Genesis 16

Sarai and Hagar

1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. 5And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

7Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” 9Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.” 10Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name #I.e. God hearsIshmael,

Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

12He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

13Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?” 14Therefore the well was called #I.e. the well of the living one who sees meBeer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

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Genesis 16

Hagar and Ishmael

1Abram's wife Sarai had not been able to have any children. But she owned a young Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, 2and Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has not given me any children. Sleep with my slave, and if she has a child, it will be mine.”#16.2 Sleep … mine: It was the custom for a wife who could not have children to let her husband sleep with one of her slave women. The children of the slave would belong to the wife. Abram agreed, 3and Sarai gave him Hagar to be his wife. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years. 4Later, when Hagar knew she was going to have a baby, she became proud and treated Sarai hatefully.

5Then Sarai said to Abram, “It's all your fault!#16.5 It's … fault: Or “I hope you'll be punished for what you did to me!” I gave you my slave woman, but she has been hateful to me ever since she found out she was pregnant. You have done me wrong, and you will have to answer to the Lord for this.”

6Abram said, “All right! She's your slave—do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai began treating Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

7Hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur. While she was there, the angel of the Lord came to her 8and asked, “Hagar, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

She answered, “I'm running away from Sarai, my owner.”

9The angel said, “Go back to Sarai and be her slave. 10-11I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael,#16.10,11 Ishmael: In Hebrew “Ishmael” sounds like “God hears.” because I have heard your cry for help. And someday I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all. 12But your son will live far from his relatives; he will be like a wild donkey, fighting everyone, and everyone fighting him.”

13Hagar thought, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?”#16.13 Have … it: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. So from then on she called him, “The God Who Sees Me.”#16.13 The God Who Sees Me: Or “The God I Have Seen.” 14That's why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered, “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”#16.14 The Well … Me: Or “Beer-Lahai-Roi” (see 25.11).

15-16 # Ga 4.22. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to their son, and he named him Ishmael.

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