Genesis 16:4

4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ^[a]

Genesis 16:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 16:4

And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived
The formality of the marriage being over, he enjoyed her as his wife, and she immediately conceived by him:

and when she saw that she had conceived;
when she perceived that she was with child:

her mistress was despised in her eyes;
she thought herself above her, and treated her as her inferior, with contempt, and reproached her for her barrenness, as Peninnah did Hannah, ( 1 Samuel 1:6 1 Samuel 1:7 ) ; and it was the more ungrateful, as it was at the motion of her mistress that she was given to Abram for wife.

Genesis 16:4 In-Context

2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.

4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

6 “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or her mistress became despised in her sight