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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Genesis 16 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/genesis/16.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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or whether it was an anticipation of the Incarnation of Christ, and even a manifestation in human form of the Second Person of the Divine Trinity.<p>God in His absolute and perfect nature is, as we are clearly taught, beyond the reach of human sense, and even of human reason. “No man hath seen God” <a href="/john/1-18.htm" title="No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.">John 1:18</a>; <a href="/john/6-46.htm" title="Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God, he has seen the Father.">John 6:46</a>), “for He is the King invisible, Who dwells in the unapproachable light” (<a href="/1_timothy/1-17.htm" title="Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.">1Timothy 1:17</a>; <a href="/1_timothy/6-16.htm" title="Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach to; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.">1Timothy 6:16</a>); but we are taught with equal clearness that it was the office of Christ to reveal Him to us (<a href="/john/12-45.htm" title="And he that sees me sees him that sent me.">John 12:45</a>; <a href="/john/14-9.htm" title="Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?">John 14:9</a>); and that Christ is not merely “the effulgence of His glory, but the very image and impress of His substance” (<a href="/hebrews/1-3.htm" title="Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:">Hebrews 1:3</a>). In his own nature, then, incomprehensible and exalted far above the reach of our mental powers, God is nevertheless made intelligible to man, and brought near to our hearts and minds in Christ, so that we can conceive of Him as a Person, and as such love and worship Him. Yet was this Incarnation of God the Son the most sublime and awful mystery ever displayed upon earth; and to suppose that it was a mystery often repeated, so far from being a help to our faith, would be the reverse. We may well believe that God prepared men’s minds for so Divine a fact as “the emptying Himself of His glory, that He might be made in the likeness of men” (<a href="/philippians/2-7.htm" title="But made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:">Philippians 2:7</a>); but that He became Man except at Bethlehem should have for its proof nothing less than the express warrant of Holy Writ.<p>In three cases there is an apparent identification of the angel with God. Thus of Hagar it is said, “She called the name of Jehovah that speaketh to her <span class= "ital">El Roï” </span>(<span class= "ital">a God of seeing</span>)<span class= "ital">; </span>and as a reason for the name she adds, “Do not I see after my seeing?” (<a href="/genesis/16-13.htm" title="And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, You God see me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me?">Genesis 16:13</a>). Similarly, after Jacob had wrestled with ”a man” until the breaking of the day, he “called the name of the place Peni-el (<span class= "ital">the face of God</span>)<span class= "ital">: </span>for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (<a href="/genesis/32-30.htm" title="And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.">Genesis 32:30</a>). Finally, after “the angel of Jehovah” had gone up in the flame from off the altar, Manoah said, “We shall surely die, because we have seen Elohim (<a href="/judges/13-22.htm" title="And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.">Judges 13:22</a>).<p>In these and any similar cases the utmost that we can venture to affirm is that they had seen God representatively by the angel; by whom also “Jehovah spake to Hagar.” Upon this latter point there is a valuable note of Bar-I Hebrseus in his Scholia on <a href="/acts/7-30.htm" title="And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.">Acts 7:30</a>, “He that was visible was an angel: He that spake was God.” Nor is there any difficulty in the fact that in <a href="/genesis/16-10.htm" title="And the angel of the LORD said to her, I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.">Genesis 16:10</a> the angel says to Hagar, “I will multiply thy seed.” For it is the rule in Holy Scripture to ascribe to the agent the deeds which he executes by God’s commission. Thus Ezekiel speaks of himself destroying Jerusalem (<a href="/ezekiel/43-3.htm" title="And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face.">Ezekiel 43:3</a>), the sense being that rightly put in our margin—that “he prophesied that the city should be destroyed.” Sent by Jehovah to execute His will, angel and prophet alike are described as themselves the doers of the task assigned to them. This rule should be remembered in the exposition of Genesis 19, where the two angels speak of themselves as destroying Sodom.