Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur.
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And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
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And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Genesis 16:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 21:17 God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
- Genesis 25:18 They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.
- Exodus 15:22 Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
- Proverbs 15:3 Yahweh’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- Genesis 20:1 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar.
- Genesis 22:11 Yahweh’s angel called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He said, “Here I am.”
- Genesis 22:15 Yahweh’s angel called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,
- Genesis 31:11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’
- 1 Samuel 15:7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7. And the angel of the Lord found her.…
7. And the angel of the Lord found her. We are here taught with what clemency the Lord acts towards his own people, although they have deserved severe punishment. As he had previously mitigated the punishment of Abram and Sarai, so now he casts a paternal look upon Hagar, so that his favor is extended to the whole family. He does not indeed altogether spare them, lest he should cherish their vices; but he corrects them with gentle remedies. It is indeed probable, that Hagar, in going to the desert of Sur, meditated a return to her own country. Yet mention seems to be made of the desert and the wilderness, to show that she, being miserably afflicted, wandered from the presence of men, till the angel met her. Although Moses does not describe the form of the vision, yet I do not doubt, that it was clothed in a human body; in which, nevertheless, manifest tokens of celestial glory were conspicuous.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which was Christ, as appeareth verse 13 and Gen.…
Which was Christ, as appeareth verse 13 and Gen. 18:17.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found…
Gen 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Ver. 7. In the way to Shur.] Which lay between Canaan and Egypt. So she was fleeing homewards to her own country. Oh that our afflictions might drive us heavenward!
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Son of God, who oft appeared in man’s…
The Son of God, who oft appeared in man’s shape, before he took man’s nature, is called an Angel or Messenger, because he was the Angel of the covenant, Mal 3:1, and was sent upon divers messages to men in the Old Testament, and at last was to be sent in the flesh as God’s great Ambassador, or Messenger of peace and reconciliation.
Shur, a place near Egypt, Gen 25:18; 1Sa 15:7; Exo 15:22, being her native country.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is the first mention we have in scripture…
Here is the first mention we have in scripture of an angel's appearance. Hagar was a type of the law, which was given by the disposition of angels; but the world to come is not put in subjection to them, Heb 2:5. Observe,
I. How the angel arrested her in her flight, Heb 2:7. It should seem, she was making towards her own country; for she was in the way to Shur, which lay towards Egypt. It were well if our afflictions would make us think of our home, the better country. But Hagar was now out of her place, and out of the way of her duty, and going further astray, when the angel found her. Note, 1. It is a great mercy to be stopped in a sinful way either by conscience or by Providence. 2. God suffers those that are out of the way to wander awhile, that when they see their folly, and what a loss they have brought themselves to, they may be the better disposed to return. Hagar was not stopped till she was in the wilderness, and had set down, weary enough, and glad of clear water to refresh herself with. God brings us into a wilderness, and there meets us, Hos 2:14.
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II. How he examined her, Gen 16:8. Observe,
1. He called her Hagar, Sarai's maid, (1.) As a check to her pride. Though she was Abram's wife, and, as such, was obliged to return, yet he calls her Sarai's maid, to humble her. Note, Though civility teaches us to call others by their highest titles, yet humility and wisdom teach us to call ourselves by the lowest. (2.) As a rebuke to her flight. Sarai's maid ought to be in Sarai's tent, and not wandering in the wilderness and sauntering by a fountain of water. Note, It is good for us often to call to mind what our place and relation are. See Ecc 10:4.
2. The questions the angel put to her were proper and very pertinent. (1.) "Whence comest thou? Consider that thou art running away both from the duty thou wast bound to and the privileges thou wast blessed with in Abram's tent." Note, It is a great advantage to live in a religious family, which those ought to consider who have that advantage, yet upon every slight inducement are forward to quit it. (2.) "Whither wilt thou go? Thou art running thyself into sin, in Egypt" (if she return to that people, she will return to their gods), "and into danger, in the wilderness," through which she must travel, Deu 8:15. Note, Those who are forsaking God and their duty would do well to remember not only whence they have fallen, but whither they are falling. See Jer 2:18, What hast thou to do (with Hagar) in the way of Egypt? Joh 6:68.
3. Her answer was honest, and a fair confession: I flee from the face of my mistress. In this, (1.) She acknowledges her fault in fleeing from her mistress, and yet, (2.) Excuses it, that it was from the face, of displeasure, of her mistress. Note, Children and servants must be treated with mildness and gentleness, lest we provoke them to take any irregular courses and so become accessory to their sins, which will condemn us, though it will not justify them.
4. How he sent her back, with suitable and compassionate counsel: "Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hand, Gen 16:9. Go home, and humble thyself for what thou hast done amiss, and beg pardon, and resolve for the future to behave thyself better." He makes no question but she would be welcome, though it does not appear that Abram sent after her. Note, Those that have gone away from their place and duty, when they are convinced of their error, must hasten their return and reformation, how mortifying soever it may be.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the angel of the Lord found her,.... This…
And the angel of the Lord found her,.... This is the first time that mention is made of an angel in Scripture, but is not to be understood of a created angel, but of a divine Person, as appears from Gen 16:10, the uncreated angel, the Logos or Son of God, called the Angel of God's presence, and the Angel of the covenant, Isa 63:9 Mal 3:1; who often appeared in an human form before his incarnation, being sent by his divine Father on one account or another; and hence called an angel, a messenger, or one sent, as in the fulness of time he was sent in human nature to be the Redeemer of his people; though many of the Jewish writers take this angel to be a man sent of God. Gersom (n) says he was one of the prophets that lived in those times, and observes, that some of their Rabbins say (o) he was Shem, the son of Noah; and Maimonides (p) suggests, that this angel was but a mere man, by comparing this passage with that in Gen 37:15, "a certain man found him", &c. but the context most clearly confutes this notion, and proves him to be the almighty and omniscient God; since he promises to do what none but the omnipotent Being could do, and declares such things as none but the omniscient God could know: and when it is said he "found Hagar", it is not to be understood as if it was a chance matter, or the fruit and effect of search and inquiry, or as if he had not seen her before; but rather it shows that his eye was upon her, and he had a concern for her, and at a proper time and place appeared to her at once, and unawares, and unthought of by her. And the place where he found her was
by a fountain of water in the wilderness; which lay between Egypt and Canaan, the same through which the Israelites passed afterwards from the one to the other: here was a fountain of water, and meeting with it she stopped to refresh herself:
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by the fountain in the way to Shur; a place before or over against Egypt, from whence the wilderness had its name, see Gen 25:18, which shows that she was making her way to Egypt, as fast as she could, her native country, where in all probability she proposed to continue, and never return more: what the name of the place the angel found her at was, at that time, is not certain, or whether it had any; for it seems to be so called from the Lord's "looking" upon her here, which "Shur" signifies: the Jerusalem Targum calls it Chalaza; and both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan name it Chagra or Hagra, after her own name, as it should seem: and it is remarkable, that this very place, and the wilderness, and parts adjacent, were the habitation of her posterity, the sons of Ishmael, Gen 25:18; and must be in Arabia Petraea, which they inhabited; and Ptolemy (q) speaks of a city called Suratta, in that country.
(n) Comment in loc. (o) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 45. fol. 41. 1. (p) Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 42. p. 311. (q) Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Here is the first mention we have in scripture…
Here is the first mention we have in scripture of an angel's appearance, who arrested her in her flight. It should seem she was making towards her own country, for she was in the way to Shur, which lay towards Egypt. 'Twere well if our afflictions would make us think of our home, the better county. But Hagar was now out of the way of her duty, and going farther astray, when the angel found her. It is a great mercy to be stopt in a sinful way, either by conscience or providence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 7. The angel of the Lord] That Jesus…
Verse 7. The angel of the Lord] That Jesus Christ, in a body suited to the dignity of his nature, frequently appeared to the patriarchs, has been already intimated. That the person mentioned here was greater than any created being is sufficiently evident from the following particulars: -
1. From his promising to perform what God alone could do, and foretelling what God alone could know; "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly," c., Ge 16:10 "Thou art with child, and shalt bear a son," c., Ge 16:11 "He will be a wild man," c., Ge 16:12. All this shows a prescience which is proper to God alone.
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2. Hagar considers the person who spoke to her as God, calls him אל El, and addresses him in the way of worship, which, had he been a created angel, he would have refused. See Gen 19:10; Gen 22:9.
3. Moses, who relates the transaction, calls this angel expressly JEHOVAH; for, says he, she called שם יהוה shem Yehovah, the NAME of the LORD that spake to her, Ge 16:13. Now this is a name never given to any created being.
4. This person, who is here called מלאך היוה malach Yehovah, the Angel of the Lord, is the same who is called המלאך הגאל hammalach haggoel, the redeeming Angel or the Angel the Redeemer, Ge 48:16; מלאך פניו malach panaiv, the Angel of God's presence, Isa 63:9; and מלאך הברית malach habberith, the Angel of the Covenant, Mal 3:1; and is the same person which the Septuagint, Isa 9:6, term μεγαλης βουλης αγγελος, the Angel of the Great Counsel or Design, viz., of redeeming man, and filling the earth with righteousness.
