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Atomic Bible
Genesis

Chapter 16

Hagar and Ishmael

Genesis 16 follows Sarai and Abram as they try to secure the promised family through Hagar, and the household turns quickly toward contempt and harshness. When Hagar flees, the LORD finds her in the wilderness, sends her back with a promise for her son, and Ishmael is born.

After Genesis 15 renews God's covenant promise, this chapter shows the strain of waiting and the disorder that follows when Abram's household reaches for its own solution. It also widens the story by showing the LORD's care for Hagar before Isaac's birth has even begun.

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Genesis 16

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vv. 1-16

Hagar and Ishmael

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N1ow Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” 3And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. 4And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.” 6“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.

7Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert — the spring along the road to Shur. 8“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” 9So the angel of the LORD told her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.” 11The angel of the LORD proceeded: 12He will be a wild donkey of a man, 13So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me, ” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!” 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi. It is located between Kadesh and Bered.

15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

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  1. 01vv. 1-16Hagar and IshmaelSarai gives Hagar to Abram in hope of building a family, but conception brings rivalry and mistreatment instead. In the wilderness the LORD meets Hagar, tells her to return, promises many descendants through her son, and the chapter closes with Ishmael's birth.
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