Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children1. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, "You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children2; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai3. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress4. Then Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you!5 I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!" But Abram said to Sarai, "Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please6." Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.
The angel of the LORD found her7 by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, "Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?"
She said, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai."
The angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit to her8." The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude9." And the angel of the LORD said to her, "Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael10, for the LORD has given heed to your affliction. He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone's hand against him; and he shall live at odds with all his kin11."
So she named the LORD who spoke to her, "You are El-roi"; for she said, "Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?" Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael12. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
[1] Repeated for the third time.
[2] Not trusting God's promise to come through.
[3] Listens to Sarai, not God.
[4] The second two-wife situation in the Bible, and again there are negative associations almost immediately.
[5] Sarai's anger seems remarkably unjustified. It was her idea...has Abram somehow failed to do something that could have maintained the peace?
[6] Rather than taking responsibility, Abram allows Sarai to drive Hagar out, which would take away the whole point of taking her as a wife in the first place.
[7] God looks out for Hagar when Abram and Sarai don't. Remarkable to see God appearing to, speaking to, and blessing a woman - in fact, an Egyptian, non-Hebrew woman.
[8] This sounds hard, but not only will it best serve Abram and Sarai, it will be the best thing for Hagar and her son. Once again a difficult family situation has been rectified without violence.
[9] God blesses Hagar's offspring as well, even though Ishmael is not the intended child of the covenant.
[10] Ishmael means "God hears".
[11] God has listened, but what a strange promise! Like the promise of Egyptian slavery for Abram's descendants, this blessing has a difficult side.
[12] So fascinating that Mohammed chose to consider the Muslim people the children of this Ishmael.
Take-home: Abram and Sarai still have a difficult time believing in God's promise, which leads their family into a situation of strife. This pattern of strife in multi-wife families is a trend in Genesis and beyond. God comes in to honor Hagar, bring reconciliation of relationships, and solve the strife without violence. Ishmael will be blessed, but it will be a strange blessing with a hard edge.
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