<p>In the case, however, of the “three men who stood by” Abraham at Mamre, there is a very close identification of one of the angels with Jehovah. In the first verse we read that “Jehovah appeared unto Abraham.” This might well be by the mission of the angels, but after a sudden change to the singular number in <a href="/genesis/16-10.htm" title="And the angel of the LORD said to her, I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.">Genesis 16:10</a>, the speaker is both henceforward called Jehovah, and speaks as not only himself tho doer and judge, but as if it rested with him to save or destroy at his own will. There is also a marked distinction between him and the two angels who visit Lot, and who describe themselves as sent by Jehovah (<a href="/genesis/19-13.htm" title="For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.">Genesis 19:13</a>), though even here, in <a href="/context/genesis/19-17.htm" title="And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for your life; look not behind you, neither stay you in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.">Genesis 19:17-22</a>, there is an approximation to a higher personification. In the case of the angel who visits Gideon there is again an apparent identification between him and Jehovah (<a href="/judges/6-14.htm" title="And the LORD looked on him, and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you?">Judges 6:14</a>; <a href="/context/judges/6-16.htm" title="And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.">Judges 6:16-23</a>); nevertheless, Gideon still calls him an angel of Jehovah in <a href="/genesis/19-22.htm" title="Haste you, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till you be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.">Genesis 19:22</a>, and he is called an angel of Elohim in <a href="/genesis/19-20.htm" title="Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.">Genesis 19:20</a>.<p>In this case, and in that of the angel who appeared to Manoah, they refuse to partake of food, whereas the three angels who appeared to Abraham at Mamre ate of the food prepared for them. They are also called men, and behave in a very human manner, whereas the angels who appeared to Gideon and Manoah both display supernatural powers, and “do wondrously.” Nevertheless, nowhere else is there so close an identifi-cation between the angel and Jehovah as in this appearance at Mamre, and in the history of the intercession for Sodom both the angel and Abraham speak as if Jehovah was there present in person.<p>In the case of the revelation to Abraham after the sacrifice of Isaac, the “angel of Jehovah” calls to him from heaven, and we have no account of any appearance in human form.<p>If, however, we turn to other passages of Holy Scripture the explanation seems plain. In the passage of God’s ancient people through the wilderness, an angel was especially entrusted with their guidance and protection. He is called “the angel of Èlohim,” and his symbol was the pillar of fire and of the cloud (<a href="/exodus/14-19.htm" title="And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:">Exodus 14:19</a>). Once, however, he appears in human form to Joshua, and claims the office of captain of Jehovah’s host (<a href="/context/joshua/5-13.htm" title="And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?">Joshua 5:13-15</a>). In the full description of him in <a href="/context/exodus/23-20.htm" title="Behold, I send an Angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.">Exodus 23:20-25</a>, we read in <a href="/exodus/23-21.htm" title="Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.">Exodus 23:21</a> “my Name is in him.” Now this angel is called in <a href="/isaiah/63-9.htm" title="In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.">Isaiah 63:9</a> “the angel of God’s presence,” literally, <span class= "ital">of His Face; </span>and in this there is an evident allusion to <a href="/context/exodus/33-14.htm" title="And he said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.">Exodus 33:14-15</a>, where Moses says, “If Thy Face go not, carry us not up hence;” and Jehovah says, “My Face shall go, that I may give thee rest.”<p>It seems, therefore, that under the Old Covenant, while generally it was created angels who were the medium of communication between God and man, yet that there was one kind of manifestation of Deity so high as that God’s Name was in him, and God’s Face shown by him. As all revelation was by God the Son (<a href="/john/1-18.htm" title="No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.">John 1:18</a>) we may fearlessly connect this angel with our blessed Lord, called “the angel of the covenant” in <a href="/malachi/3-1.htm" title="Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 3:1</a>; but it would be rash and presumptuous to attempt to define the exact nature of these appearances. The union of matter and spirit in any way is beyond our powers of understanding; how much more when that Spirit is God! But this we may reverently say, that these personal manifestations were an anticipation in the Old Testament of that which is the cardinal doctrine in the New—that God has taken upon Him human nature, and appeared in fashion as a man. The saints of old knew of their Redeemer at first only as “the woman’s seed:” they learned next to unite the thought of Him with the name Jehovah; and, finally, they knew that Jehovah was also God. So was the broad foundation laid for the prophetic teaching that He was Emmanuel, in one person God and Man; and for the feeling so necessary for all true personal piety that God vouchsafes His presence on earth. He who now walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks (<a href="/revelation/1-13.htm" title="And in the middle of the seven candlesticks one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle.">Revelation 1:13</a>) from ¡time to time manifested His Face visibly to the saints of the Church of old. And not only was the father of the faithful thus visited, but even a runaway handmaid was neither disregarded, nor deemed unworthy of heavenly care. We might lose ourselves in profitless speculations as to the manner of events so mysterious, but the practical lesson is plain, that though “the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God, yet He deigns to dwell upon earth” (<a href="/1_kings/8-27.htm" title="But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built?">1Kings 8:27</a>), and that His presence now vouchsafed by the spiritual indwelling of the Holy Ghost, is as efficacious for guidance, help, and comfort as were these visible manifestations in early times, when there was not as yet that full knowledge of God and of His ways, which has been given us in His Holy Word.