5. These things cannot be spoken of any human or created being, for the knowledge, works, c., attributed to this person are such as belong to God and as in all these cases there is a most evident personal appearance, Jesus Christ alone can be meant; for of God the Father it has been ever true that no man hath at any time seen his shape, nor has he ever limited himself to any definable personal appearance.
In the way to Shur.] As this was the road from Hebron to Egypt, it is probable she was now returning to her own country.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 16:7. Here is the first mention we have…
Gen 16:7. Here is the first mention we have in Scripture of an angel’s appearance; who arrested her in her flight. It should seem she was making toward her own country, for she was in the way to Shur, which lay toward Egypt. It would be well if our afflictions would make us think of our home, the better country. But Hagar was now out of the way of her duty, and going farther astray when the angel found her. It is a great mercy to be stopped in a sinful way, either by conscience or providence.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In the desert; omitted in Hebrew being a repetition…
In the desert; omitted in Hebrew being a repetition of in the wilderness. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And the angel of the Lord found her by…
And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain--This well, pointed out by tradition, lay on the side of the caravan road, in the midst of Shur, a sandy desert on the west of Arabia-Petræa, to the extent of a hundred fifty miles, between Palestine and Egypt. By taking that direction, she seems to have intended to return to her relatives in that country. Nothing but pride, passion, and sullen obstinacy, could have driven any solitary person to brave the dangers of such an inhospitable wild; and she would have died, had not the timely appearance and words of the angel recalled her to reflection and duty.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. The angel of the Lord — Here we…
7. The angel of the Lord — Here we meet, for the first time, with this much-debated expression — מלאךְ יהוה, angel of Jehovah; but we are not to assume that this was the first appearance of this angel. Comp. Gen_12:7, note. There have been two different opinions of this mysterious angel: one that he was a created angel, a ministering spirit, (Heb_1:14,) sent forth to speak the message of Jehovah, and to act in his name; the other that he was a manifestation of God in human form, and accordingly Jehovah himself, speaking in his own divine name. Each of these opinions has been maintained under two forms. Of those who hold that he was a created or ordinary angel, 1) some regard him as an angel specially commissioned at each different appearance; not necessarily the same angel every time: 2) another class regard him as the same individual angel, here appearing as Jehovah’s angel; again, as Captain of the Lord’s host, (Jos_5:14,) and in Dan_12:1, as the great Prince of the covenant people. Of those, again, who hold him to be Jehovah himself, in human form, 1) one class of interpreters understand the word Jehovah, in the term angel of Jehovah, as a genitive of apposition; that is, angel-Jehovah, or Jehovah-angel; a mysterious and miraculous manifestation of the God of Abram. This would be a sort of Sabellian exposition. 2) Others distinguish between Jehovah and his angel as between sender and sent, and see in the latter the Old Testament administration of the second Person of the Trinity, the Logos or Word of God. The main question to determine is, whether this was a created angel or Jehovah himself, — a question on which devout and eminent divines have divided. On the principle that “what one does through another, he himself does,” many exegetes, with much show of reason, hold that the angel of Jehovah was a created spirit, capable of assuming human form and modes of life, (comp. Gen_18:2; Gen_18:8,) sent forth as the representative of Jehovah and authorized to speak in his name. Accordingly such language as that of Gen_16:10; Gen_16:13, and Gen_18:13-14, and many similar passages, is to be understood as Jehovah speaking by his angel. In Gen_21:17, where the angel of God (Elohim) again addresses Hagar, there is nothing to indicate that the speaker was other than an ordinary angel. And the expression angel of Jehovah occurs in many other places where there is no necessity of understanding that the angel is Jehovah, but quite the contrary. See Num_22:22; 1Ki_1:3; 1Ki_1:15; Zec_1:11-13; Zec_3:5-6. Further, the angel of the Lord, in the New Testament, (αγγελος κυριου,) is an ordinary angel, (Luk_1:11; Luk_2:9, etc.;) and Kurtz asks, “Why should the ‘angel of the Lord’ who announces the birth of John the Baptist be different in nature from him who announces that of Samson?
Why should the ‘angel of the Lord’ who smites Herod Agrippa, so that he dies, be different in nature from him who, in one night, destroyed the host of Sennacherib? Why should the ‘angel of the Lord’ who encourages Paul in his bonds be different in nature from him who comforts Hagar when she is driven forth?” If this view be adopted, it matters little whether we regard the angel as one chosen messenger for every occasion, or different angels of heaven, each selected for his separate and special mission.
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But while some passages readily admit and favour the view that Jehovah’s angel is only an ordinary angel, there are passages in which the language is not fully met by such an exposition. The other and profounder view, according to which the angel of Jehovah is the revealing Word of God, — the Old Testament gracious manifestation of Him who in the fulness of time became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, — is maintained by the following considerations: 1) The sacred writer uses the terms Jehovah and angel of Jehovah interchangeably. Compare Gen_16:9-10; Gen_50:13; Gen_18:13; Gen_18:16-17; Gen_18:22; Gen_18:33; Gen_48:15; Gen_16:2) While other angels are careful not to identify themselves with God, (see Gen_19:13; Rev_19:10; Rev_22:8-9,) this angel speaks so absolutely in God’s name and person as to exclude the idea that he is an ordinary messenger. See Gen_16:10; Gen_18:17; Gen_18:20-21; Gen_22:12, etc. 3) The solemn and explicit language of Exo_23:20-23, is utterly inappropriate to any created angel, — especially the language of Gen 16:21, “Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.” Comp. Exo_32:34; Exo_33:14; Isa_63:9. 4) He allows prayers and sacrifices to be offered unto him, as if he were Jehovah himself. Gen_18:22-32; Jdg_6:11-22; Jdg_13:19-20.
This view of the angel of Jehovah is very ancient. It was a part of the theology of the ancient synagogue, according to which this angel was the Shekinah — the manifested power and mediation of God in the world. This was the doctrine of the Metatron, who was regarded as an emanation from God, equal with him, and in whom he revealed himself to man. This doctrine, divested of some of its later foreign elements, was adopted by most of the Fathers of the early Christian Church, and is held by the majority of evangelical divines of the present day.
We should not deem it strange that thus early in the history of the covenant there should have been such a mysterious revelation of God by the divine angel of his presence. The doctrine is not contrary to the idea of a progressive revelation, for these ancient administrations of the Word of God evidence no higher a consciousness of God and his self-manifestation than the deep symbolism of sacrifice and covenanting. Nor are we to suppose that the mediation of this angel would supersede the necessity of the ministry of other angels. Many of these latter accompanied him in his ways, and who the particular angel was, in any instance, must be determined from the context. Even the title angel of Jehovah may, in some passages, be used of any ministering angel, and, as Keil observes, “where the context furnishes no criterion, it must remain undecided.” Such passages as Psa_34:7; Psa_35:5-6, where the angel of Jehovah is not more particularly described, or Num_20:16, where the words are general and indefinite, furnish no evidence that the angel of Jehovah, who proclaimed himself on his appearance as one with God, was not in reality equal with God; unless we are to adopt as the rule for interpretation of Scripture the inverted principle, that clear and definite statements are to be explained by those that are indefinite and obscure.
As to the less-important question, whether in angel of Jehovah we are to understand the latter word as a genitive of apposition, or as defining more fully the word angel, we believe the latter to be the true construction. We naturally distinguish between the angel and Jehovah, although this distinction is one of the profoundest mysteries of Deity. Like the Word of God in Joh_1:1, this Angel was with God and was God. So in the expressions “servant of Jehovah,” and “messenger of Jehovah,” there is the same obvious distinction as between sender and sent.
The angel… found her — It has been often asked why the angel of Jehovah should have appeared first to an Egyptian bondmaid. But that this was the first appearance of this angel is a pure assumption. See note on Gen_12:7. Nevertheless, would it not be just as well to ask, Why should Jesus, after the resurrection, have appeared first to Mary Magdalene? Why not rather to his mother, or else to that disciple whom he loved? The redeeming angel, (Gen_48:16,) whose great work is to seek and to save the lost, found this lost child by the fountain in the way to Shur. The wilderness of Shur extended between Beer-sheba on the north-east, and Egypt on the south-west. Into this wilderness the Israelites entered after they had passed the Red Sea. Exo_15:22, note. Hagar, the Egyptian, would naturally have fled by the most direct route to Egypt, which lay through this desert.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7–14. Hagar and the Angel at the Well
7–14. Hagar and the Angel at the Well
7. the angel of the Lord] The Angel, i.e. messenger, of Jehovah is the personification of Jehovah. Observe that in Gen_16:10 He identifies Himself with Jehovah, expressing in the first person sing. what He will do (cf. Gen_21:18, Gen_22:15-18).
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In all probability, in the development of religious thought, the Angel of Jehovah marks an intermediate stage between the simple anthropomorphisms of Genesis 3, 11, 18, and the later, more spiritual and abstract, conception of the Divine Being.
a fountain of water] i.e. a spring of water, which in the desert would mean an oasis towards which tracks would converge. See Gen_24:13.
in the way to Shur] Probably, on the main trade route leading to her own country of Egypt. “Shur,” mentioned also in Gen_20:1 and Gen_25:18, has not been identified. It seems to mean “a wall”; and very probably was the name given to some spot on the line of the Egyptian frontier fortifications on the north-east, not far from the present Suez Canal. Possibly=the modern Tell abû-Sêpheh, 20 miles S. of Port Said.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) The angel of the Lord.—Heb., of Jehovah. (See…
(7) The angel of the Lord.—Heb., of Jehovah. (See Excursus at end of Book.)
