Following the recent success of series based on biblical stories, Fox Entertainment Studios has unveiled its latest project: *The Faithful: Women of the Bible*. This production aims to recount significant stories from the Old Testament, but with a bold twist.
These stories are told from the perspective of the female characters, rather than following traditional male-centric narratives—an approach that appears to be an attempt to counter some of the criticisms labeling the Bible—and Christianity in general—as being quite sexist. With the premiere of episodes 1 and 2 this week, the series comes across as a half-hearted effort, designed merely to appease an undemanding audience, and centers primarily on the story of Sarai.
Stars: Damiano Lauria, Róisín McTernan, Alexa Davalos
The story begins in the city of Haran, in the year 1900 B.C., where a young woman named Sarai lives CX GG with her parents. Although she possesses refined tastes and great ambitions in life, Sarai is constrained by her parents' lack of financial resources and—even more so—by their desire to treat her like valuable livestock and marry her off at the very first opportunity. Consequently, when a wealthy local merchant—Abim the Gerarite—makes an offer to Sarai's father, asking for her hand in marriage, the father accepts the deal without hesitation, in exchange for a promised twelve sheep.
However, when Sarai is brought before Abim, she adamantly refuses to show him even the slightest respect, given that he is lecherously seeking a young wife despite having already been married multiple times. She does not hesitate to insult Abim, and—at just the right moment—a young man named Abram intervenes to come to her aid, striking Abim on the nose and driving him out of the house.
Although news of the altercation spreads throughout the city—leaving Sarai's parents dismayed at the thought that no man will ever want to marry their daughter now—Abram encounters the young woman and declares his love for her. Despite belonging to a more humble social stratum than Sarai and her family, Abram dreams of marrying her and spending the rest of his life by her side; indeed, he goes so far as to propose marriage, offering her a costly blue shawl—one that Sarai adored but had never been able to afford.
Shortly thereafter, the two are wed, and twenty-five years later, they remain a couple deeply in love; however, they share a common sorrow: throughout all that time, they have been unable to have children. Believing herself to be the cause of the problem, Sarai matter-of-factly suggests that Abram take another wife, simply so that he might become a father, just as he desires; Abram, however, adamantly opposes the idea. Yet their troubles seem to come to an end when Abram suddenly receives a direct message from God, assuring him that he and Sarai will be able to have children—but only after Abram leaves his homeland and settles in a new land to which God will guide him.
Years later, while traveling through the lands and forced to flee from a drought, Abram and his followers settle in Egypt for a time—a place where Sarai’s life takes a significant turn. One day, while standing on the banks of the river, the group is visited by the Pharaoh. Although everyone else prostrates themselves to pay him their respects, Sarai refuses to do so—simply because she had vowed never to bow before any man in her life, ever since the occasion when Abim had insulted her.
Consequently, the Pharaoh orders his men to seize Sarai as a hostage; yet, upon learning that her actions were not intended as a sign of disrespect, he spares her life but decides to keep her as a concubine. With cunning, Sarai claims that Abram—who had attempted to save her from the Pharaoh’s guards—is her brother rather than her husband, solely to ensure that the Pharaoh does not kill him or cause him any harm. In the original biblical accounts, it was Abram who instructed Sarai to present him to everyone as her brother in order to prevent any harm from befalling him; however, the series intentionally grants the character of Sarai the capacity to exercise her own autonomy in this regard. Likewise, *The Faithful* appears to attempt to resolve—in this innovative manner—the confusion and debate surrounding whether Sarai and Abram were related to one another, as suggested by certain passages of the Old Testament.
Although Sarai’s faith in God had seemed rather unconvincing up to that point, the divine intervention that followed quickly shifted her perspective. Just as Pharaoh was attempting to sexually violate her by force, he suddenly began to choke and fall ill, as if he had been poisoned; apparently, there is no explanation for this miracle other than God’s direct intervention to protect Sarai from dishonor.
As time passes, Sarai once again becomes disillusioned with God; for, although her husband has led their people to a new land where they have settled, there are simply no signs that she will conceive a child, despite years of trying. It is then—feeling vulnerable—that she conceives the idea that if Hagar lies with Abram and bears him a son, she herself will find peace and raise the child as her own. The basis of this plan evidently lies in the promise God made to Abram—that he would undoubtedly become a father—a promise that now makes Sarai feel physically inadequate.
She shoulders the entire burden of blame herself, and her desire for her husband to be intimate with Hagar stems from feelings of guilt and pain regarding her own inability to give him a child. Furthermore, Sarai begins to believe that there is also divine guidance at work in this matter, for the unexpected series of events experienced in Egypt may well have constituted a divine intervention as well. She believes she encountered Hagar for precisely this reason—so that, one day, Hagar might give birth to Abram’s son—and she feels that God intentionally caused the paths of both women to cross within Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt.
