Bible Lexicons

Ἄγαρ (WH Ἅγάρ (see their Introductory § 408)), ἡ, indeclinable, (in Josephus, Ἀγάρα, (ης), הָגָר (flight), Hagar, a bondmaid of Abraham, and by him the mother of Ishmael (Genesis 16): Galatians 4:24 ( L text T omit; Tr brackets). Since the Arabians according to Paul (who had formerly dwelt among them, Galatians 1:17) called the rocky Matt. Sinai by a name similar in sound to הגר ( i. e. rock), the apostle in the passage referred to employs the name Hagar allegorically to denote the servile sense of fear with which the Mosaic economy imbued its subjects. (Cf. B. D. American edition, pp. 978, 2366 note {a}; Lightfoot's remarks appended to his Commentary on Galatians, the passage cited.)