Genesis 16:2
in Genesis 16So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSome might still be struck by the fact that Abraham had a relationship with his slave girl when he was already conversing with God, as it is written: "Sarah said to Abraham, 'See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid to make children from her.' " And this is exactly what happened. But we should consider first of all that Abraham lived prior to the law of Moses and before the gospel; adultery, it seems, was not yet prohibited at this time.
This site's exposition
had borne him no children
on Genesis 16:1-2
Hagar is an Egyptian, and the last maidservants Genesis named were the ones Pharaoh loaded on Abram at the end of chapter 12. Sarai proposes a family built through her servant, and Abram listens to the voice of Sarai, the wording of the charge God laid against Adam at 3:17. Hagar has no voice in the plan.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
The apostle saw in these women the type of the two covenants, in accordance with the rule of allegory, but since what the text narrates actually took place, the literal sense also deserves consideration.
(Chapter 16, Verse 2) Behold, the Lord has made me barren, so go in to my maidservant; perhaps I shall obtain children by her. Take careful note that the procreation of children is written in Hebrew as building. For it is read there: Go in to my maidservant, that I may perhaps build through her. And see, lest perhaps this is what is said in Exodus: God blessed the midwives, and they built houses for themselves (Exodus 1:20).
As for the anagogical [mystical] teaching, one could explain the text by recalling that Paul allegorically transposed the two women into the two covenants.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Herein, though he may be excused, 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 their families, for the speedier peopling of the world.
(2.) It is for want of a firm dependence upon God's promise, and a patient waiting for God's time, that we go out of the way of our duty to catch at expected mercy. He that believes does not make haste. Abram's compliance with Sarai's proposal, we have reason to think, was from an earnest desire of the promised seed, on whom the covenant should be entailed.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Sarai said unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Go in unto my maid - It must not be forgotten that female slaves constituted a part of the private patrimony or possessions of a wife, and that she had a right, according to the usages of those times, to dispose of them as she pleased, the husband having no authority in the case. I may obtain children by her - The slave being the absolute property of the mistress, not only her person, but the fruits of her labor, with all her children, were her owner’s property also.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֨אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שָׂרַ֜י | sarai | Sarai | H8297 → | 17 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבְרָ֗ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| הִנֵּה־ | hineh- | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָ֞א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עֲצָרַ֤נִי | ʾatzarani | he has restrained me | H6113 → | 47 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִלֶּ֔דֶת | miledet | from bearing children | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בֹּא־ | bo'- | go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| נָא֙ | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שִׁפְחָתִ֔י | shifchati | maidservant my | H8198 → | 63 times |
| אוּלַ֥י | ʾulai | perhaps | H194 → | 45 times |
| אִבָּנֶ֖ה | ʾibaneh | I will be built up | H1129 → | 376 times |
| מִמֵּ֑נָּה | mimenah | from her | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע | vaiyishma' | and he listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אַבְרָ֖ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| לְק֥וֹל | lekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| שָׂרָֽי׃ | sarai | Sarai | H8297 → | 17 times |
וַתֹּ֨אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
שָׂרַ֜יSarai
saraiH8297 →17 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַבְרָ֗םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
הִנֵּה־here!
hineh-H2009 →843 times
נָ֞אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עֲצָרַ֤נִיhe has restrained me
ʾatzaraniH6113 →47 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִלֶּ֔דֶתfrom bearing children
miledetH3205 →496 times
בֹּא־go
bo'-H935 →2568 times
נָא֙please
na'H4994 →404 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שִׁפְחָתִ֔יmaidservant my
shifchatiH8198 →63 times
אוּלַ֥יperhaps
ʾulaiH194 →45 times
אִבָּנֶ֖הI will be built up
ʾibanehH1129 →376 times
מִמֵּ֑נָּהfrom her
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
וַיִּשְׁמַ֥עand he listened
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
אַבְרָ֖םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
לְק֥וֹלto [the] voice of
lekolH6963 →506 times
שָׂרָֽי׃Sarai
saraiH8297 →17 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 3:17And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because…
it leads to
- Romans 8:20–22
For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
- Genesis 5:29
And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
- Isaiah 24:5–6
The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Ecclesiastes 2:22–23
For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
- Romans 8:20–22
Through
Genesis 3:12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- James 1:13–15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
- Proverbs 28:13
Through
Genesis 18:10Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the…
it leads to
- Genesis 21:2
So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
- Genesis 17:21
But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
- Genesis 21:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 235; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 235-36; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.