B'resheet (Gen) 16
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1Now Sarai Avram’s wife had not borne him a child. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar; 2so Sarai said to Avram, “Here now, Adonai has kept me from having children; so go in and sleep with my slave-girl. Maybe I’ll be able to have children through her.” Avram listened to what Sarai said.
3It was after Avram had lived ten years in the land of Kena‘an that Sarai Avram’s wife took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife. 4Avram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she conceived. But when she became aware that she was pregnant, she looked on her mistress with contempt. 5Sarai said to Avram, “This outrage being done to me is your fault! True, I gave my slave-girl to you to sleep with; but when she saw that she was pregnant, she began holding me in contempt. May Adonai decide who is right — I or you!” 6However, Avram answered Sarai, “Look, she’s your slave-girl. Deal with her as you think fit.” Then Sarai treated her so harshly that she ran away from her.
7The angel of Adonai found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur, 8and said, “Hagar! Sarai’s slave-girl! Where have you come from, and where are you going?” She answered, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9The angel of Adonai said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10The angel of Adonai said to her, “I will greatly increase your descendants; there will be so many that it will be impossible to count them.” 11The angel of Adonai said to her, “Look, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You are to call him Yishma‘el [God pays attention] because Adonai has paid attention to your misery. 12He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, living his life at odds with all his kinsmen.”
13So she named Adonai who had spoken with her El Ro’i [God of seeing], because she said, “Have I really seen the One who sees me [and stayed alive]?” 14This is why the well has been called Be’er-Lachai-Ro’i [well of the one who lives and sees]; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15Hagar bore Avram a son, and Avram called the son whom Hagar had borne Yishma‘el. 16Avram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Yishma‘el to Avram.
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1Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't been able to have any children for him. However, she owned a female Egyptian slave named Hagar, 2so Sarai said to Abram, “Please listen to me. The Lord hasn't let me have any children. So please go and sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai had suggested. 3So Sarai, Abram's wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband as his wife. Abram had been living in the land of Canaan for ten years when this happened.
4Abram slept with Hagar and she became pregnant. When she realized she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt.#16:4. “She looked at her mistress with contempt,” literally, “her mistress looked small in her eyes.” Another translation would be “she looked down on her mistress.”
5Then Sarai complained to Abram, “What I'm suffering is all your doing! I gave you my servant to sleep with, and now that she knows she's pregnant, she treats me with contempt. May the Lord decide who's at fault—you or me!”
6“Listen, she's your slave!” Abram replied. “You can do whatever you want to her.” Sarai treated Hagar so badly that she ran away.#16:6. “Ran away”: the Hebrew says, “ran away from her,” but Hagar ran away from the camp rather than just avoid Sarai.
7The angel of the Lord met Hagar at a spring in the desert—the spring on the road to Shur.
8He asked her, “Hagar, Sarai's slave—where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I'm running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.
9“Go back to your mistress and do what she tells you,” the angel of the Lord told her. 10Then he continued, “I will give you many, many descendants—in fact they'll be so many they can't be counted.” 11The angel of the Lord went on to tell her: “Listen! You're pregnant, and you will have a son. You are to name him Ishmael,#16:11. Ishmael means “God hears.” for the Lord has heard how you've suffered. 12He'll be a wild donkey kind of man—he will fight with everyone, and everyone will fight with him. He will forever be fighting with his relatives.”
13From then on Hagar called the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” because she said, “Here I saw the one who sees me.” 14That's why the well#16:14. This well is the same water source that is called a spring in verse 7. is called “the Well of the Living One who Sees Me.” It's still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram. Abram named his son Ishmael. 16Abram was 86 when Hagar had Ishmael.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com