Hagar: African Foremother and Biblical Matriarch
Afolarin Olutunde Ojewole, Ph.D.

Abstract
At least twenty-nine (29) women are mentioned by name in the book of Genesis. These biblical matriarchs were not primitive, childish, and lacking in vision, but many of them were learned, wise, and highly spirituallydeveloped. An African foremother among this group is Hagar, the Egyptian. Hagar is not a “throw-away” character in any way. God did not abandon her, but spoke with her one-on-one. She recorded a lot of “firsts” in biblical corpus. She overcame numerous cultural obstacles. As a surrogate mother, she had a part in the divine plan and secured a strong future for her offspring. She mothered nations and birthed a world religion.Her indefatigable enviable spirit is a lesson for African women today. This African foremother demonstrates the inalienably high-status God places on the female gender.

Full Text: PDF