In the way to Shur.—Hagar evidently fled by the usual route leading from Hebron past Beer-sheba to Egypt. The wilderness was that of Paran, in which Kadesh was situated. The fountain by which Hagar was sitting was on the road to Shur, which is a desert on the eastern side of Egypt, forming the boundary of the territory of the Ishmaelites (Gen_25:18) and of the Amalekites (1Sa_15:7; 1Sa_27:8), and reached by the Israelites soon after crossing the Red Sea (Exo_15:22; Num_33:8). It is now called J’afar.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ver. 7. And the angel of the Lord. Maleach…
CHAPTER 16:7-16
EXPOSITION.
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Ver. 7. And the angel of the Lord. Maleach Jehovah, elsewhere styled Maleach Elohim; (Gen_21:17 Gen_31:11) supposed but wrongly to be a creature angel (Augustine, Origen, Jerome, Hofmann, Bamngarten, Tholuck, Delitzsch, Kurtz), for the reasons chiefly
(1) that the term angel commonly designates a class of spiritual beings (Gen_19:1 Gen_32:1; Job_4:18; Psa_91:11; Mat_13:41; Joh_20:12, et passim)
(2) that the aggelov kuriou of the New Testament (Mat_1:20; Luk_2:9; Act_12:7) is always a created angel;
(3) that the meaning of the term lm, one sent, from to depute (Gesenius), one through whom work is executed, from to work (Keil), implies a certain degree of subordination, which is afterwards more distinctly recognized (1Ch_21:27; Zec_1:12)
(4) that the distinction between the unrevealed and the revealed God was not then developed as in later times, and particularly since the advent of Christ to every one of which arguments, however, it is comparatively easy to reply (cf. Keil and Lange in love). With more force of reason believed to have been the Divine Being himself, who already as Jehovah had appeared to Abram (the Fathers, the Reformers, Hengstenberg, Keil, Lange, Havernick, Nitzsch, Ebrard, Steir, Kalisch, Ainsworth, Bush, Wordsworth, Candlish), since
1. The Maleach Jehovah explicitly identifies himself with Jehovah (Ver. 10) and Elohim. (Gen_22:12)
2. Those to whom he makes his presence known recognize him as Divine (Gen_16:13 Gen_18:23-33 Gen_28:16-22; Exo_3:6; Jud_1:6:15, 20-23 13:22)
1. The Biblical writers constantly speak of him as Divine, calling him Jehovah without the least reserve (Gen_16:13 Gen_18:1 Gen_22:16; Exo_3:2; Jud_1:6:12)
2. The doctrine here implied of a plurality of persons in the Godhead is in complete accordance with earlier foreshadowings (Gen_1:26 Gen_11:7) and later revelations of the same truth.
3. The organic unity of Scripture would be broken if it could be proved that the central point in the Old Testament revelation was a creature angel, while that of the New is the incarnation of the God-Man. Found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. Properly an uninhabited district suitable for pasturing flocks, from a root signifying to lead to pasture; hence a sterile, sandy country, like that here referred to, Arabia Deserta, bordering on Egypt (Gen_14:6; Exo_3:1) By the fountain. The article indicating a particular and well-known spring. In the way to Shur. "Before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria"; (Gen_25:18) hence not Pelusium on the Nile (Jos., "Ant.," 6:7, 3), but probably the modern Dachifar in the north-west of Arabia Deserta (Michaelis, Rosenm Keil, Lange). Hagar was clearly directing her flight to Egypt.
Ver. 7.
The capture of the runaway, or Hagar and the angel of the Lord.
I THE FUGITIVE ARRESTED.
1. The agent of her capture. The angel of Jehovah (vide Exposition), whose appearance to Hagar at this particular juncture was doubtless
(1) Unexpected. Those who flee from duty seldom anticipate the encountering of God in their career. (Jon_1:3)
(2) Instantaneous. The Invisible Supreme, who ever compasses our paths, only requires to either open his creatures" eyes, or veil his uncreated glory in a finite form, to make his presence known (Psa_139:7; Luk_24:15)
(3) Familiar. Though here mentioned, angelic visitation need not now have occurred for the first time. Hagar probably had learnt something in the patriarch"s household of the character, existence, and form of this celestial visitant.
(4) Opportune. Whether regarded in this light or not, the present Divine manifestation to Hagar was highly seasonable, as God s visits to men ever are, in both the world and the Church.
2. The place of her capture.
(1) In the wilderness, a very different locality from Abram"s tent. But all regions are equally accessible to God"s providence and grace; and God"s angel of mercy and salvation can find his way to disconsolate wanderers across the wilderness of a barren world as easily as to eminent saints within the sacred precincts of the Church.
(2) On the way to Sieur, i.e. going back to Egyptian worldliness and idolatry. Her chances of reaching the land of Ham were indeed small, considering her bodily condition; but thither was her destination, and hence her arrestment by the angel of the Lord was a special mercy. So Divine grace interposes to prevent those who have been once enlightened from relapsing to their old natural condition of worldliness and sin.
(3) By a fountain of water, beside which it may be imagined she had cast herself in sheer exhaustion; an emblem of those springs of refreshment, or wells of Bach, which God has prevailed for the spiritually disconsolate, and one of which was being opened by Jehovah"s visit for the comfort of the unhappy bondmaid.
II THE FOUNDLING INTERROGATED.
1. The question of the angel.
(1) The designations used, Hagar, Sarai"s maid, reveal the minuteness of the Divine knowledge. God is acquainted with the names and the homes, the conditions in life, and the constituent elements in the history of all men. (Psa_139:1-5)
(2) The reference to Hagar"s original condition of servitude implies disapprobation of her union with Abram. No transaction can be safely passed as blameless until it has been reviewed and judged by God.
(3) The inquiries addressed to Hagar were designed to convict her of sin. Whence had she come? From Abram"s house, where the name of God was worshipped; from the presence of Sarai, who had a lawful claim upon her service; from the land of Canaan, the inheritance of Abram"s seed, of which, as she fondly hoped, she was about to become the mother in all which she was clearly committing wrong. Then whither was she going? Back again to Egypt, as the ultimate goal of her flight, while in the mean time she was exposing herself and her unborn child to serious peril. Doubtless these and other considerations of a similar sort arose within the breast of Hagar as she listened to Jehovah"s questionings. When God examines souls they are truly, minutely, and completely searched.
2. The answer of Hagar.
(1) Promptly given. There was no sign of hesitancy or reluctance. The utmost frankness and cordiality should characterize a sinner"s dealings with God.
(2) Briefly expressed. "She was fleeing from the face of Sarai her mistress." Comprehensive brevity should signalize our responses to God"s interrogations.
(3) Honestly declared. She had run away. If it was wrong, she made no attempt at concealment. Guileless acknowledgment of sin is a true mark of contrition.
III THE WANDERER DIRECTED.
1. To return to Abrams house. The tent of Sarai, though to Hagar"s quick Southern blood a place of humiliation, was nevertheless for her the true place of safety, both physically and spiritually. The first counsel that God"s word and spirit give to those who flee from duty, forsake the company of saints, and venture out upon perilous and sinful courses is "to stand in the ways, and ask for the old paths". (Jer_6:16)
2. To submit to Sarahs yoke. Her alliance with the patriarch could not in God"s sight alter her original position as a slave. Though soon to be the mother of Abram"s seed, she was still a bondwoman, whose duty was submission, however galling to her hot blood, and however unreasonable it might seem in the case of one whose child might yet inherit Canaan. God"s people are required to abide in those stations in life in which they have been called, until they can be honorably released from them, (1Co_7:20-22) and to endure those afflictions which God in his providence may impose, rather than impetuously and sinfully endeavor to escape from them. (Mat_16:24)
IV THE DISCONSOLATE COMFORTED.
1. The richness of the offered consolation.
(1) A gracious assurance that she was an object of the Divine regard, as this very sit proved; of the Divine observation, since the Lord knew her condition; and of the Divine compassion, for already he had heard her affliction than which no sweeter consolation can be offered to either penitent backslider or dejected sufferer.
(2) A comfortable promise that she should live to be the mother of Abram"s seed, that her unborn babe should be a son, and that her son should develop into a bold, courageous, and prosperous man, and that through him she herself, an Egyptian slave-girl, should become the ancestress of a numerous and mighty people. God is able, even in respect of material and temporal benefits, to compensate for life"s sorrows and tribulations, and to make up in one direction for what he takes away in another.
(3) An important instruction to name her child "Ishmael" when it should be born; partly as a memorial to herself of the Divine mercy, and partly as a reminder to her child of the sure Source of prosperity, both personal and national, temporal and spiritual. God"s people should remember the right hand of the Most High, (Psa_77:10) and seek advancement from him. (Psa_75:6, Psa_75:7)
2. The efficacy of the offered consolation.
1. Adoring gratitude. Hagar was amazed at the Divine condescension in permitting her to see God and yet live a mercy denied to Moses on the; (Exo_33:20) and the Divine grace which had imparted life and hope to her soul through this celestial visitation.
