Abraham had sons by Sarah his wife and Hagar his slave so was Hagar of inferior descent and is that the basis of modern infighting?

Answer 1

Naturally a slave was thought of as being inferior to a free-born woman. The Bible says the son of Sarah was named Isaac and that of Hagar was named Ishmael. As to the basis, the biblical authors attempted to explain the genesis of all the races known to them, with the other Semitic people most closely related to the Hebrews in the biblical genealogies. It was consistent throughout the Old Testament for the authors to glorify the lineage of the Hebrews and to denigrate the suppposed ancestors of their rivals. Since the Arabs were considered rivals but were clearly closely related to the Hebrew people, Ishmael had to be the son of a slave. There is no extra-biblical support for this story.

Answer 2

On the contrary, Hagar was not born into slavery. She was the daughter of a king (Rashi commentary, Genesis 16:1), and she chose to serve Sarah as handmaid.

One of the indications of the Divine origin of the Torah is its refusal to kowtow to any human. The greatest Israelites are not spared embarrassment, while deserving non-Jews are held in esteem whenever appropriate. Israelites, castigated:

No one is immune to having his faults exposed: Abraham (Genesis 16:5), Reuben (Gen.ch.35), Simeon and Levi (Gen.ch.34 and 49), Judah (Gen.ch.38), Joseph's brothers (Gen.ch.37), Moses (Numbers ch.20), Aaron (Exodus 32:2-4), Samson (Judges 14:1-3), Eli's sons (1 Samuel 2:12), Samuel's sons (1 Samuel 8:1-3), Saul (1 Samuel ch.15), David (2 Samuel ch.11-12), Solomon (1 Kings ch.11), and many others. Plus, the entire Israelite nation were slaves in Egypt for centuries.

Non-Jews, held in esteem:

Balaam and Job are prophets of God; Ishmael (later an enemy) is the firstborn of the revered Abraham, and merits a portion in the World to Come as a righteous Gentile (Rashi commentary, Genesis 15:15 and 25:17); Esau is the firstbornof Isaac; Jethro the Midianite becomes Moses' father-in-law; Ruth the Moabite becomes David's ancestress; Ebed-Melekh the Ethiopian saves Jeremiah's life (Jeremiah 38:7-10), etc.

We consider Isaac as chosen, not because of any disadvantage in Ishmael's birth, but because God chose Isaac (Genesis 21:12).