Genesis 16:15
in Genesis 16And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bare, Ishmael.
KJV
And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
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This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Hagar bare Abram a son, etc. - It appears, therefore, that Hagar returned at the command of the angel, believing the promise that God had made to her.
This site's exposition
Hagar bore Abram a son
on Genesis 16:15-16
Her return is reported only by the child's birth. Abram names the boy Ishmael, a name he was never given, so what was spoken at the spring reached him from her. He is eighty-six here and ninety-nine when God speaks again, and Genesis leaves those thirteen years silent.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Augustine of HippoThe City of God (Book XV), Chapter 2 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
There was indeed on earth, so long as it was needed, a symbol and foreshadowing image of this city, which served the purpose of reminding men that such a city was to be rather than of making it present; and this image was itself called the holy city, as a symbol of the future city, though not itself the reality. Of this city which served as an image, and of that free city it typified, Paul writes to the Galatians in these terms: "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond maid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break forth and cry, you that travail not, for the desolate has many more children than she which has an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what says the Scripture? Cast out the bond woman and her son: for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. And we, brethren, are not children of the bond woman, but of the free, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." [Galatians 4:21-31] This interpretation of the passage, handed down to us with apostolic authority, shows how we ought to understand the Scriptures of the two covenants — the old and the new.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Hagar bare Abram a son,....
Herein, though some excuse may be made for him, he cannot be justified, for from the beginning it was not so; and, when it was so, it seems to have proceeded from an irregular desire to build up families for the speedier peopling of the world and the church.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Beer lahai means the well of him who will be alive next year. 23 According to Bachya, I.E.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֵּ֧לֶד | vateled | and she bore | H3205 → | 496 times |
| הָגָ֛ר | hagar | Hagar | H1904 → | 12 times |
| לְאַבְרָ֖ם | leavram | to Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| בֵּ֑ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֨א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אַבְרָ֧ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| שֶׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בְּנ֛וֹ | beno | son his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָלְדָ֥ה | yaldah | she had borne | H3205 → | 496 times |
| הָגָ֖ר | hagar | Hagar | H1904 → | 12 times |
| יִשְׁמָעֵֽאל׃ | yishmael | Ishmael | H3458 → | 48 times |
וַתֵּ֧לֶדand she bore
vateledH3205 →496 times
הָגָ֛רHagar
hagarH1904 →12 times
לְאַבְרָ֖םto Abram
leavramH87 →61 times
בֵּ֑ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אַבְרָ֧םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
שֶׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
בְּנ֛וֹson his
benoH1121 →4930 times
אֲשֶׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יָלְדָ֥הshe had borne
yaldahH3205 →496 times
הָגָ֖רHagar
hagarH1904 →12 times
יִשְׁמָעֵֽאל׃Ishmael
yishmaelH3458 →48 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make…
it leads to
- Genesis 21:13
But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 21:18
Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
- Genesis 25:12–18
This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
- Genesis 16:10–12
Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”
- Genesis 21:13
Through
Genesis 28:9Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
it leads to
- Genesis 36:3
and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
- Genesis 36:3
Through
Genesis 25:9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
it leads to
- Genesis 50:13
They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
- Genesis 35:29
Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
- Genesis 50:13
Through
Genesis 25:12This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
it leads to
- Psalms 83:6
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,
- Psalms 83:6
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XV), Chapter 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.