A henpecked husband? – Vayyera
Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar. The patriarch’s main wife, Sarah, one day “saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, metzachek – making sport. So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son!'”
Abraham did not feel good about it, but God told him to heed what Sarah said, and Ishmael and Hagar were sent away.
What Sarah had against Ishmael hinges on the meaning of “making sport”. Clearly, his offence was not simply that he was a difficult boy making a nuisance of himself. The rabbis see that metzachek has offensive connotations.
In one passage it means immorality, in another idolatry, in a third murderousness. These three sins must never be committed, whatever the provocation. Already as a youth Ishmael showed these tendencies. This is what Sarah reported to Abraham who, with a heavy heart, had to agree that Ishmael had to find a home elsewhere.
The story illustrates the need to be cautious in making judgments. The impression you get on the face of things (here, that Abraham had no mind of his own) cannot always be sustained.
