Genesis 16:1

Genesis 16:1

Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar.

a. NLT: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

b. NIV: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;

c. YLT: And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name is Hagar;

d. Amplified Bible: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

e. Septuagint: And Sara the wife of Abram bore him no children; and she had an Egyptian maid, whose name was Agar.

f. Stone Edition Chumash: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.

1. “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children:…”

a. Sarai [8297 * Saray] [Strong:  from 8269; dominative; Sarai, the wife of Abraham:--Sarai.]

b. Abram’s [87 * ‘Abram] [Strong: contracted from 48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham:--Abram.]

c. wife [802 * ‘ishshah] [Strong: feminine of 376 or 582; irregular plural, nashiym {naw-sheem'}; a woman (used in the same wide sense as 582):--(adulter)ess, each, every, female, X many, + none, one, + together, wife, woman.]

d. bare…children [3205 * yalad] [Strong: a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage:--bear, beget, birth((-day)), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).]

e. no [3808 * lo’] [Strong: by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

1). In Genesis 11:30 it had already been stated that Sarai was barren.

2. “…and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar.”

a. she had an handmaid [8198 * shipchah]] [Strong: feminine from an unused root meaning to spread out (as a family; see 4940); a female slave (as a member of the household):--(bond-, hand-)maid(-en, -servant), wench, bondwoman, womanservant.]

b. and Egyptian [4713 * Mitsriy] [Strong: from 4714; a Mitsrite, or inhabitant of Mitsrajim:--Egyptian, of Egypt.]

c. whose name [8034 * shem] [Strong: a primitive word (perhaps rather from 7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; Compare 8064); an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character:--+ base, (in-)fame(-ous), named(-d), renown, report.]

d. was Hagar [1904 * Hagar] [Strong: of uncertain (perhaps foreign) derivation; Hagar, the mother of Ishmael:--Hagar.]

1). Abram and Sarai probably acquired Hagar when they were in Egypt the first time in Genesis 12:10-20.

     

a). Genesis 12:16 “And he [Pharoah] entreated Abram well for her [Sarai’s] sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and mens servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.”

2). Adam Clarke Commentary: She had a handmaid, an Egyptian - As Hagar was an Egyptian, St. Chrysostom's conjecture is very probable. that she was one of those female slaves which Pharaoh gave to Abram when he sojourned in Egypt; see Genesis 12:16. Her name הגר hagar signifies a stranger or sojourner, and it is likely she got this name in the family of Abram, as the word is pure Hebrew.