Genesis 16
16
Hagar and Ishmael
1Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar, 2and so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Why don't you sleep with my slave? Perhaps she can have a child for me.” Abram agreed with what Sarai said. 3So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years.) 4Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she found out that she was pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.
5Then Sarai said to Abram, “It's your fault that Hagar despises me.#16.5 It's your fault… me; or May you suffer for this wrong done against me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the LORD judge which of us is right, you or me!”
6Abram answered, “Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away.
7The angel of the LORD met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur 8and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She answered, “I am running away from my mistress.”
9He said, “Go back to her and be her slave.” 10Then he said, “I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them. 11You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael,#16.11 Ishmael: This name in Hebrew means “God hears”. because the LORD has heard your cry of distress. 12But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives.”
13Hagar asked herself, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?”#16.13 Probable text lived to tell about it?; Hebrew unclear. So she called the LORD who had spoken to her “A God who Sees”. 14That is why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered “The Well of the Living One who Sees Me”.
15 #
Gal 4.22
Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael. 16Abram was 86 years old at the time.
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Genesis 16: GNBDK
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 16
16
Hagar and Ishmael
1Now Sarai had borne no children for Abram. She had an Egyptian slave girl named Hagar, # 16:1 There is a Jewish tradition that Hagar was the daughter of Pharaoh, who after seeing the miracles that accompanied Abram and Sarai, gave the Egyptian princess to be Abram’s servant (Midrash by Rashi). Hagar can be translated “ensnaring.” It is also related to the word for “stranger.” In Arabic, it could mean “fugitive.” 2so Sarai said to Abram, “Please listen. Since Yahweh has kept me childless, go sleep with my maidservant. Perhaps through her I can build # 16:2 That is, give Abram a son. This is an obvious wordplay in Hebrew. The words for “build” (baneh) and “son” (ben) are quite similar. you a family.” Abram listened and did what Sarai asked.
3Abram had already lived ten years in the land of Canaan when his wife Sarai took her Egyptian slave girl Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his second wife. 4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she belittled Sarai and despised her. 5So Sarai went to Abram and said, “It’s totally your fault that Hagar despises me—and you’re not standing up for me! # 16:5 In the honor/shame culture of the ancient Near East, barrenness was a disgrace. The shame that Hagar heaped on Sarai was culturally and emotionally more than she could bear. I gave my slave girl to your embrace, and when she found out she was pregnant, she despised me. May Yahweh judge between us who is in the right!”
6Abram responded, “She’s your slave girl under your authority, so do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai cruelly mistreated Hagar, who then ran away from her.
7The angel of Yahweh # 16:7 This is likely a preincarnate appearance of Christ (called a Christophany), for the angel is called “Yahweh” in v. 13. “The angel of Yahweh” refers to an appearance of Yahweh in human form. This is the first mention of an angel in Scripture. encountered Hagar by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. # 16:7 Shur means “wall” and is identified with a wilderness near the Egyptian-Israeli border. 8He asked her, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and what are you doing here?”
She replied, “I’m running away from Sarai, my mistress.”
9The angel of Yahweh told her, “You have to go back to your mistress and humbly submit to her.” 10The angel added, “I will greatly multiply your descendants until no one can count them.” # 16:10 Only God could multiply Hagar’s descendants. We see the kindness of God revealed by his promise to Hagar. God is the guardian of the weak and the suffering. See Rom. 2:4; Heb. 4:15.
11Yahweh’s angel continued, “You are now pregnant, and soon you will give birth to a son. You will name him Ishmael, # 16:11 Ishmael means “God hears” or “May God hear!” for Yahweh has heard your cries of distress. 12Your son will have a wild nature that no one can tame. # 16:12 Or “He will be a wild donkey of a man.” This was not necessarily a crude insult, but a figure of speech indicating that Ishmael would live a solitary existence. Like a wild donkey left in the desert, he would be wild and untamed. This is the “beastly” nature of fallen man, the wild Adam, the flesh. He will be hostile toward everyone, and everyone will be hostile toward him; and he will live at odds with all his kinsmen.”
13After her encounter with Yahweh, Hagar called him by a special name, “You are the God of My Seeing,” # 16:13 Or “You are the God who sees me” or “You are the God whom I See.” This encounter at the well reminds us of a later time when Jesus would journey to a well to meet a woman who had a history of running from God. At this well of Jacob, the Living One again saw into the heart of a woman and spoke mercy to her. At Jesus’ encounter with the woman at Jacob’s well, God saw into her heart, and she saw into God’s. See John 4:1–30. for she said, “Oh my, did I just see God and live to talk about it?” # 16:13 Or “Have I not gone on seeing after he saw me?” The exact meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 14That is why the well is called Spring of the Living One Who Watches Over Me. # 16:14 Or “Beer-Lahai-Roi.” The Hebrew word for “spring” has a homophone that can be translated “eye.” The well is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. # 16:14 Kadesh means “sacred”; Bered means “hail.” A place known as “Little Petra” appears on maps today as Siq al-Barid. It lies about four miles north of Petra and is situated in a short canyon. About halfway between Ein Kadesh (also known as Ein Musa) and Siq al-Barid are the ruins of a small Turkish village named Chai, and its spring is called Ein el-Chai. This site seems to match the description of Beer-Lahai-Roi with its spring-fed well. 15Hagar returned and bore Abram a son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
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