GENESIS
CHAPTER 16
Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as his wife—Hagar flees from Sarai—An angel commands Hagar to return and submit herself to Sarai—Hagar bears Ishmael.
1 NOW Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: [ No doubt that it has been a topic of discussion between her and Abraham. One who has never been there may not relate but in the church even today it can cause lot's of emotional discomfort, not to mention the personl feelings of why? am I not good enough? The list goes on; In addition Abraham has been promised specific blessings with posterity - and example to us all that everything is possible to the Lord, he does keep his promises, and thing happen in his time not ours. It had been ten years since they returned from Egypt, and Sarah apparently now began to consider another possibility that the promised applied to Abraham and not her.] and she had an handmaid, [ A servant. ] an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
[ According to Jewish middrash Hagar was actually a daughter of the Pharaoh ( see Gen 12:16 the Pharaoh gave man servants and maidservants to Abram ). Middrash suggests that when the Pharaoh realized that if God had so much respect for Abram, then he should too. So depending on which middrash you look to it was either Hagar's idea or the Pharaoh's idea that Hagar be given as a maidservant with the idea that it was better to be a maidservant in the family of Abram than a princess in the courts of the Pharaoh. So Hagar would have been a princess to, just as the name Sarai mean's princess. ]
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, [ This is Sarai's idea, she is possible wondering if she is the weak link in Gods plan. Was she holding up the promised fulfillment for Abraham? Why did God allow Abram to marry me, one who is baren. So Sarai makes a sacrifice, her sacrifice for Abram to have posterity. That is to give Hagar to Abram as a second wife - all in line with the custom of the time. They have been living in Canaan for 10 years now. Sarah is 75 Abraham is 85. Approaching Abraham, she suggested that he marry her maid, Hagar. Wow how hard that must have been for her. It was a recognition for her in a way that in this blessing she was to be left out. ] Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: [ Interesting that Sarai does not blame herself but rather suggests that it is the will of the Lord that she cannot have children. She is not lamenting about it but rather states it aas fact. Therefore she will make a proposal to answer that since the Lord has promised Abram posterity beyond measure, and if that is to be fulfilled then she feels that she is going to have to make a sacrifice. She does not know the reason, she is not made, but this is how she see's it. ] I pray thee, [ Or it could be rendered "please". By those words, according to Jewish tradition, Sarah "took the blame for childlessness upon herself rather than seeking to blame her husband," (Miller, Abraham Friend of God, 69, quoting Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 32) and thereby demonstrated her "spiritual strength: she was not jealous of her handmaid, but acted with the purest of motives" and even with the prompting of the Holy Spirit. (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:215) ] go in unto my maid; [ Sarah had taught Hagar the ways of the Lord, and Hagar had learned well, "walk[ing] in the same path of righteousness as her mistress." (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:237) Ask her to marry you vs 3. According to the custom of the time, Sarah’s giving her handmaid, Hagar, to be a wife to Abraham was an expected and logical act (see Clarke, Bible Commentary, 1:109–11; D&C 132:1–2, 29–30, 34–35). ] it may be that I may obtain children [ Some render children as "a son". ] by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. [ I remember one day as I was reading this. I heard "be very very careful , don't do it Abraham, it is a trap". I know it would be if my wife said that to me - Sleep with my handmaiden. Then if I did she would say I can't belive that yopu did that, I did not mean it , it was a test and you failed - I can't believe that you would. So I would be in the dog house. HAHA!
