Sarah’s גָּרֵשׁ (Gāreš) and Abraham’s שַׁלְּחֶ (Šellach) of Hagar: Expulsion or Apostolic Mission?

Abrahams sending forth of Hagar and Ishmael in Gen 21:14 has generally been viewed as an expulsion. It is held that the primary, if not sole, purpose behind this act was to prevent Ishmael from interfering with Isaacs inheritance. Using an intertextual approach, with an emphasis on key words, Sarahs גרש (gāre) demand and Abrahams שלח (ellach) of Hagar is compared with the narratives of the children of Israel, Jesus, and Adam to uncover objectives as the bestowal of freedom and a mission. An examination of how the LXX translates, and Josephus explains, Sarah and Abrahams send-off of Hagar suggests a mission objective behind their intentions. Abrahams motivations are analyzed to ascertain whether Hagars send-off was part of a plan to expand the reach of Abraham and Sarahs faith-based operations. Finally, linguistic analysis is undertaken to discover possible motives for why Sarah chose Hagar to have a son. These approaches to the biblical story bring into focus a portrait that is radically different from the standard interpretation where there are multiple objectives of Hagar and Ishmaels being sent into the wilderness primary among them being expanding Abraham and Sarahs faith-based mission.