In this context, the female-centric perspective employed in *The Faithful* runs the risk of appearing diluted, as questions arise regarding whether Sarai truly desires for her husband to lie with another woman, or if, conversely, she feels compelled to allow it due to social and personal expectations. After all, it is evident that she acts more out of respect, admiration—or perhaps even fear—for God’s commands than out of her own free will. Despite the title of the work’s first story—"She Who Bowed to No One"—the production attempts to portray Sarai as a woman of exceptionally strong will and self-sufficiency; however, this portrayal fails to be conveyed effectively.
Perhaps such problems are inherent to the attempt to portray biblical stories (or similar narratives from any other religion) through a distinct and more modern lens; nevertheless, Sarai’s plan—which involves having her husband sleep with her friend and slave—still seems anachronistic and questionable. The way the first two episodes attempt to counteract the antiquated nature of the subject matter is by endowing Sarai with her own set of flaws—defects that manifest gradually while simultaneously making her appear as a more human and realistic character.
For starters, Sarai resents the fact that her husband offered little resistance when ordered to spend his nights with Hagar; furthermore, she does not wish for Abram to converse with the concubine, fearing that he might grow attached to her—or even fall in love. Naturally, her fears intensify as time passes, and she demands that Hagar leave the group immediately after giving birth and return to her family of origin. It is evident that Sarai does not want the child to ever discover his true parentage; her situation becomes considerably more difficult when Hagar—driven by her maternal instincts—refuses to be separated from her son.
Although Hagar eventually returns to the group, gives birth right there, and names the child Ishmael—all in fulfillment of God’s own commands—Sarai never truly feels comfortable with her presence from that moment onward. Events take an even more drastic turn when the divine plan introduces new complications into the couple’s lives: Sarai conceives a child—even after having entered menopause—and gives birth to a son of her own: Isaac. From then on, she displays overt favoritism toward Isaac and does not consider Ishmael deserving of the same treatment as her own biological son. This wounds Hagar, who is also deeply concerned about the potential repercussions for Ishmael—to whom she has not yet been able to reveal that she is his biological mother. Hagar pleads with Sarai to tell Ishmael the truth about his origins, as the teenager grows—day by day—increasingly jealous and resentful toward his younger brother, Isaac. However, Sarai’s human flaws are once again laid bare, for her sole desire is to bury the truth and keep Ishmael in ignorance to prevent him from opposing Isaac’s decisions—given that Sarai intends for Isaac to be the one recognized as Abram’s true successor.
The only object bearing witness to the pact forged in the past between Sarai and Hagar is a stone tablet on which the details of the agreement were inscribed—a tablet that both women signed. Now, in a sudden turn of events, Ishmael one day stumbles upon a tablet inside his father’s tent and discovers exactly what had transpired in the past, as well as the fact that Sarai is not, in reality, his biological mother.
For some time, everyone believed that it must have been Hagar who placed the tablet inside Abram's tent for Ishmael to find, as she was the one most eager for her son to learn the truth about his lineage. However, it is later revealed that it was Sarai herself who put the tablet there, intending to make Ishmael hate her for having concealed the truth and, thereby, to induce him to leave the place. Sarai had acted solely to ensure that her biological son, Isaac, would become the leader of their people and face no opposition whatsoever from Ishmael; to achieve this, she had to guarantee that the latter would separate from the group. Given that Ishmael would never come to hate his father—and since Sarai did not desire such conflict between father and son either—she chose to cast herself as a villainous figure, with the sole aim of ensuring that her son would benefit from the situation in the future.
At the end of Episode 2, Sarai passes away due to old age while she and her husband are taking refuge on the shores of the Great Sea (the Mediterranean Sea in real life). Although she ultimately dies of natural causes and does not live to see her beloved son marry and start a family of his own, Sarai’s dream of becoming a mother—and, especially, of ensuring that God’s plans for Abram came to fruition—is fulfilled. According to the biblical narrative, Isaac would become Abram’s successor in every respect, carrying the lineage forward into even more glorious days.
Her decision to separate Hagar and Ishmael from the family also appears to bear fruit, as Ishmael becomes the leader of his own people; and, according to many biblical interpreters, it is at this moment that the Arabs diverge from Judaism and Christianity. In the end, Hagar continues to cherish everything Sarai did for her, as well as the greatness that woman demonstrated; consequently, she attends Sarai’s funeral in Canaan. According to the scriptures, Abram remarries after the death of his first wife—and may possibly take Hagar as his second wife; however, the first two episodes of *The Faithful* do not venture into such complex waters, concluding instead with the death of Sarai.
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