Genesis 16:1

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 

Genesis 16:4

16:4 He had sexual relations with ⁵  Hagar, and she became pregnant. ⁶  Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ⁷ 

Genesis 16:16

16:16 (Now ⁸  Abram was 86 years old ⁹  when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) ¹⁰ 

Genesis 21:9

21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹¹  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ¹² 

Genesis 25:12

The Sons of Ishmael

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, ¹³  whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

[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.)

[16:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

[16:4]  ⁶ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 5)

[16:4]  ⁷ 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.

[16:16]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.

[16:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”

[16:16]  ¹¹ 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.

[21:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ¹⁴ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

[25:12]  ¹⁷ sn This is the account of Ishmael. The Book of Genesis tends to tidy up the family records at every turning point. Here, before proceeding with the story of Isaac’s family, the narrative traces Ishmael’s family line. Later, before discussing Jacob’s family, the narrative traces Esau’s family line (see Gen 36).