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Genesis 16:1
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Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian servant-woman whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.
Sarai Abrams wyfe bare hym no chyldren: but she had an handemayde an Egyptian, Hagar by name.
Sarai was Abram's wife, but she did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar;
Therfor Sarai, wijf of Abram, hadde not gendrid fre children; but sche hadde a seruauntesse of Egipt, Agar bi name, and seide to hir hosebonde, Lo!
Now Sarai Abrams wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaide, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Sarai Abrams wife bare him no children: but she had an handmayde an Egipcian, whose name was Agar,
Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, " God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not borne him a child, but she had an Egyptian slave woman whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had given him no children; and she had a servant, a woman of Egypt whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no [children]: and she had a female slave, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name [was] Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
Abram's wife Sarai had not been able to have any children. But she owned a young Egyptian slave woman named Hagar,
Now Sarai Avram's wife had not borne him a child. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar;
And Sarai Abram's wife did not bear him [children]. And she had an Egyptian maidservant; and her name was Hagar.
Nowe Sarai Abrams wife bare him no children, and she had a maide an Egyptian, Hagar by name.
NOW Sarai, Abrams wife, bore him no children; and she had an Egyptian handmaid, whose name was Hagar.
Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar,
Now Sarai, Avram's wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, a Mitzrian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.
Now Abram's wife Sarai had not given birth to any children. She had a woman servant from Egypt whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar,
And Sara the wife of Abram bore him no children; and she had an Egyptian maid, whose name was Agar.
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Now Abram's wife Sarai had not borne a child to him, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
But Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, - she had, however, an Egyptian handmaid, whose name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,
Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name was Hagar.
And Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear to him; and to her belonged a female slave, an Egyptian, and her name was Hagar.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, but she had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar.
Abram's wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name [is] Hagar;
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
am 2092, bc 1912
bare: Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:3, Genesis 21:10, Genesis 21:12, Genesis 25:21, Judges 13:2, Luke 1:7, Luke 1:36
Egyptian: Genesis 12:16, Genesis 21:9, Genesis 21:21
name: Galatians 4:24, Agar
Reciprocal: Genesis 11:30 - barren Genesis 16:8 - Sarai's maid Genesis 20:1 - Kadesh Genesis 29:24 - Zilpah Genesis 29:31 - he opened 1 Samuel 1:2 - but Romans 4:10 - not in circumcision
Cross-References
But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.
Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
So Sarai said to Abram, "See here, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will obtain children by her." And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said.
After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.
The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Go back to your mistress, and submit humbly to her authority."
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."
God said to Abraham, "Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.
He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was unable to conceive children; and the LORD granted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived [twins].
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had no children.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children,.... She is before said to be barren, and he to be childless, Genesis 11:30; God had promised him a seed, but as yet he had none, which was a trial of his faith; he had been married many years to Sarai his wife, she was his wife when they came out of Ur of the Chaldees, and how long before cannot be said; they stayed and dwelt some time at Haran, the Jews x say five years, and they had been now ten years in the land of Canaan,
Genesis 16:3; and were advanced in years, the one being seventy five, and the other eighty five, so that there was no great probability of having any children, wherefore the following step was taken:
and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name [was] Hagar; no doubt but she had many, but this was a principal one, that might be over others, and was chiefly entrusted with the care and management of family affairs under her mistress; she might be the daughter of an Egyptian, born in Abram's house, as Eliezer was the son of a Syrian of Damascus, born there also; or she might be one of the maidservants Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave to Abram, Genesis 12:16; the Jews y have a tradition, that she was a daughter of Pharaoh, who, when he saw the wonders done for Sarai, said, it is better that my daughter should be a handmaid in this house, than a mistress in another, and therefore gave her to Sarai; others say z she was a daughter of his by a concubine, but neither is probable: from her came the people called Hagarites, 1 Chronicles 5:10, and Hagarenes, Psalms 83:6; and there were a people in Arabia called Agraei, both by Strabo a and Pliny b; and the latter speaks of a royal city in that country called Agra, which seem to have their names from this person. Melo c, an Heathen writer, speaking of Abram, says, that he had two wives, one of his own country, and akin to him, and the other an Egyptian, a servant; of the Egyptian he beget twelve sons, who, going into Arabia, divided the country among them, and were the first that reigned over the inhabitants of it; as to her twelve sons, he mistakes, for these were not Hagar's sons by Abram, but her grandsons, the sons of Ishmael, see Genesis 17:20.
x Seder Olam Rabba, p. 2. y Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 45. fol. 40. 2. z Pirke Eliezer, c. 26. a Geograph. l. 16. p. 528. b Hist. Nat. l. 6. c. 28. c Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 19. p. 420, 421.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Birth of Ishmael
1. הנר hāgār, Hagar, “flight.” Hejrah, the flight of Muhammed.