<p><span class= "bld"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-1.htm">Genesis 16:1</a></div><div class="verse">Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name <i>was</i> Hagar.</div>XVI.<p>THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">Now Sarai.</span>—The history of Abram is given in a succession of brief narratives, written possibly by the patriarch himself; and though papyrus was known at Ur (<span class= "ital">Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., </span>i. 343, ii. 430), yet the absence of any convenient writing material for ordinary use would oblige men in those ancient days to content themselves with short inscriptions, like those tablets of clay brought from Ur, many of which now in the British. Museum are said to be considerably older than the time of Abram. The narrator would naturally make but few alterations in such precious-documents, and hence a certain amount of recapitulation, like that which we find in the Books of Samuel, where again we have not a narrative from one pen, but the arrangement of materials already ancient. As, however, the Divine object was the revealing to mankind of the way by which God would raise up man from the fall, the narrator would be guided by inspiration in his choice of materials, and in the omission of such things as did not fall in with this purpose; and the evident reverence with which he deals with these records is a warrant to us of their genuineness. Such additions as the remark that the “Valley of Shaveh” was many centuries later called “the King’s Dale” (<a href="/genesis/14-17.htm" title="And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.">Genesis 14:17</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/18-18.htm" title="Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called to this day, Absalom's place.">2Samuel 18:18</a>) are generally acknowledged to have been the work of Ezra and the men of the Great Synagogue, after the return from the exile.<p><span class= "bld">Hagar.</span>—As this word apparently comes from the Arabic verb <span class= "ital">to flee, </span>it cannot have been her original name, unless we suppose that she really was an Arab fugitive who had taken refuge in Egypt. More probably she was an Egyptian woman who had escaped to Abram when he was in the Negeb, and had then received this appellation, which virtually means <span class= "ital">run-away.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-2.htm">Genesis 16:2</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">That I may obtain children by her.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">that I may be builded by her. </span>The words, <span class= "ital">ben=</span>a son, <span class= "ital">bath </span>(originally <span class= "ital">banth</span>)<span class= "ital">=</span>a daughter, <span class= "ital">baith </span>(<span class= "ital">banith</span>) =a house, and <span class= "ital">bânâh=</span>to build, all belong to the same root in Hebrew, the idea being that the children build the house, and give a man the pledge of continuance. Until late times the tent was the habitation, while the house was the family (<a href="/genesis/7-1.htm" title="And the LORD said to Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation.">Genesis 7:1</a>). Thus the phrase “to build a man <span class= "ital">a sure house</span>” meant, to give him lasting prosperity (<a href="/1_samuel/2-35.htm" title="And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my anointed for ever.">1Samuel 2:35</a>). Hence, too, the close connection between building and the bestowal of children in Psalms 127. As then the children of a woman bestowed by her mistress upon the husband were regarded as belonging to the wife (<a href="/genesis/30-3.htm" title="And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in to her; and she shall bear on my knees, that I may also have children by her.">Genesis 30:3</a>), Sarah, despairing of bearing a son herself, as she was now seventy-five, and had been ten years in Canaan, concluded that her heir was to be born of a substitute.<p>As regards the morality of the act, we find that marriage with one wife was the original law (<a href="/genesis/2-24.htm" title="Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall join to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.">Genesis 2:24</a>), and that when polygamy was introduced it was coupled by the inspired narrator with violence and licence (<a href="/genesis/4-19.htm" title="And Lamech took to him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.">Genesis 4:19</a>). Monogamy was the rule, as we see in the households of Noah, Terah, Isaac, and others; but many, like Esau and Jacob, allowed themselves a greater latitude. In so doing, their conduct falls below the level of Christian morality, but everyone’s actions are strongly influenced by the general views of the people among whom he lives; and in Abram’s case it must be said in his defence that, with so much depending on his having offspring, he took no steps to obtain another wife, but remained content with the barren Sarai. When he did take Hagar it was at his wife’s request, and for a reason which seemed to them adequate, and even religious. Rachel subsequently did the same for a much lower motive. The consent of the wife was in such cases all-important; and so in India, in ancient times, it was necessary to make a second marriage valid (see Wilson’s <span class= "ital">Hindu Theatre, </span>i. 179).