Genesis 16

So I'm stuck doing an analysis of a chapter in Genesis, while Dimi is mocking me by playing Zelda right in front of me. So i guess I'll start off by copying and pasting the entire chapter onto this post.

Hagar and Ishmael

¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; ² so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. ³ So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. ⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. ⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

⁶ “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

⁷ The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

⁹ Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
¹² He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”

¹³ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

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

Ok so now Dimi will be cut at me and you can follow me through the chapter :)

Ok now, verse one doesn't say much, it simply sets the scene telling us that Sarai has been having trouble bearing children and that she has a servant named Hagar.

Verse 2 shows us how Abraham agrees with Sarai. Now it does not say whether there was a big discussion over this topic or not but it does show that he agreed with Sarai, which has caused him to get a lot of criticism since males are supposed to be the head of the household. It also shows a lack of faith in God's promise (Gen 15:5), since he wants to some how assist God in bringing him children, instead of letting God take the lead. It's quite funny actually since this verse shows us how utterly depraved we are as humans. Abram was counted as righteous in the last chapter for believing in God's promise (Gen 15:6) and then a chapter later you see him getting impatient and trying to speed things up with his human abilities.

Verse 3 states that Hagar is now his wife, which means that her status in the household has increased and it also means that Abraham has more than one wife. Now in the bible, taking more than one wife is never encouraged (Deut 17:17) and is generally wrought with complications, as you will notice if you read the latter verses in this chapter.


Verse 4 can show us how depraved humans really are. The moment Hagar gets a small bit of power she instantly looks down on Sarai. This is an act of pride and doesn't work out well for her later on.


Verse 5 and 6 shows that Sarai directs her anger at Hagar at Abram firstly, then later directs it towards Hagar herself. This is showing us how man should not try to "assist" God in his promise and should leave it up to him since it generally results in drama.


Verse 7 does not really show us much, except for the fact that she was running home, since she was found at the spring on the way to Shur which is in the direction of Egypt.


Verse 9 is a crucial verse in this chapter and it summarises the chapter well. She is commanded to go and submit to Sarai even though Sarai is treating her harshly. This is the main message of this chapter, that you must submit to your authorities even when it seems hard, this parallels with other sections of scripture (Rom 13: 1-7)


Verse 10 see's Hagar receiving a promise similar to that of Abraham (Gen 15:5) indicating that even though her son is not the promised child of Abraham, he is still partially blessed.


Verse 11 shows us that God listens to us when we are in need. Ishmael literally means "God hears".


Verse 13 calls God a "God of seeing". It is important to remember something like this, God is always watching even when it seems like no one is there to help us (like when your master is beating you every day and there is no escape). It can be a great comfort knowing God is watching and He cares.


Beer-lahai-roi in verse 14 means "Well of the living one who sees"...man, Hagar is really excited about this whole seeing-thing...maybe it's important?


This chapter teaches us several things. one of the main things is teaches is that you must submit to your authorities even when it seems hard and the people in power seem harsh and cruel. It also shows that God does have a plan. Technically Hagar brought this upon herself and did not deserve God's assistance, but God showed her favour and looked after her while she was being mistreated by her master. This chapter also shows us how we should have faith in God's plan, and that instead of trying to do things our way (like Abram did by conceiving a child with Hagar) we should have faith.