more auspicious role.

And no "Big Daddy" has nothing to do with being a "sugar daddy". It is a southern term (a lot of my family resides in Alabama) of affection often given to a local patriarch, or senior male of the family, even if he is not THE PATRIARCH.

The narrative in Genesis concerning Abraham and Sarah is Genesis chapters 12-17. Because of a drought, they have to go through Egypt. Because Sarah is beautiful, Abram (his name at the time) is afraid he might be killed because of her beauty, so they pretend they are brother and sister. The Pharaoh is taken with her and she is taken away by him, but the Lord foreshadows the coming of Moses with plagues on the Egyptians until he gives Sarah back to Abram. Because Sarah is beyond child-bearing years and they have not had any children, she offers her handmaiden Hagar to him so that he might have children. Hagar bore Ishmael but was later run off by a jealous Sarah. Tradition tells us that Ishmael went on to found the Arab race, the Quran makes much of this connection to Abraham for the Arabs.

[Mary]

The Bible also doesn't tell us what Sarah thought of what Abraham did. She probably feared for Abraham's life too. Later on, Isaac does the same thing with his wife Rebecca (says she's his sister), because she too was very beautiful and he was afraid for his life.

Also, Abraham didn't have the Law. The Bible doens't say exactly what God commanded Adam & Eve after the fall. He must've at least told them what an acceptable sacrifice was, because Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice, while Cain didn't. Noah also offered a sacrifice after the flood was over. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob offered sacrifices. Other than that, I'm not sure how much God really taught them, till Moses came around.

So, Abraham knew how to offer sacrifices, he knew how to listen to God, and he knew how to obey. That's a lot more than I've learned to do! As for the son he had with Sarah's maid servant, that was entirely Sarah's idea, and that was probably an acceptable practice at the time. Later on, Jacob's wife Rachel does the same thing - offers Jacob her maid servant because she is unable to have children, and the Leah gets jealous and offers Jacob her maid servant.

Of course, at anytime, the men could've said "No". But they probably didn't want to put up with the nagging that might've resulted from refusing to obey their wives! ;) Sarah was definitely not a weak woman, not from what I see when I read those stories. She gets her way. She speaks her mind. She's torments Hagar so much that Hagar runs away. And Hagar herself, is no weakling. Slave though she is, once she's pregnant, she's haughty enough to taunt her mistress... No, I don't think any of those women were weaklings.

When God calls Abraham to follow him, Abraham is already 70 years old, Sarah is 60. Personally, I think she's already past childbearing age at that point, but things might've been different back then. :) Isaac wasn't born for another 30 years. The incident with Hagar probably happened half way between that time. They'd already waited for at least 15 years. If they knew that they had to wait 'only' 15 more years, would they have been more patient? Thirty years is a long time to wait for a child. Abraham wasn't perfect. And neither was Sarah. He may have been hard to live with. So was Sarah. :)

Mary

[Jennifer]

Genesis 24 tells the story of how Isaac, the son of Abraham, met and married Rebekah. It is pretty interesting. Abraham, who was living in Canaan at the time, asked his servant to go to his homeland and pick out a bride for Isaac. The servant prayed that God would reveal the right bride to him and "behold" Rebekah walked up to the water well, where the servant was standing, and retrieved water for the servant and his camels.

The end of Genesis 24 also mentions the death of Sarah and Abraham's remarriage.

[Ian Leyda]

If I recall correctly Abraham was the first Patriarch of the Old Testament. I would like to know two things:

1. What defines a Patriarch?

2. How did the Patriarchs choose and marry their wives, starting with Abraham. I am most interested in how he courted his wife.

Olympiada

A patriarch in general is a male head of a family or clan, and it is true that they serve as a sort of "governor" of the family/community in the ancient world.

But in the biblical tradition, there are three Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). God essentially begins the "relationship of faith" with the Patriarchs.

You will not find this "relationship through faith" with anyone before Abraham in the book of Genesis!

This unique relationship with God begins with the Patriarchs, and they pass that "relationship with God through faith" on to their children.

This is the basic theology of the OT which begins with the Patriarchs:

1. God reveals himself and makes promises to them. (Covenant)
2. They trust in God and do what God sends them to do. (Faith!)
3. God keeps his promises. (Faith is vindicated: A Child is born, Life in Promised Land)
4. The Patriarch circumcises his son. He passes on the promises and the land.

So...

1. God speaks to Abraham and makes promises to him:
-Go, and I will.... (Gen 12:1-2, 15:1-6, 17:1-8).
-God promises him: A son and land.
2. Abraham goes and trusts in God to keep those promises (Gen 12:4, 15:6).
3. God keeps his promise and gives him a son (Isaac).
4. Abraham circumcises Isaac and passes on the covenant (Gen. 21:1-7).

Abraham's relationship with God happens through their covenant and through his faith in God.

Then, Abraham passes on his relationship with God, his covenant, his faith, and his land on to his son. And the sign of that covenant is circumcision. When Abraham is gone, God begins his relationship with Isaac and blesses him (Gen. 25:7-11). This is how the tradition of the faith is passed on.

What's cool is that the Matriarch (Sarah) participates in all of this in a special way. Sarah "bears the child" of the promise.

So it is interesting to note that much of the drama in the Abraham saga comes in the form of things which threaten God's promises to come true, often because Sarah is in trouble. This is the "key" to understanding these stories.

For example, in their covenant, God promises Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen 15:1-8). God promises Abraham a son.

The threat to the promise: How will Abraham have a son if....
-Sarah is barren
-Sarah is "kidnapped"
-Sarah and Abraham are too old to conceive. (Sarah laughs at God's promise, even!)

--Yet they bear a son, Isaac! God keeps his promise! Abraham's faith is vindicated.

---But then God asks Abraham to sacrifice his "only Son," the son of the promise. Abraham's faith is tested: How will God keep his promise now?

The death of Jesus is a test of faith. How did God keep his promise? Resurrection!

The driving question of the story of the Patriarchs is "How will God keep his promise NOW?" Faith is that God will indeed keep his covenant promises! It is a kind of "trust" in God. (Gen 15:5-6).

What began with the Patriarchs (and Abraham) is the relationship with God through faith in God's covenant promises. And this has become the basis which our Christian faith has built upon.

God actually sends a savior to his suffering, enslaved people because "God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked upon the Israelites and took notice of them" (Exodus 2:23-25). For this reason, God called Moses, to keep his covenant promises to Abraham.

God is indeed faithful to his promises!

Sorry I blathered so much, but I love the Patriarchs.

Peace,

Ian