Hagar and Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore no children for him. She had a servant girl,[a] an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my servant girl. It may be that I can build up a family through her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
3 After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her servant girl, Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 He went to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, she looked down on her mistress. 5 Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong that I am suffering is on account of you. I gave my servant girl into your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked down on me. May the Lord judge between me and you.”
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your servant girl is in your hands. Do to her whatever seems good to you.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her presence.
7 The Angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a flowing spring in the wilderness, beside the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, servant girl of Sarai, where did you come from? Where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants, so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Listen, you are expecting a child and will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,[b] because the Lord has heard your affliction. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will dwell in hostility toward[c] all of his brothers.”
13 She called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Here have I really seen him who sees me?”[d] 14 Therefore the well was called Be’er Lahai Roi.[e] It is right there between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram. Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael for him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 16:1 Or female slave. Shiphchah is allegedly the lower level word for a female servant who serves as an attendant to the lady of the house.
- Genesis 16:11 In Hebrew Ishmael sounds like God heard.
- Genesis 16:12 Or far away from
- Genesis 16:13 Or Have I been permitted to see even a glimpse of him who sees me?
- Genesis 16:14 Be’er Lahai Roi means well of the one who lives and sees me.