Mad About the Boy

Abraham, however, was crestfallen: 'The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned his son' (Genesis 21:11). This for him was no mere legal formality!

But Abraham may not only have been upset about Ishmael being banished. He might have been concerned about his direction in life. Scripture hints at tendencies displayed by the lad that might have been another reason Sarah asked to send him away.

Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing. (Genesis 21:9)

The term 'playing' is enigmatic. Something in the actions of the young Ishmael clued Sarah into impending trouble. Her newfound maternal instinct compelled her to protect Isaac from possible negative influences. It was this, which moved her to make her painful suggestion of expelling Hagar and Ishmael.

Rashi, the great Northern French medieval biblical commentator, probes Abraham's conscience and explains that 'the matter' which 'distressed Abraham greatly' was that he heard that he had taken to degenerate ways. This suggestion is based on the midrashic exposition of the word 'playing'. The Rabbis take the matter to the extreme, proposing that Ishmael's sinister play indicated that he had homicidal, sexually objectionable, and idolatrous tendencies even at a young age. By suggesting cardinal infractions on the part of the boy, they thereby exonerate Abraham for agreeing to his banishment, which otherwise might be viewed as morally reprehensible.