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Lanfranco, Giovanni. Hagar in the Wilderness. Oil on canvas. Musée De Louvre, Paris.
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Hagar
The first concubine mentioned in the Bible. She was the concubine of Abraham and the first to bring him the desired son. Her name means "stranger". Originally, she was an Egyptian slave girl but was never fully accepted by the Hebrew people. She belonged to Sarah. When Sarah could no longer conceive, she gave Hagar to her husband Abraham. Hagar became pregnant, and God promised that her son would be the ancestor of a great nation. Her son was named Ishmael. Despite being the mother of Abraham's desired son, Hagar was never fully accepted by the tribe and eventually was rejected and expelled into the desert. Yet God protected her and her son Ishmael from Sarah and her hatred for Abraham's first-born son. God sent an angel to protect Hagar and Ishmael. Hagar lived as a free woman, no longer a slave girl. Ishmael's name means "God hears" because twice God heard her cry out when Hagar was abandoned. Ishmael is believed to be the ancestor of the Muslim peoples, connecting Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike in an Abrahamic faith.
Bilhah
The maid of Rachel given to her by her father Laban when she married Jacob, Bilhah became a concubine of Jacob with Rachel's consent after she found herself barren. Although Jacob already had children through his first wife Leah, Rachel's sister, and Leah's maid Zilpah, Bilhah was given to Jacob because Rachel wanted to fulfill her promise to Jacob as his wife. When her first son is born, Rachel named him, showing her authority over Bilhah. Rachel said, "God has judged me and has heard my voice and given me a son." She names the boy Dan, meaning "he judged". Bilhah bears another son, and Rachel names him Naphtali, meaning "I have prevailed". Despite Rachel's claim over Dan and Naphtali, Dan and Naphtali are still considered Bilhah's sons, lowering their standing within the family. Bilhah's status is somewhat ambiguous. She is sometimes referred to as Jacob's wife and sometimes as his secondary wife, yet she is called "maid" in dangerous situations with Esau, Jacob's elder brother. In is stated in Genesis 35:22 that Bilhah had sex with Jacob's eldest son Reuben. This was considered a criminal offense to sleep with his father's wife in the Biblical laws. Jacob does nothing, but when he passes away, Reuben does not receive his extra inheritance as the first-born son. Her fate after this is unknown, but she is considerd the ancestress of two great tribes of Israel. In the Hebrew language, her name means "bashful."
Rizpah
Her name means "hot stone" in Hebrew. She was a concubine to Saul and bore him two sons: Armoni and Mephibosheth. After David lead a rebellion against King Saul and killed his three eldest sons and Saul, his fourth eldest son Ishbosheth became king. He was a weak king, therefore Saul's first cousin Abner backed him. Ishbosheth feared that Abner would one day dethrone him. Abner was accused of having sex with Saul's concubine Rizpah, but this had little significance since having sexual intercouse with a harem of a dead king was the same as claiming the throne. The Bible states that Abner took Rizpah against her will, but Rizpah could have been allying herself to Abner so that as king, her social position and her son's would improve. Ishbosheth believed the accusation (it is unknown whether or not Rizpah and Abner had sexual intercouse) and banished Abner from the court. Later, he was assinated after joining David, killed by Joab, the chief assistant of David. When Ishbosheth died, it was customary to kill the previous king's heirs – that meant Saul's heirs. This was a common practice in the ancient world. Rizpah's sons were executed, "hanged on the side of the mountain." Their bodies were left in the open air unburied. Rizpah stayed after their execution, guarding their bodies despite all weather conditions for about half a year. This created quite the scandal. David finally decided to let Rizpah's sons be buried.
Which name do you find tragically beautiful? Or, rather, what name are horribly unattracted to, both sound and Biblical story?
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