Genesis 16

Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar.

Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Notice now, Yahveh has kept me from bearing children. Go in to my slave; maybe I will get children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

Genesis 16:4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with disrespect on her mistress.

Genesis 16:5 And Sarai said to Abram, “This is your fault! I gave my slave to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked at me with disrespect. May Yahveh judge between you and me!”

Genesis 16:6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Notice, your slave is in your power; do to her what you want.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she escaped from her.

Genesis 16:7 The agent[1] of Yahveh found Hagar by a spring of water in the open country, the spring on the way to Shur.

Genesis 16:8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

Genesis 16:9 The agent of Yahveh said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

Genesis 16:10 The agent of Yahveh also said to her, “I will surely multiply your seed so that they cannot be numbered because of their greatness.”

Genesis 16:11 And the agent of Yahveh said to her, “Notice, you are pregnant and will give birth to a son. You will call his name Ishmael, because Yahveh has listened to your affliction.

Genesis 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will dwell as enemy of all his kinsmen.”

Genesis 16:13 So she called the name of Yahveh who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who always sees me.”

Genesis 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; notice — it is located between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 16:15 And Hagar gave birth to Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar gave birth to , Ishmael.

Genesis 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for Abram.

[1] מַלְאָךְ = agent. Genesis 16:7, 9, 10, 11; 19:1, 15; 21:17; 22:11, 15; 24:7, 40; 28:12; 31:11; 32:1, 3, 6; 48:16.

Genesis 16 quotes:

“Perhaps, realizing that her name was not mentioned in the covenant promise, Sarah thought God did not intend her to bear Abrahams child. Eugenia Price surmises, “I’m sure Sarai wanted to believe it, but to her practical mind, the facts were all against it: she was just too old. And so, she figured, before Abram was too old also they had better do the practical thing and help God along.”

Guy, Cynthia Dianne. Struggle Seek Grow : How 12 Women in Scripture Sought Spiritual Maturity. Gospel Advocate Company, 2011. p. 85.

“Genesis 16’s story of Abram and two women, Sarai and Hagar, showcases falling faith and distrust and shocking expediencies. The result was the first marital triangle in biblical history. Here we have the multiplication of rejection, anger, hurt, jealousy, and vicious cruelty. Life complicated itself exponentially, and there was no resolution. The following is a warning to all children of faith. “No perfect feet walk the path of faith” (Barnhouse).’ As Paul would warn, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Are you a person of faith? Then pay attention.”

Hughes, R. Kent. Genesis : Beginning and Blessing. Crossway Books, 2004. p. 237.

“The story of Hagar’s flight (Genesis 16), for example, was intended to explain how Ishmael came to be born in the desert. With this in view it sketches a picture of his father’s household; and it shows how, by a completely comprehensible concatenation of circumstances, Ishmael’s mother while pregnant was brought to despair and fled into the desert. So it came about that Ishmael was born a child of the desert.”

Gunkel, Hermann, et al. The Stories of Genesis. BIBAL Press, 1994. p. 55.