SARAH AND THE FORMATION OF ISRAEL’S IDENTITY: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF GENESIS 11-23
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Abstract
Israel's identity in the Old Testament emerges from historical processes marked by spiritual, theological, and genealogical dimensions. Within patriarchal interpretations of these narratives, women have often been reduced to companions or reproductive instruments. This study reexamines Sarah's place within the Abraham cycle and argues that her body, faith, and agency constitute Israel's covenantal identity. Employing qualitative library research, it analyzes Genesis 11-23 through Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's hermeneutics of suspicion and Simone de Beauvoir's concept of the Other, in dialogue with biblical, theological, and feminist scholarship. The findings show that Sarah's womb is not merely a biological site but a theological locus through which the divine promise enters history. However, Sarah remains an ambivalent figure: she is subordinated within patriarchal structures while also exercising agency and reproducing domination in her treatment of Hagar. Sarah therefore functions as a bridge between divine promise and Israel's historical emergence, while the Sarah-Hagar conflict exposes the gendered and hierarchical dynamics embedded in covenantal identity. This reading expands the hermeneutical space for women's embodied experience. It demonstrates that Israel's identity was formed not through Abraham alone, but also through women's faith, bodies, choices, and contested agency.
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