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-3.htm">Genesis 16:3</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.</span>—He was now, therefore, eighty-five years of age (see <a href="/genesis/16-16.htm" title="And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.">Genesis 16:16</a> and <a href="/genesis/12-4.htm" title="So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.">Genesis 12:4</a>), and this long delay had not only tried his faith, but brought him and Sarai to the conclusion that the promised seed was to be obtained by other means.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-4.htm">Genesis 16:4</a></div><div class="verse">And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Her mistress was despised.</span>—Hagar, we are told in <a href="/genesis/16-3.htm" title="And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelled ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.">Genesis 16:3</a>, was to be, not Abram’s concubine, but his wife. She was to be Sarai’s representative, and though now she would hold the highest place in the household next to Sarai, because of this relation to Abram, yet she would continue to be Sarai’s maid. But no sooner had she conceived, than, proud of her superiority over her mistress, she wished to overthrow this arrangement, and, at all events, acted as if she was Abram’s wife absolutely, and thrust Sarai aside.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-5.htm">Genesis 16:5</a></div><div class="verse">And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong <i>be</i> 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.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">My wrong be upon thee.</span>—That is, <span class= "ital">May the wrong done to me be avenged upon thee. </span>Sarai’s act had been one of self-denial for Abram’s sake, and now that it has led to her being treated insolently she makes Abram answerable for it.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-6.htm">Genesis 16:6</a></div><div class="verse">But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid <i>is</i> in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Sarai dealt hardly with her.</span>—The verb is translated <span class= "ital">afflicted </span>in <a href="/exodus/1-11.htm" title="Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.">Exodus 1:11</a> and <a href="/isaiah/60-14.htm" title="The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending to you; and all they that despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you; The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.">Isaiah 60:14</a>; its more exact meaning is, <span class= "ital">Sarai humbled her, </span>that is, reduced her to her original condition. It was quite right that as Hagar had abused her elevation, Abram should make her yield to Sarai all due respect and submission; but in making her resume her old position as a slave, Sarai was possibly dealing unkindly with her (but see on <a href="/genesis/16-9.htm" title="And the angel of the LORD said to her, Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.">Genesis 16:9</a>). In running away Hagar not only showed the untamable love of freedom which Ishmael inherited from her, but apparently was repeating the act from which she had her name.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-7.htm">Genesis 16:7</a></div><div class="verse">And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">The angel of the Lord.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">of Jehovah. </span>(See Excursus at end of Book.)<p><span class= "bld">In the way to Shur.</span>—Hagar evidently fled by the usual route leading from Hebron past Beer-sheba to Egypt. The wilderness was that of Paran, in which Kadesh was situated. The fountain by which Hagar was sitting was on the road to Shur, which is a desert on the eastern side of Egypt, forming the boundary of the territory of the Ishmaelites (<a href="/genesis/25-18.htm" title="And they dwelled from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brothers.">Genesis 25:18</a>) and of the Amalekites (<a href="/1_samuel/15-7.htm" title="And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until you come to Shur, that is over against Egypt.">1Samuel 15:7</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/27-8.htm" title="And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as you go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.">1Samuel 27:8</a>), and reached by the Israelites soon after crossing the Red Sea (<a href="/exodus/15-22.htm" title="So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.">Exodus 15:22</a>; <a href="/numbers/33-8.htm" title="And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.">Numbers 33:8</a>). It is now called <span class= "ital">J’afar.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-8.htm">Genesis 16:8</a></div><div class="verse">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.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Whence camest thou?