1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2So 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 #This must have been an acceptable practice in that time and culture, based on the idea that the children of such a union would belong to the owner of the slave-girl. Abram undoubtedly had informed Sarai of God’s promise to him, and Sarai perhaps thought that this was necessary in order to bring about God’s plan for them.obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said. 3After 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. 4He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility]. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

7But #This is the first occurrence of “Angel of the Lord (YHWH)” in Scripture. The Hebrew word for “angel” means “messenger” (an angel of God is a special messenger from God who speaks for and is closely identified with Him) and context determines whether the messenger is an angel or a human. The same is true for Greek, and the word “angel” is an English form (transliteration) of the Gr aggelos. The Angel of the Lord can be a special case, however. Many Bible scholars believe that this Angel may be a theophany, that is, a physical manifestation of God, in which case the word Angel is capitalized. The Angel of the Lord may, based on context, be the pre-incarnate Christ, the Son of God.the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. 8And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit #Lit under her hands.humbly to her authority.” 10Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11The 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).

12He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;

His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]

And every man’s hand against him;

And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”

13Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are #Heb El roi; God never sleeps, He sees, He is aware, He is the great Omnipresent God.God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after #Or seen the back of Him who sees me, which would suggest that at some point in their conversation Hagar requested to see the divine Angel (see note v 7) and, as in Moses’ encounter with God (Ex 33:18-23), was granted the privilege of seeing His back. The wording of the Hebrew is not clear enough to further narrow the possibilities.seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?” 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is #This, “it is between Kadesh and Bered,” is further proof of the antiquity of the original names, since the place had to be identified to the reader in the time of Moses.between Kadesh and Bered.

15So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, #Ishmael was the first person whom God named before his birth (Gen 16:11). Others were: Isaac (Gen 17:19); Josiah (1 Kin 13:2); Solomon (1 Chr 22:9); Jesus (Matt 1:21); and John the Baptist (Luke 1:13).Ishmael (God hears). 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

Amplified® Bible

The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631

Learn More

Genesis 16

1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had not conceived children. But, having an Egyptian handmaid named Hagar,

2 she said to her husband: "Behold, the Lord has closed me, lest I give birth. Enter to my handmaid, so that perhaps I may receive sons of her at least." And when he agreed to her supplication,

3 she took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, ten years after they began to live in the land of Canaan, and she gave her to her husband as a wife.

4 And he entered to her. But when she saw that she had conceived, she despised her mistress.

5 And Sarai said to Abram: "You have acted unfairly against me. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, who, when she saw that she had conceived, held me in contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you."

6 Abram responded to her by saying, "Behold, your handmaid is in your hand to treat as it pleases you." And so, when Sarai afflicted her, she took flight.

7 And when the Angel of the Lord had found her, near the fountain of water in the wilderness, which is on the way to Shur in the desert,

8 he said to her: "Hagar, handmaid of Sarai, where have you come from? And where will you go?" And she answered, "I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress."

9 And the Angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her hand."

10 And again he said, "I will multiply your offspring continuously, and they will not be numbered because of their multitude."

11 But thereafter he said: "Behold, you have conceived, and you will give birth to a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.

12 He will be a wild man. His hand will be against all, and all hands will be against him. And he will pitch his tents away from the region of all his brothers."

13 Then she called upon the name of the Lord who had spoken to her: "You are the God who has seen me." For she said, "Certainly, here I have seen the back of the one who sees me."

14 Because of this, she called that well: 'The well of the one who lives and who sees me.' The same is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, who called his name Ishmael.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael for him.

null

Learn More

Choose your language

Genesis 16

Genesis 16