Genesis 16 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Sarai and Hagar

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

Gen 16:2So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will [fn]obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said.

Gen 16:3

Gen 16:3After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.

Gen 16:4

Gen 16:4He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility].

Gen 16:5

Gen 16:5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the LORD judge [who has done right] between you and me.”

Gen 16:6

Gen 16:6But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

Gen 16:7

But [fn]the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur.

Gen 16:8

Gen 16:8And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

Gen 16:9

Gen 16:9The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit [fn]humbly to her authority.”

Gen 16:10

Gen 16:10Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.”

Gen 16:11

Gen 16:11The Angel of the LORD continued,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears),

Because the LORD has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering).

Gen 16:12

“He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;

His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]

And every man’s hand against him;

And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”

Gen 16:13

Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are [fn]God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after [fn]seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?”

Gen 16:14

Gen 16:14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is [fn]between Kadesh and Bered.

Gen 16:15

So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, [fn]Ishmael (God hears).

Gen 16:16

Gen 16:16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

See the AMP Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

AMP Footnotes

(16:2)

This must have been an acceptable practice in that time and culture, based on the idea that the children of such a union would belong to the owner of the slave-girl. Abram undoubtedly had informed Sarai of God’s promise to him, and Sarai perhaps thought that this was necessary in order to bring about God’s plan for them.

(16:7)

This is the first occurrence of “Angel of the LORD (YHWH)” in Scripture. The Hebrew word for “angel” means “messenger” (an angel of God is a special messenger from God who speaks for and is closely identified with Him) and context determines whether the messenger is an angel or a human. The same is true for Greek, and the word “angel” is an English form (transliteration) of the Gr aggelos. The Angel of the LORD can be a special case, however. Many Bible scholars believe that this Angel may be a theophany, that is, a physical manifestation of God, in which case the word Angel is capitalized. The Angel of the LORD may, based on context, be the pre-incarnate Christ, the Son of God.

(16:9)

Lit under her hands.

(16:13)

Heb El roi; God never sleeps, He sees, He is aware, He is the great Omnipresent God.

(16:13)

Or seen the back of Him who sees me, which would suggest that at some point in their conversation Hagar requested to see the divine Angel (see note v 7) and, as in Moses’ encounter with God (Ex 33:18-23), was granted the privilege of seeing His back. The wording of the Hebrew is not clear enough to further narrow the possibilities.

(16:14)

This, “it is between Kadesh and Bered,” is further proof of the antiquity of the original names, since the place had to be identified to the reader in the time of Moses.

(16:15)

Ishmael was the first person whom God named before his birth (Gen 16:11). Others were: Isaac (Gen 17:19); Josiah (1 Kin 13:2); Solomon (1 Chr 22:9); Jesus (Matt 1:21); and John the Baptist (Luke 1:13).

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Genesis Chapter 16 — Additional Translations:

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Genesis 16 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Sarai and Hagar

AMP Footnotes

Genesis Chapter 16 — Additional Translations:

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