Genesis 16:1-16

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ¹  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ²  but she had an Egyptian servant ³  named Hagar. ⁴  16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since ⁵  the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with ⁶  my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” ⁷  Abram did what ⁸  Sarai told him.

16:3 So after Abram had lived ⁹  in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, ¹⁰  to her husband to be his wife. ¹¹  16:4 He had sexual relations with ¹²  Hagar, and she became pregnant. ¹³  Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ¹⁴  16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! ¹⁵  I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, ¹⁶  but when she realized ¹⁷  that she was pregnant, she despised me. ¹⁸  May the Lord judge between you and me!” ¹⁹ 

16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your ²⁰  servant is under your authority, ²¹  do to her whatever you think best.” ²²  Then Sarai treated Hagar ²³  harshly, ²⁴  so she ran away from Sarai. ²⁵ 

16:7 The Lord’s angel ²⁶  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ²⁷  16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from ²⁸  my mistress, Sarai.”

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ²⁹  to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ³⁰  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ³¹  16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ³²  pregnant

and are about to give birth ³³  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ³⁴ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ³⁵ 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ³⁶  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ³⁷ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ³⁸ 

He will live away from ³⁹  his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ⁴⁰  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ⁴¹  16:14 That is why the well was called ⁴²  Beer Lahai Roi. ⁴³  (It is located ⁴⁴  between Kadesh and Bered.)

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. ⁴⁵  16:16 (Now ⁴⁶  Abram was 86 years old ⁴⁷  when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) ⁴⁸ 

Genesis 20:5-6

20:5 Did Abraham ⁴⁹  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ⁵⁰  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ⁵¹  and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. ⁵²  That is why I have kept you ⁵³  from sinning against me and why ⁵⁴  I did not allow you to touch her.

Genesis 31:1-3

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ⁵⁵  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ⁵⁶  at our father’s expense!” ⁵⁷  31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. ⁵⁸ 

31:3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers ⁵⁹  and to your relatives. I will be with you.” ⁶⁰ 

Jeremiah 2:36

2:36 Why do you constantly go about

changing your political allegiances? ⁶¹ 

You will get no help from Egypt

just as you got no help from Assyria. ⁶² 

[16:1]  ¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ² sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

[16:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

[16:1]  ⁴ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)

[16:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).

[16:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”

[16:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.

[16:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”

[16:3]  ¹¹ sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.

[16:4]  ¹² tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

[16:4]  ¹³ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)

[16:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and she saw that she was pregnant and her mistress was despised in her eyes.” The Hebrew verb קָלַל (qalal) means “to despise, to treat lightly, to treat with contempt.” In Hagar’s opinion Sarai had been demoted.

[16:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my wrong is because of you.”

[16:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I placed my female servant in your bosom.”

[16:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “saw.”

[16:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I was despised in her eyes.” The passive verb has been translated as active for stylistic reasons. Sarai was made to feel supplanted and worthless by Hagar the servant girl.

[16:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “me and you.”

[16:6]  ²⁰ tn The clause is introduced with the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), introducing a foundational clause for the coming imperative: “since…do.”

[16:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[16:6]  ²² tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

[16:6]  ²³ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:6]  ²⁴ tn In the Piel stem the verb עָנָה (’anah) means “to afflict, to oppress, to treat harshly, to mistreat.”

[16:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and she fled from her presence.” The referent of “her” (Sarai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[16:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the presence of.”

[16:9]  ²⁹ tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.

[16:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[16:11]  ³² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ³³ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ³⁴ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:12]  ³⁶ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[16:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).

[16:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[16:14]  ⁴² tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.

[16:14]  ⁴³ sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.

[16:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”

[16:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.

[16:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”

[16:16]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds, “for Abram.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons; it is somewhat redundant given the three occurrences of Abram’s name in this and the previous verse.

[20:5]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “therefore.”

[31:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”

[31:1]  ⁵⁶ sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).

[31:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”

[31:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.

[31:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Or perhaps “ancestors” (so NRSV), although the only “ancestors” Jacob had there were his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.

[31:3]  ⁶⁰ sn I will be with you. Though Laban was no longer “with him,” the Lord promised to be.

[2:36]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”

[2:36]  ⁶² tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”