Genesis 16:2-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 16:3

And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ton years in the land of Canaan ( i.e. in his eighty-fifth, and her seventy-fifth year; a note of time introduced, probably, to account for their impatience in waiting for the promised seed), and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. Afterwards styled a pilgash or concubine ( Genesis 25:6 ), she is here improperly called a wife quae praeterDei legem is alienum thorum inducitur (Calvin), from whom... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 16:3

Crooked ways, or marrying with Hagar. I. THE SPECIOUS PROPOSAL . 1. The author of it; Sarai, the wife of Abram, a daughter of the faith, the mistress of a household. To the first, the suggestion referred to in the narrative should have been impossible; in the second, it was inconsistent; while, proceeding from the third, it was calculated to be harmful. 2. The wickedness of it. It was 3. The extenuations of it. II. THE SINFUL COMPLIANCE . "Abram hearkened unto... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 16:1-16

- The Birth of Ishmael1. הנר hāgār, Hagar, “flight.” Hejrah, the flight of Muhammed.7. מלאך mal'ak “messenger, angel.” A deputy commissioned to discharge a certain duty for the principal whom he represents. As the most usual task is that of bearing messages, commands, or tidings, he is commonly called a “messenger” ἄγγελος angelos). The word is therefore a term of office, and does not further distinguish the office-bearer than as an intelligent being. Hence, a מלאך mal'ak may be a man... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 16:1-16

16:1-25:18 ABRAM AND THE PROMISED HEIRBirth of Ishmael (16:1-16)When Abram earlier suggested adopting his slave as his heir, God reassured him that his heir would be a son of his own (see 15:2-4). But after ten years in Canaan, Sarai was still childless. Weakened in faith, she suggested that Abram obtain his son through their slave-girl Hagar. This was not God’s way, but it followed an accepted custom among the people of the region. All legal rights over the child belonged to the wife, not to... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 16:3

ten. These 10 years to be taken into account in any calculations. wife. This was strictly in accordance with the enactment of Khammurahi (146) which Abram had brought from Ur. See App-15 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 16:1-2

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall obtain children from her. And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarai."Well, what was wrong with this? It was a legal and commonly accepted practice after the customs of that age, and we can hardly suppose that Abram and Sarai here deliberately chose... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 16:3-4

"And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar, the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes."Sarai and Abram had not counted on such a development as this. They had their weaknesses, but Hagar also had hers. Hagar was then Abram's wife, and although she was not on an equality with Sarai, being... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 16:3

3. Sarai . . . gave her to . . . Abram to be his wife—"Wife" is here used to describe an inferior, though not degrading, relation, in countries where polygamy prevails. In the case of these female slaves, who are the personal property of his lady, being purchased before her marriage or given as a special present to her, no one can become the husband's secondary wife without her mistress consent or permission. This usage seems to have prevailed in patriarchal times; and Hagar, Sarai's slave, of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 16:1-6

Sarai and Hagar 16:1-6Using a woman other than one’s wife (Genesis 16:2) was a method of providing an heir in the case of a childless marriage apart from adoption. [Note: Speiser, p. 130; T. Frymer-Kensky, "Patriarchal Family Relationships and Near Eastern Law," Biblical Archaeologist 44 (1981):209-14.] Hagar was Sarai’s personal servant, not a slave girl. Abram also had at least one personal servant (Genesis 24:2)."It was a serious matter for a man to be childless in the ancient world, for it... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 16:1-16

The Circumstances connected with the Birth of Ishmael1, 2. Abraham was now eighty-five years old, Sarah was seventy-five, and the promise of an heir seemed no nearer fulfilment. Despairing of offspring herself, Sarah persuades Abraham to take her Egyptian maid Hagar as a secondary wife, intending, according to ancient custom, to regard the issue as her own. But her lack of faith in God’s promises was productive of very unhappy consequences. 4. Hagar] The Arabs claim descent from Hagar through... read more

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