1. Mercy remembered, Hagar called the well Beer-lahai-roi, i.e. the well of seeing and living. The Divine loving-kindness is worthy of memorials,
2. which also should be written on the tablets of the heart when they cannot be expressed in words or enshrined in deeds.
3. Cheerful submission. Hagar returned to Abram"s house, submitted to Sarai"s hand, and in due time gave birth to Ishmael. The best evidence that grace has comforted the human heart is prompt compliance" with the will of God.
See in the angel"s appearance to Hagar
1. An adumbration of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. An illustration of God"s care of those who are within his Church.
3. An indication of the kind of people that most attract the Divine notice and compassion.
4. A revelation of the tenderness with which he deals with sinners.
5. A proclamation of God"s gracious readiness to forgive the erring.
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS Ver. 7.
Wells in the wilderness.
1. God provides them for the rest and refreshment of pilgrims.
2. God visits them to meet with wear), and afflicted pilgrims.
3. God dispenses from them life and hope to all repenting and believing pilgrims. Compare with the angel of Jehovah and Hagar at the fountain of Shur, Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob"s well. W. (Joh_4:6)
Vers. 7-13.
Glimpses of the Godhead.
1. Divine condescension. God visits men as the angel visited Hagar.
2. Divine omniscience. God knows men as the angel knew Hagar.
3. Divine compassion. God pities and comforts men as the angel did Hagar.
4. Divine wisdom. God instructs men as the angel directed Hagar.
5. Divine grace. God pardons and accepts men as the angel did Hagar. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hagar, Sarais maid, whence camest thou?
Gen_16:7-12
Hagar, Sarais maid, whence camest thou?
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Providence and the outcast
I. PROVIDENCE FINDS THE OUTCAST AND MISERABLE.
1. There are occasions in human life when the providence of God specially manifests itself.
2. Providence finds us for a purpose of mercy.
3. Providence is minute in its care and knowledge.
II. PROVIDENCE TEACHES THE OUTCAST AND MISERABLE.
1. Lessons of reproof.
2. Lessons of instruction and guidance.
III. PROVIDENCE INSPIRES HOPE IN THE OUTCAST AND MISERABLE.
1. The lowest and most despised have some purpose of Providence to serve.
2. All who have consciously felt the action of a Divine Providence have some memorial of Gods goodness. (T. H. Leale.)
The angels message to Hagar
In this very gracious appearance of the angel to Hagar, it is possible, I think, to detect a two-fold design. Through her connection with Abram, this handmaid had been providentially elevated into a position which carried on the one hand duties, and on the other honour.
1. In the first place, it was her present duty to return and place herself again under the heavy hand of Sarai, in order that Abrams son might be born and nurtured in Abrams home. This, therefore, was the hard command, which in the first instance the angel was commissioned to deliver. Gods revelations commonly attach themselves to the working of mens own minds. It is impossible not to suspect that, as she sat to rest after her hasty flight, Hagars conscience was already whispering words like these before the angel appeared: Return to thy mistress and submit thyself! But if any such feeling worked dimly in her own mind, it would certainly have failed to send her back, had it not been sharpened by this imperative command from heaven. On the other side, God graciously encouraged Hagar to such an unwelcome duty, by revealing the honours which her relationship to Abram would bring along with it. When God blesses any man, that blessing proves itself like the consecrating oil on the Jewish high priest: it flows from the head down to the skirts of the garment. In recompense for a mistresss cruelty, Hagar was to become the ancestress of a mighty race, which for countless generations has ever since dwelt in the presence of all its brethren. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)
Hagar in the wilderness
I. HAGARS DISTRESS. Affliction and solitude often give persons time to think, and arouse a desire to pray. Misery is a voiceless prayer, which God understands.
II. GODS MESSENGER. An appearance of the Lord at Hagars time of need and distress.
III. GODS MESSAGE.
1. A rebuke.
2. A command.
3. A promise.
CONCLUSION: We see then in this narrative a valuable lesson as to Gods Providence, and the way in which God is personally interested in the welfare and destinies of men. Moreover, the narrative suggests a kind of parable of Gods grace. We may see in it the principles of Gods dealing with sinful and sorrowing men.
1. He sees their misery and sin.
2. He visits them in their distress.
3. He hears their prayers. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Christ was the angel of Jehovah sent to the Church in old times. As here (Isa_63:1-19; Mat_3:2).
2. God finds sinners usually when they lose themselves.
3. Gods finding of them is usually when souls are brought to great extremity.
4. God sometimes meets sinners when they are flying to his enemies (Gen_16:7).
5. God will have order and relations owned when sinners servants may reject them. Sarais maid.
6. God expostulates in displeasure with sinners for being where they should not be, leaving the place of calling and flying to other places. Here, servants, learn your duties.
7. Souls, when God expostulates with them, are brought to acknowledge their errors and sins (Gen_16:8).
8. God counsels sinners in His way when He bath convinced them. Return.
9. God will have domestic order maintained and servants to submit to governors, and suffer sorrow, rather than sin, and leave their places (Gen_16:9; 1Pe_3:18). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Hater in the wilderness
We have here a dramatic incident in the early Hebrew history. An Egyptian handmaid belonging to Sarai, the wife of Abram, was found by the angel of the Lord near a fountain of water in the wilderness. The angels greeting is a recognition; he names her and defines her in three words: Hagar, Sarais maid! he says, and the girl hears the searching voice and looks up to see a face of commanding majesty and sweetness. Whence camest thou? the angel demands. Was not the question superfluous? Do not the words already addressed to her show that the angel needed no information? If he knew her name and knew that she was Sarais maid, he knew whence she had come. But questions are often wisely asked, less for the benefit of the questioner than of the questioned. For many a man, drifting on in a course of evil conduct that he has never stopped to define, it would be a good thing if someone, by a pointed question, could, get him to say out, in plain words, just what he is doing. If he would only honestly state it to himself, he would shrink from it with horror. Always when one is going in questionable ways it is well to pause and put the thing he is doing into a clear proposition. I am engaged in some business transaction and a good angel stands by my path and asks me, What are you doing? If the operation, though nominally legitimate, is really fraudulent, and if I, though sometimes a little too eager for profits, am not an ingrained rascal, it may be good for me to have the question put to me in just that way. For, on reflection, I shall be forced to answer: I am endeavouring to get the money of my neighbour without giving him a fair equivalent. And, having been brought to put the matter into such plain words, I shall be forced, if I am not a rascal, to withdraw from the operation. Not only for clearing away the haze that often obscures an unworthy purpose, but also for removing the fog in which good purposes are sometimes involved, a pointed question may serve us. There are those whose intention to do right, to live the highest life, is rather nebulous. There are men who really mean to be the servants of Christ, but they have never said so, even to themselves. Their intention lies there, cloudy, crepuscular, in their mental horizon, but it is there. It influences their lives, not seldom; it ought to have far more power over them than it has, and would have, if it could only get from themselves a frank and clear statement. If some question could be put that would lead them to say right out in words what they mean to be--to objectify their purpose in language, so that they could look at it and understand it--the process would be most salutary. There is a deceitfulness of sin that sometimes hides from a man his own deepest and purest purposes; and if these could in some way be clearly discovered to himself, it would be a great service to him. Whether a man is good or bad at heart it is well for him to know the truth about himself; and any question, whether it come from the lips of angel or of mortal, that helps him to a clear self-revelation, is no doubt divinely spoken. Hater answered the angels question, Whence earnest thou? honestly. I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai, she said. The girl was running away from home. It was a home by no means perfect, according to our standards, from which she was bent on escaping. But this home from which she had gone forth, in spite of all the enormities wrought into its structure, was about the best dwelling place on the earth in that day. She was turning her back on a better society, a purer life, a larger opportunity than she could find anywhere else in the world. This was the fact to which the angels question, Whence earnest thou? at once recalled her. But this was not all. There was another question. Whither wilt thou go? the voice demanded, Hagar was going down to Egypt. And what was there in Egypt that could give her peace? It was a land of darkness and moral degradation; a land where the soul of man was held in hopeless subjection to the things of sense. This, then, is the simple fact that the angels questions bring into the light of the girls consciousness. Hagar was running away from the household of Abram, friend of God, and she was going down to Egypt. She was leaving a very light place, for a very dark one. Behind her were perplexities and discomforts, but great hopes also, and inspiring associations; before her was no relief for her trouble and no hope for her future. It was more than doubtful whether she would ever reach