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Genesis Chapter 16 (BSB)

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1 Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.

4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

6 “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

7 Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.

8 “Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.

9 So the angel of the LORD told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.”

10 Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

13 So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”

14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Hagar in Genesis chapter 16?

Since Sarai remains childless, she gives her Egyptian handmaid Hagar to Abram to bear a child; once pregnant, Hagar despises Sarai, is treated harshly, and flees into the wilderness, where the angel of the LORD finds her, tells her to return, and promises her son Ishmael will father a multitude.

What name did Hagar give to God at the well?

In verse 13 Hagar calls the LORD who spoke to her 'Thou God seest me,' asking 'have I also here looked after him that seeth me?' — a moment of being truly seen that resonates with Psalms 139:1-12.

What did the angel say Ishmael would be like?

Verse 12 describes Ishmael as a 'wild man' whose 'hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him,' living 'in the presence of all his brethren.'

Today's Verse

But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

1-kings 12:17 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

The angel promises that Hagar's son will be named Ishmael, "because the LORD hath heard thy affliction," and Hagar responds by calling God "Thou God seest me," an experience that resonates with the watchful presence of God described in Psalms 139:1-12. Abram is eighty-six when Ishmael is born, and the covenant of circumcision follows thirteen years later in Genesis 17.