ofwgen16

My goodness, is Abraham about to get a surprise! Sarai is about to do something for Abraham that was, and is, extraordinary for any woman to do for her husband. Little did she know about how it would turn out, nor did Abraham for that matter. This is racy soap opera material here folks, so those who are of superior virtue, or righteously pious in a victorian way perhaps should skip this chapter.

Gen. 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

She and Abraham had been sojourning in Egypt not too many years before this because of famine in the land of Canaan, and that is where Hagar became Sarai's handmaid.

Gen. 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Sarai got Abraham's attention immediately when she presented this idea to him. The last sentence suggests that he was hanging upon every word that she spoke. Wives generally complain that their husbands don't listen to them enough, but Abraham was all ears here, and no wonder. Can you imagine a modern wife suggesting to her husband that he do something like this?

Gen. 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

I have heard stories about what happened here involving Abraham, Sarai, and Hagar, and giving details about the custom and how they performed it, but we'll skip all that and simply say that they did what they did, however they did it.

Gen. 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Oops, we have a problem! What? Already? Yep, just like in the soap operas where it seems every love triangle ends up something like this. It is not absolutely clear to me who had the wrong attitude here but most assume that it was Hagar. If so, she makes a big mistake here. She may have become excessively proud of her conception and rubbed it in Sarai's face. Problem was, she was still Sarai's slave girl.

Gen. 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Look at this! Sarai is blaming Abraham for the situation. Hmmmm? What a situation! You can't make up stuff like this. Jerry Springer, eat your heart out, and likewise to you Oprah.

Gen. 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Is this great soap opera material or what? Abraham plays the cowardly husband here and gives Sarai carte blanche to deal with Hagar any way she so desires. Big mistake on his part. Evidently he didn't know what an envious and jealous Sarai was capable of doing to Hagar. The NAB translates the last sentence thusly: Sarai then abused her so much that Hagar ran away from her.

Gen. 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

Poor Hagar. She was really in a tight place now, but she was about to be rescued. There are some interesting things in this verse worth mentioning. Look at Who it says found her. The Angel of the Lord, sometimes called the Angel of the Presence. Such appearances are called a Theophany and are a manifestation of God Himself in angel form. He appeared that way to only some few special men and women in the Bible presumably because it was safe for them when He did. Hagar must have been very important for Him to search for her in what was essentially a wilderness area. He sought her out to save her life, but also to comfort her and encourage her.

Shur is the area North of the upper fork of the Red Sea which we today call the Negev desert and Sinai. Verse 14 below indicates that she was nearby to Kadesh, so she had traveled nearly a hundred miles under harsh conditions from where she had lived with Abraham and Sarai. They dwelled just south of Jerusalem near Hebron on the plain of Mamre. She obviously was attempting to return to Egypt even though she was pregnant, and that was quite a daunting journey for anyone, but especially so for a girl in her condition. In fact, it likely would have killed her and the baby, so Sarai's vengeful abuse must have been quite severe.

Gen. 16:8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

What a surprise for her. This stranger comes up and lets her know up front that He knew that she was Sarai's handmaid, and then He wanted to know what she was doing way out there in the wilderness. She answered Him truthfully and openly. Did she know to Whom she was speaking at this very moment? I think so. I think she realized immediately that He was very special indeed.

Gen. 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

This statement was not simply a suggestion, it was firm and obligatory. The last portion of this verse in the NAB reads: Go back to your mistress and submit to her abusive treatment.

Gen. 16:10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

How comforting this statement had to be to her because the implications of it were huge. He tenderly reassured her concerning her future and the future of her son. This promise is actually restating the same promise made to Abraham. Ishmael was his son also and God had already promised him that his progeny would number like the stars of heaven. Hagar and Ishmael were definitely part of that promise, and there were to be many others as well.

Gen. 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Up until now she didn't know if her baby was a boy or a girl, but now she does, and not only that, God actually named the child for her. How very special indeed, and look at the last clause. She knew now that she was special also and that God heard her prayers. Ishmael translated to English means God will hear, or maybe in this case it would be more appropriately translated as God has heard. She has to be walking on cloud nine right about now.

Gen. 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

Something seems amiss in this verse. It is almost a condemnation of Ishmael the way that it is translated. The term wild man is translated a wild ass of a man in the NAB and in The Interlinear Bible (Green's). I don't believe that was the intention of the statement made by the Angel of the Lord here.

Read verses 10, 11, and 12 altogether now. He was comforting her in these verses by inferring that she and her son Ishmael would be the progenitors of huge numbers of people. That was intended to please her, and now He is telling her that her son will be a wild ass of a man? I think not!

The Hebrew word translated wild in this verse by the KJV translators is pere' (Strong's No. 6501) and can mean wild in the sense of running wild, and it also was used to to refer to the onager, or wild ass. But it is important to notice that it comes from the root para' (Strong's No. 6500) which means fruitful, to bear fruit, or to be fruitful. One thing to consider strongly here is that the written Hebrew in the Bible did not contain the vowels. That being the case, why did the translators assume here the word pere' instead of para'.

The subject in verse 10 was fruitfulness with regards to offspring, and that is the same subject here in verse 12. Ishmael was to be a fruitful man, not a wild ass of a man. To tell her that he would be a wild ass of a man would be upsetting, insulting, and it would be somewhat like telling her he was accursed. I don't believe that for a minute, especially considering that he was Abraham's son. Wild likely should have been translated as fruitful here to stay on point.

Look, the Bible is not a perfect book, and the men who wrote it, including those who copied it, rewrote it, or translated it, all left a part of themselves within it. That is to say what their perception of it was and how it should read to others.

Ishmael became the father of a very large group of people that we commonly refer to as Arabs today. Arabs didn't write the KJV Bible, nor did they translate it. What we see in it sometimes is a reflection of the mindset of those that did, primarily men (definitely not women) that were Israelites, or Jews, and later those called Christians. Unfortunately, it occasionally reflects their sometimes errant views and opinions in the way it is written or translated. I definitely think that to be the case here with Ishmael. Jews and Christians in general don't like Arabs, or any of the others that they so callously and piously call heathens.

Well, I'm of the Christian persuasion and I don't think that way, and I certainly don't think that Jesus Christ thought that way either. I believe that God loves all of his children that He created, regardless of who, or what they are, or where found. Ultimately, we will all be judged with the same judgment no matter who we are, or think we are. God loved Abraham, and it is obvious to me in these verses that God also loved Hagar, and Ishmael who was within her.

Sorry, but what I have just stated about those who have handled the texts is the truth and you have to consider it when analyzing the scriptures. Regardless of what you may be thinking right now about my commentary on this, you do need to keep that in mind when dealing with the Bible. And that is only one of many things to consider. Think about it carefully.

Gen. 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

The NAB translates this verse as: To the Lord who spoke to her she gave a name, saying, "You are the God of Vision", she meant, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after my vision?"

Gen. 16:14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

The Hebrew word Beerlahairoi here means the well of the Living One seeing me according to my Logos Library System 2 Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. But, according to The Companion Bible it can mean the well of living after seeing [God] .

The word [God] in brackets is mine. Hagar had seen God face to face and had lived after doing so, and she named the well in commemoration of that event. Most Hebrews feared that seeing God would bring on certain death. Perhaps so if He was in his natural form, but when appearing as the Angel of the Lord men could look upon Him and live because He was essentially in similar form as they.

Gen. 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

Abraham loved Ishmael very much as you will see. He even asked God later to allow him to become his primary heir, but of course that honor would go to Isaac.

Gen. 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Abraham's next child, Isaac, will be born about 14 years hence of Sarai.