Genesis 16:11

Easy-to-Read Version

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.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Yishma'el, because the LORD has heard your affliction.

King James Version
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

Lexham English Bible
And the angel of Yahweh said to her: "Behold, you are pregnant and shall have a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael, for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.

New Century Version
The angel added, "You are now pregnant, and you will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cries.

New English Translation
Then the Lord 's angel said to her, "You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans.

Amplified Bible
The Angel of the LORD continued, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears), Because the LORD has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).

New American Standard Bible
The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are pregnant, And you will give birth to a son; And you shall name him Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Also the Angel of the Lord said vnto her, See, thou art with childe, and shalt beare a sonne, and shalt call his name Ishmael: for the Lorde hath heard thy tribulation.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the angel of Yahweh said to her further,"Behold, you are with child,And you will bear a son;And you shall call his name Ishmael,Because Yahweh has heard your affliction.

Complete Jewish Bible
The 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.

Darby Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath hearkened to thy affliction.

English Standard Version
And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

George Lamsa Translation
And the angel of the LORD said to her, Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard of your afflictions.

Good News Translation
You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cry of distress.

Christian Standard Bible®
The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.

Literal Translation
And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Behold! You are with child and shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah has listened to your affliction.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the angel of the LORDE sayde further vnto her: Beholde, thou art with childe, & shalt bringe forth a sonne, and shalt call his name Ismael, because the LORDE hath herde yi trouble.

American Standard Version
And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath heard thy affliction.

Bible in Basic English
And the angel of the Lord said, See, you are with child and will give birth to a son, to whom you will give the name Ishmael, because the ears of the Lord were open to your sorrow.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lordes angell said vnto her: See, thou art with chylde, and shalt beare a sonne, and shalt cal his name Ismael: because the Lorde hath hearde thy tribulation.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the angel of the LORD said unto her: 'Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

King James Version (1611)
And the Angel of the LORD said vnto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt beare a sonne, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ismael, for the Lord hath hearkened to thy humiliation.

English Revised Version
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Berean Standard Bible
The Angel of the LORD proceeded: "Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And aftirward he seide, Lo! thou hast conseyued, and thou schalt bere a sone, and thou schalt clepe his name Ismael, for the Lord hath herd thi turment;

Young's Literal Translation
and the messenger of Jehovah saith to her, `Behold thou [art] conceiving, and bearing a son, and hast called his name Ishmael, for Jehovah hath hearkened unto thine affliction;

Webster's Bible Translation
And the angel of the LORD said to her, Behold, thou [art] with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

World English Bible
The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction.

New King James Version
And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

New Living Translation
And the angel also said, "You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears'), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress.

New Life Bible
The angel of the Lord also said to her, "See, you are going to have a child. And you will give birth to a son. You will give him the name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard how you have suffered.

New Revised Standard
And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the messenger of Yahweh said to her, Behold thee! with child, and about bearing a son - and thou shalt call his name Ishmael for Yahweh hath hearkened unto thy humiliation.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

Revised Standard Version
And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish'mael; because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

Update Bible Version
And the angel of Yahweh said to her, Look, you are pregnant, and shall give birth to a son; and you shall name him Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The 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 Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

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

shalt: Genesis 17:19, Genesis 29:32-35, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:21-23, Luke 1:13, Luke 1:31, Luke 1:63

Ishmael: i.e. God shall hear

because: Genesis 41:51, Genesis 41:52, 1 Samuel 1:20

hath: Genesis 29:32, Genesis 29:33, Exodus 2:23, Exodus 2:24, Exodus 3:7, Job 38:41, Psalms 22:24

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:20 - Adam Genesis 16:15 - Hagar Genesis 21:17 - heard Genesis 31:42 - hath seen Genesis 37:25 - Ishmeelites Exodus 2:10 - Because Judges 8:24 - because 1 Chronicles 1:28 - Ishmael

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
God said, "No, I said that your wife Sarah will have a son. You will name him Isaac. I will make my agreement with him that will continue forever with all his descendants.

Exodus 3:7
Then the Lord said, "I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt, and I have heard their cries when the Egyptians hurt them. I know about their pain.

Exodus 3:9
I have heard the cries of the Israelites, and I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them.

1 Samuel 1:20
By that time the following year, Hannah had become pregnant and had a son. She named him Samuel. She said, "His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him."

Job 38:41
Who feeds the ravens when their babies cry out to God and wander around without food?

Psalms 22:24
He does not ignore those who need help. He does not hate them. He does not turn away from them. He listens when they cry for help.

Isaiah 7:14
But the Lord will still show you this sign: The young woman is pregnant and will give birth to a son. She will name him Immanuel.

Luke 1:13
But the angel said to him, "Zechariah, don't be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John.

Luke 1:31
Listen! You will become pregnant and have a baby boy. You will name him Jesus.

Luke 1:63
Zechariah asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was surprised.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the angel of the Lord said unto her,.... Continued his discourse with her, informing her she should have a son, and what his name should be, and what his character, and the place of his habitation:

behold, thou [art] with child; this she knew, and it is said, not for her information, as to this respect, but to lead on to something else he had to acquaint her with, she did not know. Jarchi indeed would have the sense to be, "thou shall conceive" or "be with child", as was said to Manoah's wife, Judges 13:5; for it is a fancy of his, that Hagar had miscarried, and he, supposes the angel to promise her, that if she would return, or when she should return, she should conceive again; but this is said and supposed without any foundation:

and shalt bear a son; this was what she hoped for, but was not certain of; but the angel assures her of it, that the child she went with was a son, which none could foretell but God, that is omniscient:

and shall call his name Ishmael; the Jews s observe, there were six persons who had their names given them before they were born, and Ishmael is one of them; the six were Isaac, Genesis 17:19; Ishmael, here; Moses, Exodus 2:10; Solomon, 2 Samuel 12:24; Josiah, 1 Kings 13:2; and the Messiah, Isaiah 7:14: the reason of his name follows,

because the Lord hath heard thy affliction: heard of it, had took notice of it, and observed, and fully understood the nature and cause of it; he had heard her groans and sighs under it, and her prayer and cries for deliverance from it; and so the Targum of Onkelos,

"for the Lord hath received thy prayer,''

which she had put up in her affliction, both when in the service of her mistress, and since her flight from her.

s Pirke Eliezer, c. 32. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1.

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 b^e'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 ch^elûtsā' 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 16:11. And shalt call his name Ishmael — ישמאעל Yishmael, from שמע shama, he heard, and אל El, God; for, says the Angel, THE LORD HATH HEARD thy affliction. Thus the name of the child must ever keep the mother in remembrance of God's merciful interposition in her behalf, and remind the child and the man that he was an object of God's gracious and providential goodness. Afflictions and distresses have a voice in the ears of God, even when prayer is restrained; but how much more powerfully do they speak when endured in meekness of spirit, with confidence in and supplication to the Lord!