1- Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Hagar means flight.
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.
Sarai feels she cannot bare children so she is allowing Abram to lie with Hagar to fulfill God’s promise to Abram that his seed will be as plentiful as the stars in the sky.
3- And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
To lay with a woman would be to make her your wife.
4- And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Hagar began to feel superior to Sarai.
5- And Sarai said unto Abram, ” My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid unto thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between thee and me.”
Sarai is telling Abram to choose her or Hagar.
6- But Abram said unto Sarai, ” Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee.” And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
Hagar ran away when Sarai corrected her.
7- And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Angel of the Lord would be the Holy Spirit.
Shur is #7793 in the Strong’s Concordance and is listed as a region of desert east of Egypt. It is the same as #7791 which means wall.
8- And He said, ” Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?” And she said, ” I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.”
9- And the angel of the LORD said unto her, ” Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.”
10- And the angel of the LORD said unto her, ” I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.”
11- And the angel of the LORD said unto her, ” Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD has heard thy affliction.
Ishmael is #3458 in the Strong’s Concordance and means, God will hear. Ishmael is the father of the Arabic people.
12- And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13- And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou GOD seest me: for she said, “Have I also here looked after Him That seeth me?”
14- Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15- And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16- And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Continue to Genesis Chapter 17