16:1 Sarai See 11:29 and note.

Hagar The name may be related to Arabic hajara, meaning “to flee”—and thus may parallel her fleeing later in this chapter.

16:2 Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children In the ancient Near East, barrenness was always considered a female problem due to the belief that the man deposited a seedling child into the woman, where it would grow like a plant. Failure to grow the child was thus viewed as divine judgment against the woman.

I will have children by her The procedure of a barren woman providing her husband with a concubine occurred in other ancient Near Eastern cultures, according to both the ancient work Hammurabi’s Code and ancient marriage contracts.

Abram listened Since it was a standard practice for a barren wife to offer her concubine, Abram is not surprised.

16:3 his wife Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as an ishah. This may indicate that Hagar has a higher status in the household than that of a concubine (pilegesh). A higher status may have been necessary for the child to have full rights as Abram’s heir.

16:4 grew small in her eyes Hagar viewed her conception as evidence of divine blessing, and by extension a curse against Sarai. Hagar thought she had gained greater status in Abram’s household.

16:5 harm The word chamas (related to the Arabic word ḥamas) elsewhere describes deceit and general disregard for law and human life (Deut 19:16; Psa 11:5; Isa 60:18; Ezek 7:23). Here, it refers to injustice.

16:6 Sarai mistreated her Ancient Near Eastern law codes, like that of Hammurabi, allowed slave owners to harshly punish their slaves for insolence.

16:7 the angel of Yahweh Elsewhere, the Hebrew phrase used here, malak yhwh, is used in reference to Yahweh made visible or embodied, although it is not clear that the angel is always Yahweh (Exod 23:20–23; Judg 6).

Angels in the Bible Table

by the road of Shur Hagar was journeying toward Egypt, her native country (1 Sam 15:7; 27:8).

16:11 Ishmael This name in Hebrew, yishma'el, means “God hears.”

Symbolic Names of People in Hebrew Table

16:12 he shall be a wild donkey of Ishmael and his descendants will be wayward and headstrong.

his hand will be against everyone Ishmael and his kin will also be prone to conflict.

he will live in hostility with all his brothers This Hebrew phrase can mean either that the Ishmaelites will live in close proximity to their kinsmen or in hostility to them.

16:13 You are El-Roi The Hebrew phrase used here, el ro'i, can be translated as “God of seeing,” referring to God’s ability to see everything; “God of my seeing,” a testimonial by Hagar that she has witnessed a divine being; or “God who sees me,” a more personal version of the first translation. Hagar’s remaining words suggest that the phrase deliberately expresses all of these.

Names of God in the Old Testament Table

16:14 Beer-Lahai-Roi This name means “well of the living one who sees me” (see 24:62; 25:11).

16:16 eighty-six years old Abram was 75 when God first called him and promised to make him a great nation (12:4).