7. מלאך mal'ak “messenger, angel.” A deputy commissioned to discharge a certain duty for the principal whom he represents. As the most usual task is that of bearing messages, commands, or tidings, he is commonly called a “messenger” ἄγγελος angelos). The word is therefore a term of office, and does not further distinguish the office-bearer than as an intelligent being. Hence, a מלאך mal'ak may be a man deputed by a man Genesis 32:3; Job 1:14, or by God Haggai 1:13; Malachi 3:1, or a superhuman being delegated in this case only by God. The English term “angel” is now especially appropriated to the latter class of messengers.
1st. The nature of angels is spiritual Hebrews 1:14. This characteristic ranges over the whole chain of spiritual being from man up to God himself. The extreme links, however, are excluded: man, because he is a special class of intelligent creatures; and God, because he is supreme. Other classes of spiritual beings may be excluded - as the cherubim, the seraphim - because they have not the same office, though the word “angelic” is sometimes used by us as synonymous with heavenly or spiritual. They were all of course originally good; but some of them have fallen from holiness, and become evil spirits or devils Matthew 25:31, Matthew 25:41; Jude 1:6; Revelation 12:7. The latter are circumscribed in their sphere of action, as if confined within the walls of their prison, in consequence of their fallen state and malignant disposition Genesis 3:0; Job 1:2; 1 Peter 2:4; Revelation 20:2. Being spiritual, they are not only moral, but intelligent. They also excel in strength Psalms 103:20. The holy angels have the full range of action for which their qualities are adapted. They can assume a real form, expressive of their present functions, and affecting the senses of sight, hearing, and touch, or the roots of those senses in the soul. They may even perform innocent functions of a human body, such as eating Genesis 18:8; Genesis 19:3. Being spirits, they can resolve the material food into its original elements in a way which we need not attempt to conceive or describe. But this case of eating stands altogether alone. Angels have no distinction of sex Matthew 22:30. They do not grow old or die. They are not a race, and have not a body in the ordinary sense of the term.
2d. Their office is expressed by their name. In common with other intelligent creatures, they take part in the worship of God Revelation 7:11; but their special office is to execute the commands of God in the natural world Psalms 103:20, and especially to minister to the heirs of salvation Hebrews 1:14; Matthew 18:10; Luke 15:10; Luke 16:22. It is not needful here to enter into the uniquenesses of their ministry.
3d. The angel of Jehovah. This phrase is especially employed to denote the Lord himself in that form in which he condescends to make himself manifest to man; for the Lord God says of this angel, “Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in his inmost” Exodus 23:21; that is, my nature is in his essence. Accordingly, he who is called the angel of the Lord in one place is otherwise denominated the Lord or God in the immediate context (Genesis 16:7, Genesis 16:13; Genesis 22:11-12; Genesis 31:11, Genesis 31:13; Genesis 48:15-16; Exodus 3:2-15; Exodus 23:20-23; with Exodus 33:14-15). It is remarkable, at the same time, that the Lord is spoken of in these cases as a distinct person from the angel of the Lord, who is also called the Lord. The phraseology intimates to us a certain inherent plurality within the essence of the one only God, of which we have had previous indications Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:22. The phrase “angel of the Lord,” however, indicates a more distant manifestation to man than the term Lord itself. It brings the medium of communication into greater prominence. It seems to denote some person of the Godhead in angelic form. שׁוּר shûr, Shur, “wall.” A city or place probably near the head of the gulf of Suez. The desert of Shur is now Jofar.
11. ישׁמעאל yı̂shmā‛ē'l, Jishmael, “the Mighty will hear.”
13. ראי אל 'êl rŏ'ı̂y, “God of vision or seeing.”
14. ראי לחי באר be'ēr-lachay-ro'ı̂y, Beer-lachai-roi, “well of vision to the living.” ברד bered, Bered, “hail.” The site is not known.
Sarah has been barren probably much more than twenty years. She appears to have at length reluctantly arrived at the conclusion that she would never be a mother. Nature and history prompted the union of one man to one wife in marriage, and it might have been presumed that God would honor his own institution. But the history of the creation of man was forgotten or unheeded, and the custom of the East prompted Sarai to resort to the expedient of giving her maid to her husband for a second wife, that she might have children by her.
