Genesis 16:9

9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her. ”

Genesis 16:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 16:9

And the angel of the Lord said unto her
The same angel; though Jarchi thinks that one angel after another was sent, and that at every speech there was a fresh angel; and because this phrase is repeated again and again, some of the Rabbins have fancied there were four angels ^F18, and others five, but without any reason:

return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands;
go back to her, humble thyself before her, acknowledge thy fault, enter into her service again, and be subject to her; do her work and business, bear her corrections and chastisements; and "suffer thyself to be afflicted" {s}, by her, as the word may be rendered; take all patiently from her, which will be much more to thy profit and advantage than to pursue the course thou art in: and the more to encourage her to take his advice, he promises the following things, ( Genesis 16:10-12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 45. fol. 41. 1.)
F19 (yneth) "te patere affligi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "quid si, patere te affligi?" Drusius.

Genesis 16:9 In-Context

7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? ” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. ”

9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her. ”

10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. ”

11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.