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Easy-to-Read Version

Genesis 16:10

The angel of the Lord also said, "From you will come many people—too many people to count."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Communion;   Lahai-Roi;   Prayer;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ishmaelites, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Abraham;   Angel of the Lord;   Hagar;   Ishmael;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Angels;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Angel of the Lord;   Theophany;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Angel;   Beer-Lahai-Roi;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Angel;   Archaeology and Biblical Study;   Archangel;   Genesis;   Hagar;   Theophany;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Angel;   Family;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Hagar;   Ishmael;   Sarah;   Slave, Slavery;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hagar ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Angels;   Hagar ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Beer-la-hai-roi;   Lot;   Shur;   Sodom;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Angel;   Concubine;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Abram;   Ishmael;   Encampment at Sinai;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Beer-Lahai-Roi;   Genesis;   Ishmael (1);   Mediation;   Trinity;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hagar;   Philo Judæus;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for February 10;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude."
King James Version
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Lexham English Bible
And the angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance."
New Century Version
The angel also said, "I will give you so many descendants they cannot be counted."
New English Translation
I will greatly multiply your descendants," the Lord 's angel added, "so that they will be too numerous to count."
Amplified Bible
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."
New American Standard Bible
The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."
Geneva Bible (1587)
Againe the Angel of the Lorde saide vnto her, I will so greatly increase thy seede, that it shal not be numbred for multitude.
Legacy Standard Bible
Moreover, the angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed so that they will be too many to be counted."
Contemporary English Version
I will give you a son, who will be called Ishmael, because I have heard your cry for help. And later I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all.
Complete Jewish Bible
The 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."
Darby Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
English Standard Version
The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude."
George Lamsa Translation
And again the angel of the LORD said to her, I will greatly multiply your descendants, that they can not be numbered because of their multitude.
Good News Translation
Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.
Christian Standard Bible®
The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”
Literal Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, I will exceedingly multiply your seed, so that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the angel of the LORDE sayde vnto her: Beholde, I wil so encreace yi sede, that it shall not be nombred for multitude.
American Standard Version
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Bible in Basic English
And the angel of the Lord said, Your seed will be greatly increased so that it may not be numbered.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And agayne the angell of the Lord sayde vnto her: I wyll multiplie thy seede in such sort, that it shal not be numbred for multitude.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the angel of the LORD said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
King James Version (1611)
And the Angel of the LORD said vnto her, I will multiply thy seede exceedingly, that it shall not be numbred for multitude.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the angel of the Lord said to her, I will surely multiply thy seed, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.
English Revised Version
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Berean Standard Bible
Then the Angel added, "I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And eft he seide, Y multipliynge schal multiplie thi seed, and it schal not be noumbrid for multitude.
Young's Literal Translation
and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, `Multiplying I multiply thy seed, and it is not numbered from multitude;'
Webster's Bible Translation
And the angel of the LORD said to her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
World English Bible
The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude."
New King James Version
Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."
New Living Translation
Then he added, "I will give you more descendants than you can count."
New Life Bible
The angel of the Lord said to her, "I will give you so many people in your family through the years that they will be too many to number."
New Revised Standard
The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the messenger of Yahweh said to her, I will, greatly multiply, thy seed - so that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Revised Standard Version
The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude."
Update Bible Version
And the angel of Yahweh said to her, I will greatly multiply your seed, it shall be too many to count.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

Contextual Overview

10 The angel of the Lord also said, "From you will come many people—too many people to count." 11 Then the angel of the Lord said, "Hagar, you are now pregnant, and you will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard that you were treated badly. 12 Ishmael will be wild and free like a wild donkey. He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will move from place to place and camp near his brothers." 13 The Lord talked to Hagar. She began to use a new name for God. She said to him, "You are ‘God Who Sees Me.'" She said this because she thought, "I see that even in this place God sees me and cares for me!" 14 So the well there was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the angel: Genesis 22:15-18, Genesis 31:11-13, Genesis 32:24-30, Genesis 48:15, Genesis 48:16, Exodus 3:2-6, Judges 2:1-3, Judges 6:11, Judges 6:16, Judges 6:21-24, Judges 13:16-22, Isaiah 63:9, Hosea 12:3-5, Zechariah 2:8, Zechariah 2:9, Malachi 3:1, John 1:18, Acts 7:30-38, 1 Timothy 6:16

I will: Genesis 17:20, Genesis 21:13, Genesis 21:16, Genesis 25:12-18, Psalms 83:6, Psalms 83:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 15:5 - So Genesis 16:13 - called Genesis 17:4 - a father Genesis 18:10 - he said Genesis 21:18 - I will Genesis 22:11 - angel Judges 8:24 - because

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Sarai was Abram's wife, but she did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.
Genesis 16:2
Sarai told Abram, "The Lord has not allowed me to have children, so sleep with my slave. Maybe she can have a son, and I will accept him as my own." Abram did what Sarai said.
Genesis 16:3
So after living ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai gave her Egyptian slave to Abram as a second wife.
Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "My slave girl now hates me, and I blame you for this. I gave her to you, and she became pregnant. Then she began to feel that she is better than I am. I want the Lord to judge which of us is right."
Genesis 16:6
But Abram said to Sarai, "She is your slave. You can do anything you want to her." So Sarai was cruel to Hagar, and Hagar ran away.
Genesis 16:7
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was by the road to Shur.
Genesis 16:8
The angel said, "Hagar, Sarai's slave girl, why are you here? Where are you going?" Hagar said, "I am running away from Sarai."
Genesis 16:9
The angel of the Lord said to her, "Sarai is your owner. Go home to her and obey her."
Genesis 16:11
Then the angel of the Lord said, "Hagar, you are now pregnant, and you will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard that you were treated badly.
Genesis 16:12
Ishmael will be wild and free like a wild donkey. He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will move from place to place and camp near his brothers."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the angel of the Lord said unto her,.... The same as before, who, by what follows, appears to be Jehovah himself:

I will multiply thy seed exceedingly; not that she should have many children herself, for that she had more than this one she now went with, is not certain; but that that seed she had conceived should be exceedingly multiplied, and he should have a numerous posterity, as he had twelve princes sprung from him, the heads of Arab nations:

that it shall not be numbered for multitude; such the Turks are at this day, supposed to be the seed of Ishmael, Hagar's son.

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

Verse Genesis 16:10. I will multiply thy seed exceedingly — Who says this? The person who is called the Angel of the Lord; and he certainly speaks with all the authority which is proper to God.


 
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