</span>—It is noteworthy that in these Divine communications God’s knowledge of all the circumstances is not presumed, but the person visited is led on to tell them. This adds very much to the freshness and poetry of the narrative. Here, however, in the address, <span class= "ital">Hagar, Sarai’s maid, </span>the angel, at least, shows that he is aware who she is, and also reminds her of what she had forgotten, that in bestowing her upon Abram Sarai did not cease to be her mistress.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-9.htm">Genesis 16:9</a></div><div class="verse">And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">Submit thyself.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">humble thyself. </span>It is the verb translated <span class= "ital">dealt hardly </span>in <a href="/genesis/16-6.htm" title="But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your maid is in your hand; do to her as it pleases you. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.">Genesis 16:6</a>. The angel therefore commands her to take the position which Sarai was forcing upon her; and by so doing proves to us that there had been no personal maltreatment. Commentators have taken this notion, not from the Hebrew, but from the English Version.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-10.htm">Genesis 16:10</a></div><div class="verse">And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">I will multiply thy seed.</span>—We have here the purpose of the Divine manifestation. Abram’s son must not be mixed up with and lost among the debased population of Egypt, but must be the father of a free people; and Hagar will now submit to her lot as a slave, that she may secure liberty for her offspring.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-11.htm">Genesis 16:11</a></div><div class="verse">And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou <i>art</i> with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Ishmael.</span>—That is, <span class= "ital">God heareth. </span>Like Samuel, Ishmael received his name from the events of his mother’s life, and not from anything in his own. There was, however, no rule in this matter, and the naming of children in the Book of Genesis is very diversified.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-12.htm">Genesis 16:12</a></div><div class="verse">And he will be a wild man; his hand <i>will be</i> against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">He will be a wild man.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">he will be a wild-ass man. </span>The wild ass of the Arabian deserts is a very noble creature, and is one of the animals selected in the Book of Job as especially exemplifying the greatness of God (<a href="/context/job/39-5.htm" title="Who has sent out the wild ass free? or who has loosed the bands of the wild ass?">Job 39:5-8</a>). Its characteristics are great speed, love of solitude, and an untamable fondness of liberty. It is thus the very type of the Bedaween Arabs, whose delight is to rove at will over the desert, and who despise the ease and luxury of a settled life.<p><span class= "bld">His hand will be against every man . .·.</span>—The Bedaween can be bound by no treaties, submit to no law, and count plunder as legitimate gain. Nevertheless—<p><span class= "bld">He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.</span>—That is, he shall maintain his independence, and his descendants shall continue to exist as a free race in the presence of the other Abrahamic nations. Many commentators, however, consider that the more exact rendering is, <span class= "ital">he shall dwell to the east of all his brethren. </span>This is certainly the meaning of the word in <a href="/genesis/25-6.htm" title="But to the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country.">Genesis 25:6</a>, but does not suit equally well there in <a href="/genesis/25-18.htm" title="And they dwelled from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brothers.">Genesis 25:18</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-13.htm">Genesis 16:13</a></div><div class="verse">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?</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Thou God seest me.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">Thou art El Boi, </span>that is, a God of seeing. Not as Onkelos paraphrases it, “Thou art a God that sees all things,” but “Thou art a God that permits Himself to be seen.” For so Hagar proceeds herself to explain the name, <span class= "ital">Do not I still see after seeing? </span>With all the love of an Oriental for dark sayings, Hagar plays upon the word “<span class= "ital">roï,” </span>but her meaning is plain: “Do I not see, and therefore am alive, and not even blinded, nor bereft of sense and reason, though I have seen God.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/genesis/16-14.htm">Genesis 16:14</a></div><div class="verse">Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, <i>it is</i> between Kadesh and Bered.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">Beer-lahai-roi.</span>—That is, <span class= "ital">Well of the living-seeing </span>(of God), the well where God has been seen, and the beholder still lives. It became afterwards a favourite dwelling-place of Isaac (<a href="/genesis/25-11.htm" title="And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelled by the well Lahairoi.">Genesis 25:11</a>), and was probably, therefore, surrounded by pastures, but its site has not been identified. For Kadesh see <a href="/genesis/14-7.htm" title="And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelled in Hazezontamar.">Genesis 14:7</a>. Bered is absolutely unknown.<p><span class= "bld"> <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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