Handmaids appeared in the news once again, as they have been periodically since 2017. This time around, it was because now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett belongs to a charismatic group called People of Praise, which used to have “Handmaid” as one of their titles for members. Those who are looking for signs of the End Times took this to mean that we’re one step closer to the apocalyptic vision described in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Both the title for some People of Praise members and the role in Margaret Atwood’s novel are inspired by the handmaids found in the Bible, which begs the question: In Scripture, what exactly does it mean to be a handmaid? Looking at the stories of three different women gives the answers we seek.

Hagar, Sarai’s Handmaids (Genesis 16:1–16; 21:8–21)

Before Abraham and Sarah were Abraham and Sarah, they were Abram and Sarai. They loved one another, but Sarai couldn’t bear any children. As was the custom at the time, Sarai asked Abram to sleep with her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, so that they could have children through her servant.

Hagar easily became pregnant, causing Sarai to be jealous and Hagar to feel superior to her mistress. The tension swelled, and Hagar ran away, but the Lord appeared to Hagar and told her to go back to Abram and Sarai. He promised her that her son would become someone important and told her to name him Ishmael. She returned to Sarai and Abram and, from that point onward, she called God “El Roi,” meaning “God hears me.”

Years later, after Sarai and Abram were renamed, Sarah had her son Issac, and tension arose once again between the two women. Sarah told Abraham to banish Hagar and her son, and Abraham abandoned Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness, leaving them with water and food. When the water and food ran out, Hagar expected that she and her son would die. El Roi heard her and led them to water. They survived, and she was said to be the mother of a nation.

Hagar’s story demonstrates that, even when human beings use and abuse their servants, God listens to those servants. Our God is El Roi to us, as well: He hears the poor and the downtrodden, who are always on His mind.

Our God is El Roi to us, as well: He hears the poor and the downtrodden, who are always on His mind.

Bilhah and Zilpah, Handmaids of the Wives of Jacob (Genesis 30-35)

These ladies more directly inspired Atwood’s Tale. They present even clearer examples of handmaids who are used as pawns in power struggles and possess little power of their own.

When Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, could not have children, she gave Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, to have children for her, and Bilhah had two sons. Leah, perpetually in competition with Rachel, gave Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah, who also had two sons.

Later, after Rachel died, Jacob grew closer to Bilhah as a way to remain close to Rachel. Jacob’s son, Ruben, slept with Bilhah, because he was angry that Jacob preferred a servant over his real wife, Leah (Ruben’s mother). This act caused Ruben to lose his rights as a son.

Throughout the entire story, we never hear how the handmaids feel about any of this; it seems that they are treated as property. This might be how human beings treat their servants, but how does God treat His?

Mary, the Handmaid of the Lord

Countless generations and years later, we witness a radical transformation of the handmaid’s role. Yes, she still lives to serve — but not to serve human beings, who might abuse her. Rather, she serves the God who listens to her. Instead of being assigned the role of handmaid by a human, she declares herself to be God’s handmaid. Unsurprisingly, this woman is Mary, and this declaration is her courageous Magnificat.

Here, she is pregnant with Jesus — God incarnate. She has gone to her cousin, Elizabeth, to help her through the end of her own pregnancy and share the joy of their miraculous pregnancies. Mary breaks into song when they meet:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever” (Luke 1:46-55).

This description doesn’t sound like a God who would hand over His servant to be used and abused by another human being. This doesn’t sound like a God who would abuse at all. This sounds like Hagar’s El Roi. He is the God who heard Elizabeth’s and Zechariah’s cry for a child. He is the God who answered His people’s cry for a savior. He is the God who doesn’t force His will on anyone and who asked Mary to carry Jesus. Of course Mary would happily declare herself to be His handmaid.

When we Catholics consider the role of a handmaid, this is what we should picture. The Church asks all of us, men and women alike, to be receptive to God’s will and to be His instruments in the world. I hope and pray that anyone who calls himself or herself God’s handmaid will do His will, out of the love that He gives first.

The Church asks all of us, men and women alike, to be receptive to God’s will and to be His instruments in the world.

The handmaids of the Old Testament present examples of how not to treat people, and they nurture hope in a God who is above the fray, forever on the side of the downtrodden. Mary, the handmaid of the New Testament, confirms that God created us and loves us. Mary freely declares herself to be God’s handmaid, and God supports her as she carries Jesus in her womb — and she has been called blessed ever since. May Mary be a role model for us and intercede for us in this complicated and difficult world.