The Birth of Ishmael
16 Now Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; 2 and Sar′ai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar′ai. 3 So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar′ai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived;[a] and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sar′ai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sar′ai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sar′ai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sar′ai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sar′ai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish′mael;[b] because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “Thou art a God of seeing”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?”[c] 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-la′hai-roi;[d] it lies between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ish′mael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ish′mael to Abram.
Footnotes
- 16.1-4 The practice suggested by Sarai, involving as it did polygamy, was in accord with moral standards at that time and is referred to in legal codes of the period.
- Genesis 16:11 That is God hears
- Genesis 16:13 Cn: Heb have I even here seen after him who sees me?
- Genesis 16:14 That is the well of one who sees and lives