Genesis 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 16
Birth of Ishmael.[a] 1 Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children. Now she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.(A) 2 Sarai said to Abram: “The Lord has kept me from bearing children. Have intercourse with my maid; perhaps I will have sons through her.” Abram obeyed Sarai.[b](B) 3 Thus, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, his wife Sarai took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. 4 He had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. As soon as Hagar knew she was pregnant, her mistress lost stature in her eyes.[c](C) 5 (D)So Sarai said to Abram: “This outrage against me is your fault. I myself gave my maid to your embrace; but ever since she knew she was pregnant, I have lost stature in her eyes. May the Lord decide between you and me!” 6 Abram told Sarai: “Your maid is in your power. Do to her what you regard as right.” Sarai then mistreated her so much that Hagar ran away from her.
7 The Lord’s angel[d] found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur,(E) 8 and he asked, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress, Sarai.” 9 But the Lord’s angel told her: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority. 10 I will make your descendants so numerous,” added the Lord’s angel, “that they will be too many to count.”(F) 11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her:
“You are now pregnant and shall bear a son;
you shall name him Ishmael,[e]
For the Lord has heeded your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
Alongside[f] all his kindred
shall he encamp.”(G)
13 To the Lord who spoke to her she gave a name, saying, “You are God who sees me”;[g] she meant, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after he saw me?”(H) 14 That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi.[h] It is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named the son whom Hagar bore him Ishmael.(I) 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Footnotes
- 16:1–16 In the previous chapter Abraham was given a timetable of possession of the land, but nothing was said about when the child was to be born. In this chapter, Sarah takes matters into her own hands, for she has been childless ten years since the promise (cf. 12:4 with 16:16). The story is about the two women, Sarah the infertile mistress and Hagar the fertile slave; Abraham has only a single sentence. In the course of the story, God intervenes directly on the side of Hagar, for she is otherwise without resources.
- 16:2 The custom of an infertile wife providing her husband with a concubine to produce children is widely attested in ancient Near Eastern law; e.g., an Old Assyrian marriage contract states that the wife must provide her husband with a concubine if she does not bear children within two years.
- 16:4 Because barrenness was at that time normally blamed on the woman and regarded as a disgrace, it is not surprising that Hagar looks down on Sarah. Ancient Near Eastern legal practice addresses such cases of insolent slaves and allows disciplining of them. Prv 30:23 uses as an example of intolerable behavior “a maidservant when she ousts her mistress.”
- 16:7 The Lord’s angel: a manifestation of God in human form; in v. 13 the messenger is identified with God. See note on Ex 3:2.
- 16:11 Ishmael: in Hebrew the name means “God has heard.” It is the same Hebrew verb that is translated “heeded” in the next clause. In other ancient Near Eastern texts, the name commemorated the divine answer to the parents’ prayer to have a child, but here it is broadened to mean that God has “heard” Hagar’s plight. In vv. 13–14, the verb “to see” is similarly broadened to describe God’s special care for those in need.
- 16:12 Alongside: lit., “against the face of”; the same phrase is used of the lands of Ishmael’s descendants in 25:18. It can be translated “in opposition to” (Dt 21:16; Jb 1:11; 6:28; 21:31), but here more likely means that Ishmael’s settlement was near but not in the promised land.
- 16:13 God who sees me: Hebrew el-ro’i is multivalent, meaning either “God of seeing,” i.e., extends his protection to me, or “God sees,” which can imply seeing human suffering (29:32; Ex 2:25; Is 57:18; 58:3). It is probable that Hagar means to express both of these aspects. Remained alive: for the ancient notion that a person died on seeing God, see Gn 32:31; Ex 20:19; Dt 4:33; Jgs 13:22.
- 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi: possible translations of the name of the well include: “spring of the living one who sees me”; “the well of the living sight”; or “the one who sees me lives.” See note on v. 13.
創世記 16
Revised Chinese Union Version (Traditional Script) Shen Edition
夏甲與以實瑪利
16 亞伯蘭的妻子撒萊沒有為他生孩子。撒萊有一個婢女，是埃及人，名叫夏甲。 2 撒萊對亞伯蘭說：「看哪，耶和華使我不能生育。你來和我的婢女同房，也許我可以從她得孩子[a]。」亞伯蘭聽從了撒萊的話。 3 於是亞伯蘭的妻子撒萊把她的婢女，埃及人夏甲，給了丈夫為妾；那時亞伯蘭在迦南已經住了十年。 4 亞伯蘭與夏甲同房，夏甲就懷了孕。她看見自己有孕，就輕視她的女主人。 5 撒萊對亞伯蘭說：「我因你受了委屈。我把我的婢女放在你懷中，她見自己懷了孕，就輕視我。願耶和華在你我之間判斷。」 6 亞伯蘭對撒萊說：「看哪，婢女在你手裏，你可以照你看為好的對待她。」於是，撒萊虐待她，她就從撒萊面前逃走了。
7 耶和華的使者在曠野的水泉旁，在書珥路上的水泉旁遇見夏甲， 8 對她說：「撒萊的婢女夏甲，你從哪裏來？要到哪裏去？」她說：「我從我的女主人撒萊面前逃出來。」 9 耶和華的使者對她說：「你要回到你的女主人那裏，屈服在她手下。」 10 耶和華的使者對她說：
「我必使你的後裔極其繁多，
多到不可勝數。」
11 耶和華的使者又對她說：
13 夏甲就稱那向她說話的耶和華為「你是看見[d]的 神」，因為她說：「他看見了我之後，我還能在這裏看見他嗎？」 14 所以這井名叫庇耳‧拉海‧萊[e]，看哪，它位於加低斯和巴列的中間。
15 後來夏甲為亞伯蘭生了一個兒子；亞伯蘭給夏甲生的兒子起名叫以實瑪利。 16 夏甲為亞伯蘭生以實瑪利的時候，亞伯蘭年八十六歲。
Genesis 16
King James Version
16 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
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.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
9 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
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和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.