Genesis 16:1-6
A Mizrite handmaid. - Hagar was probably obtained, ten years before, during their sojourn in Egypt. “The Lord hath restrained me.” It was natural to the ancient mind to recognize the power and will of God in all things. “I shall be builded by her,” אבנה 'ı̂bāneh, built as the foundation of a house, by the addition of sons or daughters (בנים bānı̂ym or בנית bānôt). She thought she had or wished to have a share in the promise, if not by herself personally, yet through her maid. The faith of Sarah had not yet come fully to the birth. Abram yields to the suggestion of his wife, and complies with the custom of the country. Ten years had elapsed since they had entered the land they were to inherit. Impatience at the long delay leads to an invention of their own for obtaining an heir. The contempt of her maid was unjustifiable. But it was the natural consequence of Sarai’s own improper and imprudent step, in giving her to her husband as a concubine. Unwilling, however, to see in herself the occasion of her maid’s insolence, she transfers the blame to her husband, who empowers or reminds her of her power still to deal with her as it pleased her. Hagar, unable to bear the yoke of humiliation, flees from her mistress.
Genesis 16:7-12
The angel of the Lord either represents the Lord, or presents the Lord in angelic form. The Lord manifests himself to Hagar seemingly on account of her relationship to Abram, but in the more distant form of angelic visitation. She herself appears to be a believer in God. The spring of water is a place of refreshment on her journey. She is on the way to Shur, which was before Mizraim as thou goest rewards Asshur Genesis 25:18, and therefore fleeing to Egypt, her native land. The angel of the Lord interrogates her, and requires her to return to her mistress, and humble herself under her hands.
Genesis 16:10
I will multiply. - This language is proper only to the Lord Himself, because it claims a divine prerogative. The Lord is, therefore, in this angel. He promises to Hagar a numerous offspring. “Ishmael.” “El,” the Mighty, will hear; but “Jehovah,” the Lord (Yahweh), heard her humiliation. Yahweh, therefore, is the same God as El. He describes Ishmael and his progeny in him as resembling the wild ass. This animal is a fit symbol of the wild, free, untamable Bedouin of the desert. He is to live in contention, and yet to dwell independently, among all his brethren. His brethren are the descendants of Heber, the Joctanites, composing the thirteen original tribes of the Arabs, and the Palgites to whom the descendants of Abram belonged. The Ishmaelites constituted the second element of the great Arab nation, and shared in their nomadic character and independence. The character here given of them is true even to the present day.
Genesis 16:13-16
God of my vision - (El-roi). Here we have the same divine name as in Ishmael. “Have I even still seen” - continued to live and see the sun after having seen God? Beer-lahai-roi, the well of vision (of God) to the living. To see God and live was an issue contrary to expectation Exodus 33:20. The well is between Kadesh and Bered. The site of the latter has not been ascertained. R. Jonathan gives חוּצא chelûtsā' the Ἔλουσα elousa of Ptolemy, now el-Khulasa, about twelve miles south of Beersheba. Rowland finds the well at Moyle or Muweilah, still further south in the same direction. The birth of Ishmael is in the sixteenth year after Abram’s call, and the eleventh after his arrival in Kenaan.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XVI
Sarai, having no child, gives Hagar her maid to Abram
for wife, 1-3.
She conceives and despises her mistress, 4.
Sarai is offended and upbraids Abram, 5.
Abram vindicates himself; and Hagar, being hardly used
by her mistress, runs away, 6.
She is met by an angel, and counselled to return to
her mistress, 7-9.
God promises greatly to multiply her seed, 10.
Gives the name of Ishmael to the child that should be
born of her, 11.
Shows his disposition and character, 12.
Hagar calls the name of the Lord who spoke to her,
Thou God seest me, 13.
She calls the name of the well at which the angel met
her, Beer-laharoi, 14.
Ishmael is born in the 86th year of Abram's age, 15, 16.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVI
Verse Genesis 16:1. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian — As Hagar was an Egyptian, St. Chrysostom's conjecture is very probable. that she was one of those female slaves which Pharaoh gave to Abram when he sojourned in Egypt; see Genesis 12:16. Her name הגר hagar signifies a stranger or sojourner, and it is likely she got this name in the family of Abram, as the word is pure Hebrew.