Egypt; she was far more likely to wander in the wilderness and perish by the way; but the goal, if she reached it, showed no prize worth striving for. It furnishes us a pertinent analogy. For there are other wanderers, in other wildernesses, to whom some good angel might well put the questions that Hagar heard by the fountain Lahai-roi, Whence camest thou, and whither wilt thou go? I suppose that I may be speaking to some whose feet are pressing the shifting sands of the wide wilderness of doubt. Their religious beliefs are in an unsettled and chaotic condition. They are only certain of one thing, and that is that they are not certain of anything. They are agnostics. Now there are subjects on which most of us can well afford to be agnostics. An agnostic is one who does not know. Well, there are quite a number of things that I do not know, and it seems to me the part of wisdom to say so. There are not a few subjects concerning which the Lord of light has seen fit to leave us in darkness. But while there are subjects of this nature, about which we do well to confess our ignorance, there are other subjects of which faith ought to give us a strong assurance. Agnosticism does well for certain outlying districts of our thought, but not for the great central tracts of religious belief and feeling. The navigator may acknowledge without shame that he does not know the boundaries or the channels of those Polar seas where man has never sailed; but you would not take passage with a captain who declared that he knew nothing of the way out of the harbour where his vessel lay, and nothing of the way into the port to which you wanted to go, and did not even know whether there were any such port. Just so in the religious life. All wise men know that there is much that they do not know; it is the beginning of wisdom to discern the limitations of knowledge; but the theory that all is uncertainty in the religious realm; that there is no sure word of promise, no steadfast anchor of the soul, no charted channels, no headlands of hope, no knowledge of a port beyond seas, is a bewildering, benumbing, deadening theory; out of it comes nothing but apathy and despair. This land of doubt is a wilderness, treeless, verdureless, shelterless, a dry and thirsty land where no water is. This is a truth--if it is a truth--that admits of no argument. It is a fact of experience; if none of you know that it is true, then it is true for none of you; if any of you do know it, you do not need to have it proved; the simple statement of it is enough. To all such wanderers, I bring the question of the angel to Hagar in the wilderness, Whence camest thou? You were not always in this wilderness; whence did you come? Do you not look back to a home from which your thought has wandered, a house of faith in which you once abode in confidence and peace? I am speaking now in parables, remember; it is not of the literal home where your father and mother dwelt of which I am speaking, but rather of that edifice of sacred thoughts and firm persuasions and earnest purposes and joyful hopes in which your soul was sheltered and comforted in the days of your childhood. Was there not for you, in those earlier days, a spiritual tabernacle of this sort, a house not made with hands, in which you found protection and peace? Was there not, I ask you, in the Christian faith of that past time, not only a comfort and a solace, but an inspiration, an invigoration, a bracing energy that you do not find in the dim and dismal negations of the present time? O wanderer, astray in the bleak wilderness of doubt, whence camest thou? But this is not the only question. Whither wilt thou go? Tarry here you cannot: here is no continuing city. Agnosticism is not the end, barren and profitless as it is. The road that you are travelling leads down to Egypt,--to a land of darkness as darkness itself, and where the light is as darkness. You have turned away from the old faith of Christian Theism, and there is nowhere for you to go but to Pantheism or to Atheism. And these are only different names for the same benighted land. There is no light in either of them. They will not satisfy your heart. They will not satisfy your imagination. They will not satisfy your reason. And if the mental darkness into which they conduct us is so dense, what shall we say of the moral darkness in which they envelop us; of the blotting from our sky of every star of hope; of the quenching of that torch of Bible truth by which our feet are guided through this land of shadows; of the extinguishment of our faith in the infinite love of God, which is the inspiration of all our holiest endeavours? No, my friend, I tell you truly, you who have lost your hold on the great spiritual verities and are wandering in the wilderness of spiritual doubt, you cannot tarry where you are; you must go further; and every step you go in the path that you are now travelling takes you nearer to a region where there is no ray of light or hope, a land of darkness and of the shadow of death. Can you not see, is it not clear, that you would better turn your face toward the spiritual home from which you have been wandering? Perhaps the old spiritual house in which your youth was nurtured may need enlargement in its intellectual part. Enlarge it, then l There is room on its strong foundations to build a house of faith large enough for the amplest intelligence. If there are gloomy corners in it into which the light ought to be let, let in the light! If there are chinks through which the bitter winds of a fatalistic dogmatism blow, stop them! If there are poisonous vines that have fastened on its walls, strip them off! It is the faith that we cherish, and not its flaws, nor its parasites. It is a precious faith, a glorious hope, a mighty inspiration that the old Bible offers still to those who will take it in its simplicity and rest in its strong assurances. (Washington Gladden, D. D.)
Nature and office of angels
1. The nature of angels is spiritual (Heb_1:14). This characteristic ranges over the whole chain of spiritual being from man up to God Himself. Being spiritual, they are not only moral, but intelligent. They also excel in strength (Psa_103:20). The holy angels have the full range of action for which their qualities are adapted. They do not grow old or die. They are not a race, and have not a body in the ordinary sense of the term.
2. Their office is expressed by their name. In common with other intelligent creatures, they take part in the worship of God (Rev_7:11). But their special office is to execute the commands of God in the natural world Psa_103:20), and especially to minister to the heirs of salvation Heb_1:14; Mat_18:10; Luk_15:10; Luk_16:22).
3. The angel of Jehovah. This phrase is specially employed to denote the Lord Himself in that form in which He condescends to make Himself manifest to man. For the Lord God says of this angel, Beware of Him, and obey His voice; provoke Him not, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in His inmost (Exo_23:21), that is, My nature is in His essence. Accordingly He who is called the angel of the Lord in one place is otherwise denominated the Lord or God in the immediate context (Gen_16:7; Gen_16:13; Gen_22:11-12; Gen_31:11; Gen_31:13; Gen_48:15-16; Exo_3:2-15; Exo_23:20-23 with 33:14, 15). It is remarkable at the same time that the Lord is spoken of in these cases as a distinct person from the angel of the Lord, who is also called the Lord. The phraseology intimates to us a certain inherent plurality within the essence of the one only God, of which we have had previous indications (Gen_1:1; Gen_1:26; Gen_3:22). The phrase, angel of the Lord, however, indicates a more distant manifestation to man than the term Lord itself. It brings the medium of communication into greater prominence. It seems to denote some person of the Godhead in angelic form. (Prof. J. G. Murphy.)
Hagar
1. In the story of Hagar and her slave-wifehood we have an emblem of the Mosaic Dispensation, which God interposed parenthetically during the long waiting of His Church for the coming of Christ (Rom_5:20; Gal_3:19).
2. Hagar is a symbol of the expedients we make use of to win for ourselves what God seems unwilling to bestow--expedients not always glaringly sinful, but, though customary, yet not the best possible. And this episode warns us that from a Hagar can at best spring an Ishmael (Dods).
3. This narrative solemnly calls us to guard against two apparently opposite sins which Abram and Sarai committed in the matter of Hagar, and which often meet still as temptations to the believer--the sin of distrust, and that of presumption.
4. In the appearance of the Angel of Jehovah to Hagar we have a beautiful example of Gods tenderness towards the erring, and of His gracious readiness to forgive.
5. From Hagars subsequent submission to her mistress we learn that while it is not in nature to rejoice in trial and persecution on their own account, yet so soon as we become persuaded that it is the Lords will that we drink of this cup, and that there will be an abundant recompense hereafter, it does become possible for us to glory in tribulations also.
6. Let us write upon our hearts this name of the Lord: Thou God seest me. To do this is the sum of all religion, the centre of all security, and the source of all happiness. The God who sees us, and who permits us to look upon Himself, is the Angel of the Covenant, our Divine and Human Redeemer. May our eyes meet His every day! (Charles Jerdan, M. A. , LL. B.)
The angels questions
In calling Hagar Sarais maid, he seems tacitly to disallow of the marriage, and to lead her mind back to that humble character which she had formerly sustained. The questions put to her were close, but tender, and such as were fitly addressed to a person fleeing from trouble. The first might be answered, and was answered: I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. But with respect to the last, she is silent. We know our present grievances, and so can tell whence we came, much better than our future lot, or whither we are going. In many cases, if the truth were spoken, the answer would be, from bad to worse. At present, this poor young woman seems to have been actuated by mere natural principles, those of fleeing from misery. In all her trouble, there appears nothing like true religion, or committing her way to the Lord: yet she is sought out of Him whom she sought not. (A. Fuller.)
