Also, in what way did Abraham himself suffer? Hagar suffered, Ishmael suffered, Sara(h) suffered as did Issac. Abraham? Oh maybe he had to listen to a little nagging but generally he just got to take part in a little extra curricular bonking and got to be top dog by putting his son through sheer terror!
Sounds to me like old Abe made the whole thing up to get away with being a real w@nยฃer!