Genesis 16 Footnotes

16:1-4 Hagar’s conception of a child with Abram seems like adultery or polygamy to modern readers and does not reflect later Christian standards. But this sort of arrangement was common in that culture. A female servant could become a secondary wife to the master for the purpose of bearing children (e.g., Rachel’s and Leah’s servants, Bilhah and Zilpah, bore four of Jacob’s sons, who became heads of tribes in Israel). This custom is also noted in the Code of Hammurabi and the Nuzi tablets.

16:6-14 Hagar’s trusting obedience to the words of the angel of the Lord strongly implies that she shared the faith of Abram (15:6). Hagar is the “mother” of the Arab peoples.

16:7,9-11,13 The angel of the Lord may have been an angel sent as a spokesman for the Lord (Hb mal’ach means “messenger”). However, v. 13 suggests that Hagar understood she was speaking directly to God. Thus, many interpreters have understood the angel of the Lord to be a Christophany (i.e., a pre-incarnate appearance of the Second Person of the Trinity, later born as Jesus Christ).

16:12 The prophecy regarding Ishmael and his descendants may seem harsh and stereotypical. However, the description of a mobile, warlike people has been true to the history of many of Ishmael’s descendants. It is also striking that, while none of the ten nations listed in 15:19-21 has survived to the present day, the Arab peoples are now among the largest ethnic groups in the world.