Genesis 16:5-15

5 And Sarai said to Abram, "¹May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. ²May the LORD judge between you and me."

6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and ³she fled from her presence.

7 Now ⁴the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to ⁵Shur.

8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, ⁶where * have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."

9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."

10 Moreover, the ⁷angel of the LORD said to her, "⁸I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."

11 The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because ⁹the LORD has given heed to your affliction.

12 "He will be a ¹⁰wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live ¹¹to the east of all his brothers."

13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees "; for she said, "¹²Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?"

14 Therefore * the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between ¹³Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

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Genesis 16:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 16

This chapter gives an account of Abram's marrying his maid, at the instance of his wife Sarai, Ge 16:1-3, who, upon conceiving, despised her mistress; of which complaint is made to Abram, who leaving his maid to his wife, to deal with her as she pleased, dealt harshly by her, and therefore fled from her, Ge 16:4-6; when she was met by an angel, who advised her to return and submit herself to her mistress, and told her her seed would be greatly multiplied, gave a name to the child she went with, and described his temper and disposition, Ge 16:7-12; and then we have the name of God that spoke to her, and of the place where the discourse passed between them, Ge 16:13,14; and the chapter is concluded with the birth of Ishmael, and the age of Abram at his birth, Ge 16:15,16.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 13

1. Jeremiah 51:35
2. Genesis 31:53; Exodus 5:21
3. Genesis 16:9
4. Genesis 21:17, 18; Genesis 22:11, 15; Genesis 31:11
5. Genesis 20:1; Genesis 25:18
6. Genesis 3:9; 1 Kings 19:9, 13
7. Genesis 22:15-18
8. Genesis 17:20
9. Exodus 2:23, 24; Exodus 3:7, 9
10. Job 24:5; Job 39:5-8
11. Genesis 25:18
12. Genesis 32:30; Psalms 139:1-12
13. Genesis 14:7

Footnotes 16

[a]. Lit "bosom"
[b]. Lit "eyes"
[c]. Lit "me and you"
[d]. Lit "hand"
[e]. Lit "eyes"
[f]. Lit "under her hands"
[g]. Lit "seed"
[h]. Or "it shall not be counted for multitude"
[i]. I.e. God hears
[j]. Lit "has heard"
[k]. Lit "dwell"
[l]. Lit "before the face of;" or "in defiance of"
[m]. Or "You, God, see me"
[n]. Heb "Elroi"
[o]. Lit "seen here after the one who saw me"
[p]. I.e. the well of the living one who sees me