Genesis 21: Is Sarah really this evil?

The physical vs. the spiritual

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Genesis 21: Is Sarah really this evil?

Reading from Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

In Genesis Chapter 1, God made Man “in our image and likeness” but seemingly in the way of nature and of animals. In Chapter 2, the LORD made a man (in later chapters called Adam) through a work of pure spirit.

In Chapter 4, Cain seemed to be a man of the “earth” and material world, of both agriculture and city-building, while Abel, the second son, seemed more in tune with God and the spiritual realm. The lineage of those walking in “spirit” or in faithfulness to God comes through a third son, Seth, after Cain murdered Abel..

Then we see that Hagar is an Egyptian slave, and Abraham’s first-born son, Ishmael, is the son of the slave. In this chapter Ishmael himself marries an Egyptian. Egypt is in the lineage of Ham and Canaan, whom the LORD had cursed.

Both Abraham and his wife/half-sister Sarah were born of the same father, Terah, of the line of Shem, whom the LORD had blessed. They…