Genesis 16:4

4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And [when] she saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes.

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 And Sarai said to Abram, "Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps {I will have children by her}." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 Then Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife.

4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And [when] she saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes.

5 And Sarai said to Abram, "may my harm [be] upon you. {I had my servant sleep with you}, and [when] she saw that she had conceived, {she no longer respected me}. May Yahweh judge between me and you!"

6 And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant [is] {under your authority}. Do to her that which [is] good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence.

Footnotes

• [a] That is, Hagar