Genesis 16:2

_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._ The Lord hath restrained me from bearing. Eastern women in general have always displayed a passionate desire for a family: it is the result of their social condition in countries where the honour, influence, and strength of a household depend as much on the number of the sons as of the armed retainers belonging to it. The eagerness for offspring, however, displayed by Sarai (and other Hebrew women after her), while it partook in a certain degree of this common Oriental feeling, is traceable to a special cause: it arose from the hope of being the ancestress of the promised Messiah (the seed of God, Malachi 2:15). Having continued so long in that unblessed condition that she

2._That I may obtain children by her _(384) This is a Hebrew phrase, which signifies to become a mother. Some however, expound the word as simply meaning, _to have a son_. And certainly בן (_ben_,) which, among the Hebrews, signifies son, corresponds with the verb here used. (385) But since sons are so called metaphorically as being the maintainers of the race, and thus building up the family, therefore the primary signification of the word is to be retained. But Sarai claims for herself by right of dominion, the child which Hagar shall bring forth: because handmaids do not bring forth for themselves, since they have not power over their own body. By first speaking to her husband, she does not barely _allow _of a concubine, who should be as a harlot; but _introduces _and _obtrudes _one. And hence it appears, that wh

1-3 Sarai, no longer expecting to have children herself, proposed to Abram to take another wife, whose children she might; her slave, whose children would be her property. This was done without asking counsel of the Lord. Unbelief worked, God's almighty power was forgotten. It was a bad example, and a source of manifold uneasiness. In every relation and situation in life there is some cross for us to bear: much of the exercise of faith consists in patiently submitting, in waiting the Lord's time, and using only those means which he appoints for the removal of the cross. Foul temptations may have very fair pretences, and be coloured with that which is very plausible. Fleshly wisdom puts us out of God's way. This would not be the case, if we would ask counsel of God by his word and by prayer, before we attempt that which is doubtful....

Verse Genesis 16:2. _GO IN UNTO MY MAID._] It must not be forgotten that female slaves constituted a part of the private patrimony or possessions of a wife, and that she had a right, according to the usages of those times, to dispose of them as she pleased, the husband having no authority in the case. _I MAY OBTAIN CHILDREN BY HER._] The _slave_ being the absolute property of the mistress, not only her person, but the fruits of her labour, with all her children, were her owner's property also. The children, therefore, which were born of the slave, were considered as the children of the mistress. It was on this ground that Sarai gave her slave to Abram; and we find, what must necessarily be the consequence in all cases of polygamy, that strifes and contentions took place....

- The Birth of Ishmael 1. 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 deputed by a man Genesis 32:3; Job 1:14, or by God...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 16:1 NOW SARAI ABRAM'S WIFE BARE HIM NO CHILDREN (literally, _bare not to him, _notwithstanding the promise; the barrenness of Sarai being introduced as the point of departure for the ensuing narrative, and emphasized as the cause or occasion of the subsequent transaction): AND SHE HAD—literally, _to her _(there was)—AN HANDMAID, AN EGYPTIAN (obtained probably while in the house of Pharaoh (Genesis 12:16)—whose name was HAGAR_—_"_flight_,"_ _from _hagar_, to flee. Cf. Hegirah, the flight of Mahomet. Not her original designation, but given to her afterwards, either because of her flight from Egypt (Ambrose, Wordsworth), or because of her escape

AND SARAI SAID UNTO ABRAM, BEHOLD NOW, THE LORD HATH RESTRAINED ME FROM BEARING,.... Or, "hath shut me up" d; that is, her womb, as were the wombs of the house of Abimelech, Genesis 20:18; so that she could not conceive and bear children; she now at this age despaired of having children, perceiving very probably that it ceased to be with her after the manner of women; and this she refers to the will and power of God; for, as children are his gift, and an heritage from him, Psalms 127:3, so it is his will and pleasure sometimes to withhold this blessing from those who are very desirous of them: I PRAY THEE GO IN UNTO MY MAID; Hagar, the Egyptian before mentioned; her meaning is, that he would take her to wife, and use her as such: it may be that I may obtain children by h

CHAPTER 16 ABRAHAM AND HAGAR _ 1. Sarai's suggestion (Genesis 16:1)_ 2. Abram's action (Genesis 16:4) 3. Sarai and Hagar (Genesis 16:5) 4. Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis 16:7) 5. The birth of Ishmael announced (Genesis 16:10) 6. Ishmael born (Genesis 16:15) The fifteenth chapter may be called Abram's faith chapter. The sixteenth is the chapter of unbelief. It was impatience which forced Sarai and Abram to act f

Sarah has no children, so she hits on a plan of which we have other examples (Genesis 30:3; Genesis 30:9). She hands over Hagar to Abraham, that the maid may compensate for the deficiency of her mistress. The maid is the wife's peculiar property, and therefore not, like ordinary slaves, at the master's disposal. Nor, presumably, would Abraham's child by one of his slaves have been a legitimate son. It is through the connexion between mistress and maid that Hagar's child can be reckoned as Sarah's. Hagar succeeds, and shows in her bearing the contempt of an Eastern woman for the barren. Stung by her maid's insolence, Sarah turns upon Abraham and hotly demands redress for a wrong she had herself invited. He meekly abandons the maid, who had now a claim on his protection, to the vindictiveness of his unreasonable wife, w

Hagar and her Flight into the Desert. (J, P.) 1. _handmaid_ or "maidservant," as in Genesis 12:16. The wife generally had a female slave, who was her own property, and not under the husband's control: see Genesis 29:24; Genesis 29:29; Genesis 30:3-7; Genesis 30:9; Genesis 30:12. _an Egyptian_ It is natural to connect Hagar's Egyptian origin with the sojourn in Egypt mentioned in chap. 12, or with the journeys in the Negeb ...