Genesis 16:4
in Genesis 16And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
KJV
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
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This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived,.... The formality of the marriage being over, he enjoyed her as his wife, and she immediately conceived by him: and when she saw that she had conceived; when she perceived that she was with child: her mistress was despised in her eyes; she thought herself above her, and treated her as her inferior, with contempt, and reproached her for her barrenness, as Peninnah did Hannah, 1Sa 1:6; and it was the more ungrateful, as it was at the motion of her mistress that she was given to Abram for wife.
This site's exposition
after he had lived in Canaan for ten years
on Genesis 16:3-4
The writer counts the years, ten in Canaan since God spoke. Sarai took Hagar and gave her to Abram, the same two verbs Genesis used of Eve at the tree in 3:6. The plan works at once, and Hagar conceives and begins to despise her mistress.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
It was not because he was ablaze with the heat of some unbridled passion, not because he was overcome by the charm of seductive beauty that Abraham gave preference to a relationship with a slave girl over the conjugal bed, but through a desire to procure a posterity and to enlarge his progeny. After the flood the human race was still numerically sparse. Hence it was also a matter of moral obligation that no one be seen to have failed to render the debt to nature.
As we said above, it is a most authentic proof of moderation (sophrosyne) that Sarah gives in offering her slave girl to Abraham without a hint of jealousy, after she had observed that in ten months' time she had not conceived.
Virtue's purpose was, as we have said, that the wise man do training exercises first in preliminary education and shadow so that later, with this training behind him, he might arrive at greater things—which is the proper procedural order.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is a hard thing to bear honour aright. We justly suffer by those whom we have sinfully indulged, and it is a righteous thing with God to make those instruments of our trouble whom we have made instruments of our sin, and to ensnare us in our own evil counsels: this stone will return upon him that rolleth it.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֥א | vaiyavo' | and he went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָגָ֖ר | hagar | Hagar | H1904 → | 12 times |
| וַתַּ֑הַר | vatahar | and she conceived | H2029 → | 43 times |
| וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ | vatere' | and she saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הָרָ֔תָה | haratah | she had conceived | H2029 → | 43 times |
| וַתֵּקַ֥ל | vatekal | and she became insignificant | H7043 → | 82 times |
| גְּבִרְתָּ֖הּ | gevirtah | mistress her | H1404 → | 9 times |
| בְּעֵינֶֽיהָ׃ | beeineiha | in view her | H5869 → | 887 times |
וַיָּבֹ֥אand he went
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָגָ֖רHagar
hagarH1904 →12 times
וַתַּ֑הַרand she conceived
vataharH2029 →43 times
וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙and she saw
vatere'H7200 →1300 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
הָרָ֔תָהshe had conceived
haratahH2029 →43 times
וַתֵּקַ֥לand she became insignificant
vatekalH7043 →82 times
גְּבִרְתָּ֖הּmistress her
gevirtahH1404 →9 times
בְּעֵינֶֽיהָ׃in view her
beeineihaH5869 →887 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
2 Samuel 6:16As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Chronicles 15:29
As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him…
- 2 Samuel 3:14
Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
Through
1 Corinthians 4:6Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:4
For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you…
- 2 Corinthians 12:19
Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.
- 2 Corinthians 12:6
Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in…
- Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure…
- 2 Corinthians 11:4
Through
Proverbs 30:23an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
- Proverbs 21:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 236-37; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 237-38; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.