Genesis 16

Sarai and Hagar

1 a Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was b Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children 1 by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram c had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, d she looked with contempt on her mistress. 2 5 And Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May e the Lord judge between you and me!" 6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please." Then Sarai 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 f Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai." 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, g "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude."

11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
"Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael, 3
h because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
12 He shall be i a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he shall dwell j over against all his kinsmen."

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," 4 for she said, k "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me." 5 14 Therefore the well was called l Beer-lahai-roi; 6 it lies between m Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

  1. Cross References
    Genesis 15:2 - 3
    But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?
  2. Cross References
    Genesis 21:9
    But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.
    Galatians 4:24
    Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 12:5
    And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan.
  4. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:6 - 7
    And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.
  5. Cross References
    Genesis 31:53
    The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
    1 Samuel 24:12
    May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 25:18
    They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
    Exodus 15:22
    Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 17:20
    As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
    Genesis 21:18
    Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.
    Genesis 25:12 - 18
    These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham.
  8. Cross References
    Genesis 29:32
    And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, "Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.
  9. Cross References
    Job 39:5 - 8
    Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey.
    Genesis 21:20
    And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 25:18
    They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 32:30
    So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.
    Exodus 19:21
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.
    Exodus 33:20
    But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.
    Judges 13:22
    And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 24:62
    Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb.
    Genesis 25:11
    After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.
  13. Cross References
    Genesis 14:7
    Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
    Genesis 20:1
    From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.
    Numbers 13:26
    And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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