Submission enjoined
The angel did not say fight it out and let the strong one win. He advised submission, and this is the first instance in which such advice is given in the Scriptures. It is a great Christian law we know, but it is early to find it in Genesis! Submit yourselves one to another for the Lords sake, is a lesson which reads well in the church; but Hagar heard it not under a Gothic roof, half-chanted by surpliced priest, but by a fountain of water in the wilderness, in the way of Shur,--she the only hearer, the angel the priest of God! A good church, too, in which to learn the lesson of submission. I see Hagar taking a draught of the fountain, and trudging home again on weary feet; going back to work among the sharp thorns, and to have words keen as stings thrown at her all the day long. A sorry fate, you say, to be pointed out by an angel! But wait. You do not know all. Who could bear all the ills of any one human life without having some help, some light, some hope? A wonderful word was spoken to the woman--I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. As if he had said--If thou didst know thy destiny, thou wouldst think little of Sarais mocking; it is but a momentary pain; bear it with the heroism of silent patience. And, truly, this same angel speaks to us all. He says, If you will walk in the way of the Lord you shall have blessing after sorrow, as the flowers bloom after the rain; persecution you cannot escape, nor slander, nor cruel words; but your light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. One hour in heaven will banish every sad thought of earth; submit, be patient, and return not evil for evil. Oh, listen to the angel; it is Gods angel: it is God Himself. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Water in the desert
The following extract from Mr. Burleighs graphic account of the march of the British columns from Korti to Metammeh and the Nile, gives a picture of the deprivation of water in the desert, which plainly shows what our soldiers have had to endure in this particular. We started about three a.m., and succeeded in reaching Abu Halfa Wells at noon. We had turned into a ravine in the Galif range to get to the springs. Our first sight of them was dreadfully disappointing. At the foot of a low ledge of rock near a clustering of dying down palms in a black basin of mud lay a little pool of pea-green water, covered with scum. The pool was not more than 20 feet long and 10 feet wide, and a sounding taken with a pole showed it was not over 10 inches deep. The murmur of satisfaction with which we were prepared to greet the blessed water died away in our throats, and we all sadly gathered around the soupy substance that was to serve horse and man for drinking purposes. Inwardly many of us vowed never again, if we lived, to grumble again at the quality of the London supply. Our guide excitedly shouted there was water enough for all, and that it was of excellent quality. Slipping down from his camel he made for a hole three or four feet deep, in which lay, limpid and cool, ten or twenty gallons of good-looking water. A stern sense of duty had impelled Colonel Barrow to place guards over the pool and this well hole, so that the apparently scant supply might be equally distributed, and our guide was driven off. He went, however, but a few feet away, and began digging a hole in the sandy gravel with his hands, and soon unearthed a flow of muddy water. Then it was our faces all brightened, for surely the little watercourse was full of hidden drink. Pannikins, canteens, water bottles, and horse buckets were soon at work, and the men took their turn at dipping and drinking the greenish liquid. The taste was not unpleasant, in spite of its old turtle-soupish appearance and consistency. Before all, it was water, and we drank large draughts until our thirst was quenched. The horses received two bucketfuls each, which they quaffed even more greedily than ourselves. Had we given ten to each animal I believe they would have swallowed every drop and whinnied for more. The clear water in the well was left untouched for the sick, and we found that as we drew from the pool, and reduced its depth a few inches, that quite pellucid springs began to flow in, refilling it almost as rapidly as we used it. The steady drain and the constant dipping into our own tank disturbed the mud, so that in a short time the green tinge merged into brown, and ultimately into black, such as you see in the London gutters after heavy rain. With an unquestioning faith in its virtues we continued to drink the thickened water, inwardly blessing the Arabs for not having poisoned the wells by throwing dead cattle into the pool. That afternoon and night the whole force had abundance of beverage, and coffee and tea flowed once more around our bivouac fires.
Gods presence with His people
I have read, says an old divine, of a company of poor Christians who were banished into some remote part, and one standing by, seeing them pass along, said that it was a very sad condition those poor people were in, to be thus hurried from the society of men, and made companions with the beasts of the field. True, said another, it were a sad condition indeed if they were carried to a place where they should not find their God; but let them be of good cheer, God goes along with them, and will exhibit the comforts of His presence whithersoever they go. Gods presence with His people is a spring that never fails.
The beautiful man
A little boy, the only child of a poor woman, one day fell into the fire by accident, during his mothers absence from the cottage, and was so badly burned that he died after a few hours suffering. The clergyman of the parish did not hear of the accident until the child was dead. He went, however, to try and console and comfort the mother. To his great surprise he found her very calm and patient and resigned. After a little conversation she told him how that God had sent her wonderful comfort. She had been weeping bitterly as she knelt beside her childs cot, when suddenly the boy exclaimed, Mother, dont cry; dont you see the beautiful man who is standing there and waiting for me? She told the clergyman that she thought it must have been the Lord Jesus. The angels in heaven care for, wait upon, and minister unto Christs people below.
Goodness of God in affliction
A Sunday school teacher with the movable alphabet put together the sentence, The Lord is good to all, and required his class to repeat it. One little fellow refused. The teacher asked his reason. He said because it was not true. God is not good to father nor to me. He has taken my little brother away, and father is home crying about it. The teacher explained that God in love had taken the little brother to a better home, and would take him and his father to join him if they loved the Saviour. The child said, Oh, Ill go and tell father, and at once ran to him with his lesson and comfort. It consoled and benefited both father and child.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Gen_16:6. Dealt hardly.] Heb. Afflicted her. The word is…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_16:6. Dealt hardly.] Heb. Afflicted her. The word is too strong to indicate merely the employment of sharp and reproachful expressions; acts of oppression are intended.
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Gen_16:7. The angel of the Lord.] This remarkable title occurs here for the first time in the O.T. Here it is evidently to be understood of God Himself. (Gen_16:13.) God, who is Himself invisible, visited her under the appearance of an angel, the Angel of the Covenant—the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity who has ever manifested God to men. Alford regards this identity as probable, but not to be held as an ascertained fact:—“We know who it is that is the shining out of the Father’s glory, and the expressed stamp of His Deity (Heb_1:3), even the Divine Word, who is the Declaration of the Father to man. (Joh_1:18; Joh_14:9.) But the more we feel this in our hearts, the more lightly and reverently should such thoughts be touched. It has not pleased God positively to declare to us that it was the Divine Son who was present in these Divine appearances, and therefore we should not on our parts positively declare, nor build systems upon it.” Shur. “Hagar seems to have made her way towards Egypt, as if aiming to return thither. Her route lay from Hebron, through the wilderness of Shur, which stretched from the south-west corner of Palestine to the head of the Red Sea. There is a caravan road through this wilderness or desert to this day.” (Jacobus.)
Gen_16:9. Submit thyself.] Heb. Humble, or afflict thyself. This is the same word which occurs in Gen_16:6, and is there rendered “dealt hardly with.”
Gen_16:10. I will multiply thy seed exceedingly.] Heb. Multiplying, I will multiply thy seed. Thus the Angel claims to be God.
Gen_16:11. A son.] “The hope of a Hebrew household lay in the son, as the representative of the family name, and the protector and perpetuator of the family line. A daughter was held in small estimation among the Orientals.” (Jacobus.) Ishmael. Heb. God will hear; or as it is interpreted immediately, God hath heard. The L
XX. has, God hath given heed to thy affliction. The Chal. Hath received thy prayer. Targ. Jon. Thine affliction is revealed before the Lord. This is the first instance of a name being given by Divine direction before birth.
Gen_16:12. A wild man.] Heb. A wild ass man. Targ. Onk. A wild ass among men. “The raving fierceness of the wild ass of the desert is described. (Job_6:5; Job_24:5; Job_39:5; Job_39:8; Psa_104:11; Isa_32:14.) The A.V., by omitting the central word in the sentence, loses altogether the point in the prophecy.” (Alford.) His hand will be against every man, and, every man’s hand against him. As this could not be literally true of any individual man, we must have here the prophetic description of a race. The Ishmaelites (whose representatives are the modern Arabs) were and still are noted for their frequent quarrels amongst themselves. One of their national proverbs is, “In the desert everyone is everyone’s enemy.” And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. The Heb. for “dwell” signifies “to dwell in tents.” This is still the manner of life of a portion of the Arab tribes. In the presence of is interpreted by Delitzsch as rather meaning to the east of, but Kalisch, and other commentators, render as in the text, and understand it as describing “the wide and almost indefinite extent of territories through which the Bedouins roam, so that they seem to be everywhere before the eyes of their brethren.” (Alford.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_16:7-12
PROVIDENCE AND THE OUTCAST
Hagar chooses rather to brave the dangers of the wilderness than to remain any longer under the tyranny of her mistress. She undertakes a wild journey, insensible to the real dangers which lay before her. The extremity of her misery is God’s opportunity. His Providence interfered to comfort and console—that Providence which does not desert even the outcast and the miserable.
I. Providence finds them. “And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness. (Gen_16:7.) God brought help to this fugitive and outcast by the ministry of an angel, and He still interferes on behalf of such though the agencies of His Providence are unseen.
1. There are occasions in human life when the Providence of God specially manifests itself. The care and concern of God for His creatures is watchful and constant. Infinite power cannot be wearied, nor can infinite skill pause in its designs through perplexity. The action of God towards His creatures never intermits. But from our point of view, there are times when God’s providential interference is distinctly manifest. This happens usually in the season of great trouble, when we are driven to our wits’ end. When all human resources fail we obtain a more distinct view of the operation of God. By the checks to our happiness in this life we are taught that there is a Power above us. Providence is sure to find us at some time or other of our lives.
2. That Providence finds us for a purpose of mercy. Hagar was now at her worst estate, in the most lonely and miserable condition, on the point of perishing in the wilderness. God revealed Himself, not as the lightning’s flash reveals the awfulness of a shipwreck, but in order to show His tenderness and compassion. He had “heard her affliction,” and sent His angel to comfort and console. In all our wanderings God finds us to the end that He might bring us back to Himself.
