Genesis 16:15

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. ¹ 

Genesis 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ²  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ³  but she had an Egyptian servant ⁴  named Hagar. ⁵ 

Genesis 16:4

16:4 He had sexual relations with ⁶  Hagar, and she became pregnant. ⁷  Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. ⁸ 

Genesis 16:16

16:16 (Now ⁹  Abram was 86 years old ¹⁰  when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.) ¹¹ 

Genesis 21:9

21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹²  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ¹³ 

Genesis 25:12

The Sons of Ishmael

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, ¹⁴  whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

Genesis 21:17

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ¹⁵  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ¹⁶  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ¹⁷  the boy’s voice right where he is crying.

Genesis 16:8

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 ¹⁸  my mistress, Sarai.”

Genesis 16:3

16:3 So after Abram had lived ¹⁹  in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, ²⁰  to her husband to be his wife. ²¹ 

Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²²  some food ²³  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²⁴  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁵  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁶  of Beer Sheba.

[16:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”

[16:1]  ² tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

[16:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ³ tn Heb “entered to.” See the note on the same expression in v. 2.

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

[16:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁴ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is parenthetical to the narrative.

[16:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the son of eighty-six years.”

[16:16]  ⁶ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ⁶ 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]  ⁶ 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).

[21:17]  ⁷ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ⁹ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

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

[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.

[21:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ¹² tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.