Modern rabbi Amos Miller comments: The secret of the wonderful marital relationship between Abraham and Sarah was that when things went wrong neither sought to blame the other or to find fault with the other. If fault was to be found, each found it within himself. This remains the secret of a happy marriage to this day. (Miller, Abraham Friend of God, 69). Sarah's language also implies, according to the nineteenth-century rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, that Abraham was reluctant to do what his wife was suggesting. "Sarah wants to do it only for his sake, but she knows that he would not do it for his own sake; hence she says ... 'perhaps I [will have a son through her. If Abraham would not want to do it for his own sake, then let him do it for the sake of his wife because she wants it so badly." (Hirsch, T'rumath Tzvi, 80) ]
3 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 [ Modern revelation adds that Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham "because this was the law" (D&C 132:34), a statement confirmed by Bible scholars who note the obligation of an infertile wife after ten years to bring her husband a second wife to bear children. ("What Sarah did, then, was ... in conformance with the family law of the Hurrians, a society whose customs the patriarchs knew intimately and followed often." But it was also one of the great acts of Sarah's life, noted Erastus Snow, done out of "love and integrity to her husband" so "that he might not be childless because she was childless." (Journal of Discourses, 23:228). ]
4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress [ Sarah. Abraham would only accept Sarah's proposal after receiving revelation on the matter, (On Abraham 43, in Philo VI, 123, 125) whereupon Sarah magnanimously declared to Hagar, "Happy art thou to be united to so holy a man." (Doctrine and Covenants 132:34-35: "I, the Lord, commanded it." Jewish sources similarly report that Abraham accepted Sarah's proposal only after being "instructed" to do so "by the holy spirit." Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:237) Abraham married Hagar, who immediately became pregnant. ] was despised in her eyes. [ She rubbed it in a little, flaunting herself in front of Sarah. Can you imagine how hard this would be on Sarah in the first place, she did not need anyone to rub it in. Just saying some things are not easily forgotted - they might be forgiven, but they are not forgotten. Hagar, although suggested to be a woman of righteousness and faith, (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:219) began to "despise" (NIV Gen. 16:4) Sarah and treat her with "contempt" (NRSV Gen. 16:4) and "disdain." Her unbearable insolence included claiming that Sarah's infertile condition proved her spiritual inferiority. (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:216-18). ]
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: [ I made a mistake that I cannot now live with; help me find a way out. Another translation is "it's all your fault". She does not get made at God but Abram well that is a different story. We can see a little contention in the home here. How hard it must have been for Sarai. In her best moment she did not want to stand in the way of the covenant being fulfilled, however it was much harder in reality to endure it than she anticipated. Sarah went to Abraham and said: "I am being wronged; you must do something about it. It was I who gave my slave-girl or 'maid' (JPST)l into your arms, but since she has known that she is pregnant, she has despised me" (REB Gen. 16:5). ] 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.
[ Genesis then reports the following words by Sarah, words which the English reader would automatically suppose were part of what Sarah said to Abraham: "The Lord decide lor,
'Let the Lord judge' (GTC) (Or, as in NRSV, "May the Lord judge...")] between you and me" (JPST Gen. 16:5). These adversarial words color the immediately prior sentence, making Sarah's entire communication to Abraham appear angry and divisive. Torah authority pointed out that the Hebrew word "between you" in this passage is written with a feminine indicator for the person being addressed, showing- according to Rashi and other Jewish sources-that Sarah's statement about the Lord judging was addressed not to Abraham but to Hagar. (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:217-18, quoting Rashi; Rashi on Genesis 16:5, in Rashi, Commentary, 135;
Scherman and Zlotowitz, Bereishis: Genesis, 1(a):544-545; Culi, Magriso, and Argueti, Torah Anthology, 2:111) While other Jewish sources agree that Sarah was invoking the Lord not against Abraham, but against anyone who would try to cause dissension between her and Abraham. (Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:217) ]
