Verses 1-2 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
The name “Hagar” means “flight” and she was a servant to Sarai and also an Egyptian. Whether she was a paid servant or a slave is not clear. But back in the day, servants belonged to their master or mistress to do with as they wished. It is assumed that Sarai was aware of the promises made to Abram by the LORD that a son would be born, but perhaps she wanted to hurry the process up as so many years had gone by and she was no longer a young woman. Also, the promise was to Abram and not to Sarai, so perhaps she reasoned that it didn’t matter who the mother was as long as Abram was the father. It should be noted that, back in the day, it was acceptable to get children from a wife’s maid as polygamy was normal and accepted in the culture. There was no law until Moses, so no law could be broken if it was not in existence. Also note that Abram did not disagree with her plan.
Verses 3-4 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Abram now had two wives, one pregnant and one barren. In Abram’s day a barren woman was looked down upon by other women in the community. Even though it was Sarai’s idea to have Hagar marry Abram, it must have been difficult for Sarai to have her former maid get pregnant so easily while she had gone her entire married life without a baby. And to add to her embarrassment and disappointment at being childless, her former maid now had the status of a wife and she had a bad attitude towards Sarai.
Application: God’s timing is always perfect. Converted Christian believers may become impatient waiting for the LORD to answer their prayers and, like Sarai, develop their own plan to get the outcome they desire. This may lead to more problems. Sarai created a situation in which she had to share her husband with another woman and in which the firstborn son of Abram was not her son. Then when God gave her a son, more problems developed as will be seen in the following chapters, and these problems continued down the centuries to today as the descendants of Hagar’s son and those of the son of promise have always failed to get along with each other. So “. . . let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:4 God’s promises are true and will always come to pass in His time. “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah40:31 Be patient always.
Verses 5-6 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. 6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
Sarai was not blaming Abram for the situation when she said, “My wrong be upon thee.” She was also not admitting to making a mistake in judgement that had led to the friction in the home between Hagar and herself. She was saying that the wrong or injustice that she perceived to have occurred and that she was receiving from Hagar needed to be handled by Abram. Instead of dealing with the situation as the head of the household, Abram gave Sarai permission to do what she wanted to resolve the situation. Apparently, Sarai was less than kind to Hagar. The words “dealt hardly” come from the Hebrew word “anah” and it means to look down on, to browbeat, to afflict, or to humble. Whatever Sarai did to Hagar was enough to cause her to flee. Remember that Abram was living out in the plains with his cattle so it is unlikely that a city was nearby or that she had any resources to fall back upon in order to start a new life somewhere else. Also, a woman alone would have to worry about her safety. Also remember that Hagar’s name means flight. Did God have her parents name her thus because He knew the future and that she would be in flight from persecution?
Application: Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11 in reference to the children of Israel that perished in the desert, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” The word ensample is the word example today, and basically Paul was saying that believers needed to learn from the recorded events of people in the past and not repeat their mistakes. This applies to all Scripture as there is a lesson in every story in the Bible. Sarai and Abram are examples of two people not waiting upon the LORD for His promises to be fulfilled and who tried to do it their way. The results were tragic as both Sarai and Hagar were hurt emotionally and a nation was created as a result of Hagar’s son that would lead to trouble down through the ages to the present times.
Verses 7-8 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Shur was a wilderness area a person had to pass through to get to Egypt. Apparently Hagar was headed back to her people and culture.
The Hebrew word for “angel” is “malak” and it also means messenger. The sentence above states that it was”the angel” of Yahovah or LORD. Usually when Scripture refers to “the” angel as opposed to “an” angel, it is a manifestation of Jesus. God was concerned about Hagar and He interrupted her life to provide comfort and guidance. He already knew everything that was going on, but asking Hagar questions encouraged her to share her troubles with someone she perceived to be a stranger.
Verses 9-10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. 10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
Hagar was told to return and submit. If the situation was to improve, she needed to be respectful of Sarai and her position and be patient. As a result, God promised to bless her with many descendants which was an enviable position to be in as a woman in those days.
Here God honored his promise to Abram to be the father of a nation that cannot be numbered as Hagar was carrying Abram’s seed. God must be faithful to His promises because He is righteous and loves mankind. So Hagar was given assurance that God was with her and with her unborn child.
Verses 11-12 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
God chose Hagar’s unborn child’s name. Ishmael means “God will hear”. Ishmael was the father of the Arabian peoples. So the Arabs of today can claim Abram as their ancestor or patriarch just as correctly as the Jews of today claim their ancestry from Abram. He was the father of both the Arabs and the Hebrews. Notice what kind of man Ismael would be. He would be in conflict with everyone and he would live among all the descendants of Abram. Think about the Jewish/Arab conflicts down through the centuries and those happening today.
Verses 13-14 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? 14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Hagar now knew that she was talking to God and she named the well a name that means, “well of the Living One seeing me”.
Application: Like Hagar, you can rest in the knowledge that the LORD sees you every moment of every day because He is omnipresent (everywhere at once) and omniscient (knowing everything), and because He loves you and cares about you and wants to “interrupt” your life when necessary to provide comfort and guidance
Verses 15-16 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
At the birth of Ishmael, Abram was 86 years old. A score in the Bible is 20 years.