3. That Providence is minute in its care and knowledge. The angel calls Hagar by name; asks her questions, not for information, but to draw out her honest reply, and to produce the feeling that she was specially cared for. (Gen_16:8.) We think of all the departments of Providence as classes of things and persons over which God exercises care and dominion. It is a necessity of our mind to view the subject in this way, for our knowledge of individuals and particulars is limited. For the convenience of our thought we include much in our words, but the impressions made upon our minds are thereby less vivid. There is no such infirmity with infinite knowledge. God is under no necessity to conceive of persons and things as great wholes, but knows perfectly and intimately all the parts of which they are composed. He calleth the stars by their names. It is difficult for us to believe in this special knowledge and care of God for us, His dominion being so wide and long, extending over all time and space. Hence the necessity of revealed religion to teach us that God’s government over all His creatures is not a heartless routine, but proceeds upon an exact knowledge of the condition and wants of each. Without this faith we should feel ourselves but at the mercy of a ponderous machine, whose wheels would crush us if we could not get out of their way. Man, in his misery, might utter a complaint against ruthless force, but could appeal to no heart of compassion, nor behold an eye of regard and pity turned upon him. God’s voice must be heard within the soul in tones of mercy, or else the greatness of His majesty would make us afraid. As the telescope shows us God’s attention to the infinitely great, so the microscope shows us His care for the infinitely small. It is one of the purposes of revelation to teach us the personal interest which God takes in us. Hence Christ is the Shepherd “who calleth His own sheep by name.” (Joh_10:3.)
II. Providence teaches them. All the ways of God with men are for the purpose of enlightening them with the light of the living. They are intended to impart to us, not that kind of knowledge which satisfies curiosity, but that which is needful to correct our sinful courses, and to teach us our duty.
1. Lessons of reproof. “And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence comest thou? and whither wilt thou go?” (Gen_16:8.) Thus the folly of our own ways is brought home to us, and the dark suggestion of a future, hiding in it unknown troubles, is forced upon our mind. “Whither wilt thou go?” When the past and the future like two gulfs overwhelm us, then is the time to give ear to God if haply we may hear some words of mercy and hope. In all God’s reproofs of our way wardness and folly, conscience approves. “And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai.” However we may be pained at them, or rebel against them, we know that the chidings of God are just and right, and that sin must end in our destruction.
2. Lessons of instruction and guidance. Hagar was told to return to her mistress and submit herself under her hands. (Gen_16:9.) Thus it is only in the humble ways of duty that we can fulfil God’s pleasure and serve Him. If we have quitted the place of duty, or the place of religious privileges, we must return. Though in such a lot there is much that is unpleasant, and that we would gladly avoid, yet this is our calling of God, and we forsake it at our peril. The Church of God is a home for the lonely and the wanderer.
III. Providence inspires hope in them. Hagar was informed by the Angel that she should be the mother of a numerous race, which was destined to act an important part in the history of mankind. The very name of the son which was to be born to her was to preserve the memory of God’s gracious dealings with her. (Gen_16:10-12.) God cannot impart to us the future in the present, but He gives us what is next to it, that principle of hope which links the present with the future. Thus our soul is sustained amidst the varied trials of life, and we are kept in the attitude of waiting upon God. Without hope in the future, Providence would be a dark enigma. We take refuge in the thought of that goodness which God has laid up for us when we are oppressed by the apparent exceptions to His goodness here. All are not called to the same kind of destiny to which Hagar was appointed. It is given but to the few to act the part of principals in the affairs of human history. But God deals with all so as to give them an interest in the future. No soul can listen to God’s voice and obey His will without being inspired by an unquenchable hope which gives it an interest in all that eternal ages shall unfold.
1. The lowest and most despised have some purpose of Providence to serve. God has His plan concerning them also, and they are needed to work out the great designs of His will. They are called to answer some wise and worthy end. God does not design that the life of any creature made in His own image should be aimless. The thought that we have some Divine purpose to serve should inspire us with the hope that a great future is reserved for us. Until God’s plan concerning the human race is completed it is impossible for us to estimate the real importance of single lives, however humble they may be in the ordinary view of mankind.
2. All who have consciously felt the action of a Divine Providence have some memorial of God’s goodness. Hagar was commanded to give her son a name which was ever to preserve the memory of God’s compassion in her misery. If we have been made to feel that there is a Divine Providence over our lives, we can recount such instances. God has heard our affliction, and calls us to the inheritance of a noble future. The Angel of the Covenant met Hagar and announced the destined purpose of her life; and Christ now meets the sinner, apprehends him as He did St. Paul, so that he, too, may apprehend the purpose of his calling.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_16:7. The Lord finds sinners when they lose themselves.
Egypt, to which Hagar was fleeing, was the representative of the world kingdom. The Angel of the Covenant still arrests sinners while they are on their way to join His enemies. Thus Saul was met while he was bent on his journey to persecute the saints.
Christ often finds human souls, and brings them to Himself, when this world becomes a desert to them and no earthly hope is left.
Abram and his wife were of the family of God—the Church that then was. The Church has, through mistaken zeal, persecuted men and made them outcasts and wanderers. But this cannot shut such out from the Divine mercy and regard.
There are junctures in our lives where God’s Providence manifestly crosses our path. It is as if an angel met us. In the wilderness the fugitive meets with a better friend. She wanders on in her solitary way, weary of the heat and toil of travel, and half repenting of the hasty step she had taken. At last she sits down beside one of the fountains of water which, with their little spots of freshness around them, form the grateful resting places for the worn and fainting traveller in the desert, as the burning sun beats upon his aching head, or the shades of evening invite his exhausted limbs to rest. There, as she meditates at leisure and alone, the excitement of angry strife having passed away, many bitter thoughts crowd upon her mind. The pride which sustained her is gone, and her spirit is mortified and tamed. She cannot now find support in justifying herself and blaming others. Her heart is beginning to yearn towards the home in which she has dwelt so long in peace, and which, for all that had passed, might still, through God’s mercy, and the mutual forgiveness and forbearance of His erring servants, have proved to her a refuge of holy tranquillity and repose. While feelings like these are swelling her bosom and dimming her eye, a heavenly stranger unexpectedly stands beside her, and a heavenly voice reaches her ear. Trained in the household of one familiar with such divine fellowship, Hagar easily recognises the Angel of the Lord; the Being of whose visits she has heard her master speak.—(Candlish.)
The angel of the Lord finds Hagar; that pre-supposes he had sought her (Deu_32:10). God meets thee in thy desert; He comes to thee in thy conscience; He kindles in thee the sparks into a flame, and comes to thy help in His grace.—(Lange.)
Gen_16:8. When Hagar found her name familiarly called by One who knew her state and occupation, and the purposes of her mind, she must have been impressed that the voice which had spoken to her was more than mortal. When we hear a voice within telling us what we are, and convincing us of the folly of going on in our own way, we know that God has spoken to us.
In calling Hagar “Sarai’s maid,” he seems tacitly to disallow of the marriage, and to lead her mind back to that humble character which she had formerly sustained. The questions put to her were close, but tender, and such as were fitly addressed to a person fleeing from trouble. The first might be answered, and was answered: “I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai.” But with respect to the last, she is silent. We know our present grievances, and so can tell “whence we came” much better than our future lot, or “whither we are going.” In many cases, if the truth were spoken, the answer would be, From bad to worse. At present this poor young woman seems to have been actuated by mere natural principles, those of fleeing from misery. In all her trouble there appears nothing like true religion, or committing her way to the Lord: yet she is sought out of Him whom she sought not.—(Fuller.)
By nature we are homeless, and wandering in uncertainty; it is a turning point in our moral history when we can put the question to ourselves, From whence have we come, and whither are we going. Like the prodigal, we have left our Father’s house, and we can have no true peace or joy till we return thither.
When God’s light shines in upon us, conscience answers faithfully; and though we may be alarmed, yet we need not be dismayed; for that light, though revealing, is kindly.
God never questions us to increase the misery of our condition, but to bring us back to Himself.
She recognises her old and true relation to her “mistress Sarai.” This would indicate some softening of her spirit, left, as she was, to her reflection, and cast out upon that dreary desert alone, and now also met by the Covenant Angel, who was ready to counsel her, and to do her good. If her heart was now humbled so as to own her mistress, and cease her proud boasting over her, why might she not return? She would probably have perished on the route of weariness and thirst.—(Jacobus.)
Gen_16:9. The injunction of the angel to Hagar was to return and submit. The reason was, that she had done wrong in despising her mistress, and by her exposure in endangering the fruit of her womb, and now she must be humbled for it. Hard as this might appear, it was the counsel of wisdom and mercy. A connection with the people of God, with all their faults, is preferable to the best of this world where God is unknown. If we have done wrong, whatever temptations or provocations we have met with, the only way to peace and happiness is to retrace our footsteps in repentance and submission.—(Bush.)
Religion does not place us above the duties arising from the social relationships of human life.
It is in the humble ways of duty that we can best glorify God. It is enough if we are faithful in that which is least. We should resist the temptation of seeking large places and occasions in which to do our duty.
The angel, in commanding Hagar to return to duty, virtually promised her support and favour under it. All God’s commands are really promises to those who obey them. Therefore, we should not hesitate to follow at God’s command, though the prospect may seem uninviting.
Abram was to become a blessing to Hagar as he had been to Lot (ch. 12). It is best for us to dwell with those whom God has appointed to minister to us spiritual good.