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; [ She is your servant, you can do with her as you please. By Abraham's supportive response to Sarah-"Your maid is in your hands; deal with her as you think right" (JPST Gen. 16:6) he was apparently hoping that his soft answer would turn away Sarah's wrath. ] do to her as it pleaseth thee. [ You have the power to decide how you would like to handle it = you do not need me to do it. I did what you wanted me to do, now what do you want to do about it? If you are part of the problem then you have to be part of the solution. ] And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, [ Harshly. ] she [ Hagar. The name Hagar means flight or to flee. ] fled from her face. [ ]
7 ¶ 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 [ The angel. ] said, Hagar, [ Suggesting to her that God knows your name. ] Sarai’s maid,< [ Suggesting that God knows of your responsibilities. ] whence camest thou? [ Where did you come from? What is your past? ] and whither wilt thou go? [ Here are you joing to go? What is your future to be? ] And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, [ The angel appeared to her by a spring of water in the wilderness, and instructed her to return to Sarah. ] and submit thyself under her hands. [ Fleeing from your past is no way to decide your future. Face the consequences of your doings(flaunting the fact that you conceives a child and she did not). Remember she flaunted it a little, which was probably not the best decision. Humble yourself; change your attitude toward Sarah. ]
10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I [ JST - "The Lord" ] will multiply thy seed exceedingly, [ Hagar is told that her child would play an important role in God's plan which becomes evident from the blessing the angel then pronounced upon Hagar, in the name of the Lord. ] that it shall not be numbered for multitude. [ Because she is now a part of Abram, the promises and covenants of the Lord are extended to her as well. You are a part of the plan Hagar. Would Abraham ever had had another wife if Sarah could not conceive in the first place? What was Gods plan in all of this? ]
11 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; [ The angel even designated the name of the son she was carrying in her womb: he would be called Ishmael, meaning "God has heard." Or "God hears" or "God shall hear him". According to Samson Raphael Hirsch, the angel's words in naming Ishmael and then prophesying about his freedom constituted instruction to Hagar in the "basic ideal" she must seek to instill in her son, and which alone would truly make him free: an awareness of that Divine Providence —suggested by the name Ishmael, "God has heard"-that watches over the deeds of men and assists them in their suffering.(Hirsch, T'rumath Tzvi, 81) ] because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. [ God is listening to you. He understands he is there for you. ]
12 And he [ The Angel describes Ismael and his descendants (Arabs today). ] will be a wild man; [ Loves his freedom, independent bible footnote 12a. The angel further assured Hagar that the freedom she had sought would in fact be enjoyed by her son. The closest an English translation can come to what the angel then said about Ishmael is that he would be "a wild donkey of a man" (NJB Gen. 16:12), the phrase does not sound like much of a blessing to the modern ear. But the Hebrew word is not the term for a domesticated donkey, but rather for a particular species that lives wild in the desert and, according to biblical scholar Gordon Wenham, "looks more like a horse than a donkey, and is used in the Old Testament as a figure of an individualistic lifestyle untrammeled by social convention." (Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 10-11, spelling out "Old Testament" where original has "OT")
Some of Judaism's most prominent authorities, suggest that the angel's description of Ishmael carries no negative sense whatsoever, but means "a free man among men," enjoying the freedom of the desert. (For example, Rashi said this phrase (from Genesis 16:12) means "liking the wilderness." Rashi, Commentary, 137. Ibn Ezra, from the twelfth century, interpreted the phrase to mean "free among men." Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2:221. ] his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; [ He and his descendaents will be known for there much fighting - they will fight with everyone. Nahum Sarna has suggested that this is a general prediction regarding Ishmael's descendants with regard to the "unceasing tension that exists between the sedentary and nomadic populations in the Near East." Sarna, Genesis, 121. But if this phrase refers personally to Ishmael, then in context it again seems to speak of a desert existence where, in the open spaces, danger could come from any quarter. Accordingly, speaking of the entire verse, modern scholar Gordon Wenham notes that it "describes Ishmael's future destiny, to enjoy a free-roaming bedouinlike existence. ] and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. [ Ishmael will dwell "alongside" or "in the face of" or "in the presence of" his brothers or kin. Suggesting that he will receive his rightful place with all of the children of Abraham; including the right to posess the middle east land along with the Jews and other children of Abraham. ]
13 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 Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
[ Down south past Be'er-Sheva. ]