The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 16

Hagar is found in the wilderness

General context

Sarai, who has no children, gives her Egyptian handmaid Hagar to Abram as a wife. Hagar conceives and begins to despise Sarai. After Sarai complains, Abram leaves Hagar in her authority; Sarai treats her harshly, and Hagar flees. The angel of the Lord finds her by a spring on the way to Shur. He directs her to return and submit, promises descendants beyond counting, and names her coming son Ishmael because the Lord has heard her affliction. He also describes a future marked by conflict for the son. In the King James wording cited here, Hagar calls the Lord the God who sees her. The chapter ends with Ishmael's birth when Abram is eighty-six.

Cited passages: Genesis 16:1, Genesis 16:2, Genesis 16:3, Genesis 16:4, Genesis 16:5, Genesis 16:6, Genesis 16:7, Genesis 16:8, Genesis 16:9, Genesis 16:10, Genesis 16:11, Genesis 16:12, Genesis 16:13, Genesis 16:15, Genesis 16:16

Genesis 16 (KJV)

¹Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

⁵And 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.

⁶But 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.

⁷And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

⁸And 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.

⁹And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

¹⁰And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹And 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.

¹²And 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.

¹³And 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?

¹⁴Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

¹⁶And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Hagar is identified as Sarai's Egyptian handmaid, and the arrangement takes place after Abram has lived ten years in Canaan. Sarai initiates it and Abram agrees; the text does not record Hagar choosing the arrangement. Sarai's authority over her remains explicit in the dispute. The wilderness encounter takes place beside water on the way to Shur, and the named well is located between Kadesh and Bered. Abram's age at Ishmael's birth supplies the closing time marker. The prediction about Ishmael is not extended here into a description of modern peoples.

Cited passages: Genesis 16:1, Genesis 16:2, Genesis 16:3, Genesis 16:5, Genesis 16:6, Genesis 16:7, Genesis 16:8, Genesis 16:11, Genesis 16:12, Genesis 16:14, Genesis 16:16

Literary context

The story moves from a household plan and conflict to an encounter in the wilderness. Hagar's own words enter the account when she explains that she is fleeing Sarai. Repeated speech by the angel joins the difficult return command with promises about her descendants and son. Hearing and seeing become prominent: the son's name is linked to the Lord hearing her affliction, and Hagar speaks of the God who sees her in the cited King James wording. The final birth notice uses the name announced at the spring, connecting the encounter with the household's continuing story.

Cited passages: Genesis 16:2, Genesis 16:3, Genesis 16:4, Genesis 16:5, Genesis 16:6, Genesis 16:7, Genesis 16:8, Genesis 16:9, Genesis 16:10, Genesis 16:11, Genesis 16:13, Genesis 16:15

Key moments

Hagar flees (Genesis 16:6). After Abram leaves Hagar under Sarai's authority, Sarai treats her harshly and she flees.
The angel finds her by water (Genesis 16:7). The angel of the Lord finds Hagar by a spring in the wilderness on the way to Shur.
A son is named (Genesis 16:11). The angel tells Hagar to call her son Ishmael because the Lord has heard her affliction.
Hagar responds to the Lord (Genesis 16:13). In the cited King James text, Hagar calls the Lord who spoke to her the God who sees her.