The household of God on earth is not perfect. The operations of divine grace are here complicated with human passion and infirmity. Still, this is the place of our greatest safety, and where our souls can thrive best.
The Angel of the Covenant is still inviting wanderers home—calling them out of the wilderness of this world into His own chosen family. It is when we are toiling and labouring for very vanity, with nothing but the wildest chances before us, that He invites us to come to Him.
God’s favourable time for speaking to our souls often is in the time of our affliction, when the desert is about us, and every other voice is hushed.
When God appears, it is not for the end that He might gratify our curiosity, but to instruct us in the humble tasks of duty.
Gen_16:10-11. In God’s gracious dealings with mankind comfort follows counsel.
The angel-speaker here adopts a style suited only to the Deity, and for Hagar’s encouragement, gives her grounds to expect a portion of Abram’s blessing, of which she must often have heard—viz., a numerous offspring. This was the prompting of Divine benignity; for it is clear that the language of absolute authority might have been used without any intermingling of gracious promises; but God delights rather to win than to compel the hearts of His people into the ways of obedience.—(Bush.)
It was in God’s plan to increase the family of Abram in the Iœhmael branch for Abram’s sake. This son is to be trained in the family of the patriarch in order to be capable of obtaining the measure of blessing reserved for him. Here is a memorial in his very name of that Divine interposition to which his life, first and last, would be due. And whether Hagar distinctly prayed to God or not, He heard her groans and sighs, and came to her relief for the Covenant’s sake.—(Jacobus.)
This is the first instance of a name given by Divine direction before birth, though many such instances occur hereafter. It is remarkable that God is not said to have heard her prayer, for it does not appear that she had yet called upon His name. She merely sat bewailing herself, as not knowing what to do. Yet, lo, the ear of mercy is open to what we may term the silent voice of affliction itself. The groans of the prisoner are heard of God, not only theirs who cry unto Him, but, in many cases, theirs who do not. See a parallel case (Gen_21:17).—(Bush.)
God is pleased with such memorials as cause us to remember His mercy.
Gen_16:12. Nations of the most diverse character owe their origin alike to the will of Providence.
Those nations which have become the plagues of mankind may yet boast of manifest instances of God’s mercy.
The descendants of Ishmael have been for ages the enemies and tormentors of the Church of God. They have oppressed its children and retarded its progress. Thus the worldly policy of Abram has spread itself out disastrously in human history.
He will be a wild ass which is fierce, untractable, and untameable. And such by nature is every mother’s child of us (Job_11:12) “a wild ass’s colt.” An ass is none of the wisest of creatures, much less an ass’s colt; least of all, a wild ass’s colt. Lo, such is man.—(Trapp.)
Their character drawn by the pen of inspiration (Job_24:5), exactly corresponds with this view of their dispositions and conduct. Savage and stubborn as the wild ass, which inhabits the same wilderness, they go forth on the horse or the dromedary, with inconceivable swiftness in quest of their prey. Initiated in the trade of a robber from their earliest years, they know no other employment; they choose it as the business of their life, and prosecute it with unwearied activity. They start before the dawn to invade the village or the caravan; make their attack with desperate courage and surprising rapidity; and plunging instantly into the desert, escape from the vengeance of their enemies. Provoked by their continual insults, the nations of ancient and modern times have often invaded their country with powerful armies, determined to extirpate, or, at least, to subdue them to their yoke; but they always return baffled and disappointed. The savage freebooters, disdaining every idea of submission, with invincible patience and resolution maintained their independence; and they have transmitted it unimpared to the present times. In spite of all their enemies can do to restrain them, they continue to dwell in the presence of all their brethren, and to assert their right to insult and plunder everyone they meet with on the borders or within the limits of their domains.—(Paxton.)
Every addition to our knowledge of Arabia and its inhabitants confirms more strongly the Biblical statements. These Ishmaelites became formidable in history under the name of Saracens. They marched out to curb the world to their dominion, and to force the nations to their faith; they inundated Persia, the districts east of the Caspian Sea and India; they carried their victorious arms into Syria and Egypt and the interior of Africa; they occupied Spain and Portugal, Sicily and Sardinia, and have beyond their native tracts ascended more than a hundred thrones. Although they sent presents of incense to Persia, and of cattle to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, they were never subjected to the Persian empire. They are expressly mentioned as independent allies. Nor had the Assyrian and Babylonian kings more than transitory power over small portions of their tribes. Here the ambition of Alexander the Great and of his successors received an insuperable check, and a Roman expedition in the time of Augustus totally failed. The Bedouins have remained essentially unaltered since the time of the Hebrews and the Greeks.—(Kalisch.)
God has provided that the separate existence and persistent characteristics of some nations shall be a standing witness to the truth of the early records of Revelation. The Bible has rich evidence in the external facts of human life, as well as in the native excellence and force of its spiritual truths. For upwards of four thousand years has this prophetic voice been made audible to mankind in the history of this people. How lasting is the Word of God!
Those of an alien faith and nation may still be our brethren, for they too can speak of mercies from a common Father.
Before the eyes of civilised nations God has provided evidences of His faithfulness through many generations.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain angel (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
angel (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Return of Hagar and the Birth of Ishmael
The Return of Hagar and the Birth of Ishmael
v. 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. The providence of the Lord was watching over this erring child. The great Angel of the Lord, the Son of God as He often appeared in the Old Testament, went out and found her by a spring of water near Shur, on the way to Egypt, her old home.
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v. 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. From the entire story it is apparent that the angel speaking with Hagar is not an ordinary, created angel, but the Son of God, who even in the Old Testament was near His people and proved a very effective help to the patriarchs of Israel. Upon His calling Hagar by name and demanding an account of her coming and going, the slave gave a truthful answer. She herself was probably a believer in the true God, as a member of Abram’s home congregation.
v. 9. And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. The Lord having brought Hagar to a sense of her real position in the house of Abram, namely, that she was Sarai’s maid, not Abram’s wife, now bids her return to her duty, to humble herself under her mistress’s hand.
v. 10. And the Angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. First the call to duty, then the gracious promise, one which was especially welcome to the Oriental mother, and ought to be to the mothers of all time.
v. 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 hath heard thy affliction.
v. 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. Because the fruit of her body was the seed of Abram, Hagar was to return to her mistress, and for the sake of his father the promise of innumerable progeny is given. The very name of her son is given her, namely, Ishmael, "God hears," because the Lord had heeded the cry of her misery and distress. This son should, moreover, unlike his mother, be free from the oppression of men, as free as the wild ass of the deserts, wild-roving and untamable; and his descendants would be characterized by the ceaseless feuds between themselves and with their neighbors, as they dwelt in the presence of their brethren, of the children of Israel, to whom they were a constant menace and challenge. To this day the Ishmaelites are in unimpaired, free possession of the great peninsula lying between the Euphrates, the Isthmus of Suez, and the Red Sea, whence they have spread over wide districts in North Africa and Southern Asia.
v. 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?
v. 14. Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. Hagar realized that it was no ordinary angel that had spoken with her, as her confession shows, for she calls Him: Thou art a God that sees me; for His all-seeing eye had not overlooked the helpless and forsaken, even in that remote corner of the desert. She had experienced the goodness and mercy of the Lord: she had had the privilege of seeing and speaking with Him that had looked after her and protected her. The incident even gave a name to the spring in the desert, since it was afterward known as "the well of Him that lives and sees me. " It is located in the wilderness, south of Beersheba.
v. 15. And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
v. 16. And Abram was fourscore and six yearn old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. To the son which Hagar bore after her return to his house, Abram, then eighty-six years old, gave the name Ishmael, the mother undoubtedly having given him an account of the occurrence in the desert which caused her to return. Thus the places and the times which remind us of special acts of God’s goodness and mercy are written in the memories of the believers, and ever and again cause them to break forth in prayers of thankfulness.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The angel of Yahweh
The angel of Yahweh
Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh made himself look like an angel or 2) this was one of Yahweh's angels or 3) this was a special messenger from God (some scholars think it was Jesus). Since the phrase is not well understood, it is best to simply translate it as "the angel of Yahweh" using the normal word that you use for "angel."
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wilderness
The wilderness area she went to was a desert. AT: "desert"
Shur
This was the name of a place south of Canaan and east of Egypt.
my mistress
Here this refers to Sarai. A mistress has authority over her slave. See how "her mistress" is translated in Genesis 16:4. AT: "my owner"
translationWords
angel
Yahweh
desert
Hagar
Sarah
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 16:7 The angel of the Lord was the Lord…
16:7 The angel of the Lord was the Lord himself (16:13; 21:17; 22:11-12; 31:11-13; 48:16; Exod 3:2; 32:34; Judg 6:11, 16, 22; 13:22-23; Zech 3:1-2) but was also distinct from the Lord (Gen 24:7; 2 Sam 24:16; Zech 1:12). The angel of the Lord was probably a theophany (a manifestation of God) or a Christophany (an appearance of the pre-incarnate Messiah; see Gen 18:1-2; 19:1; Num 22:22; Judg 2:1-4; 5:23; Zech 12:8), speaking with the authority of the Lord himself.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.