Genesis 16:5
in Genesis 16Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: Jehovah judge between me and thee.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
7 notes on this verseMy wrong be upon thee - This appears to be intended as a reproof to Abram, containing an insinuation that it was his fault that she herself had not been a mother, and that now he carried himself more affectionately towards Hagar than he did to her, in consequence of which conduct the slave became petulant. To remove all suspicion of this kind, Abram delivers up Hagar into her hand, who was certainly under his protection while his concubine or secondary wife; but this right given to him by Sarai he restores, to prevent her jealousy and uneasiness.
This site's exposition
May the wrong done to me be upon you
on Genesis 16:5-6
Sarai lays the wrong on Abram for a plan she made herself, and she calls on the LORD to judge between them. Abram hands the authority back, and Sarai treats Hagar harshly. The Hebrew verb is anah, to afflict, the same word God used at 15:13 of Israel in Egypt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The words ek sou can be understood in two ways: either "by you" or "from the time that." The interpretation "by you" gives the following sense: When one who has engaged the preparatory exercises in view of virtue and perfect wisdom [the promise of faith] …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Sarai falls upon Abram, and very unjustly charges him with the injury, suspecting that he countenanced Hagar's insolence: and as one not willing to hear what Abram had to say she rashly appeals to God. The Lord judge between me and thee, as if Abram had refused to right her. When passion is upon the throne, reason is out of doors, and is neither heard nor spoken.
Thus does Sarai, in her passion, speak as one of the foolish women speaketh. It is an absurdity which passionate people are often guilty of to quarrel with others for that of which they themselves must bear the blame. Sarai could not but own that she had given her maid to Abram, and yet she cries out, My wrong be upon thee, when she should have said, What a fool was I to do so!
And Sarai said to Abram,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
My wrong be upon thee--Bursts of temper, or blows, as the original may bear, took place till at length Hagar, perceiving the hopelessness of maintaining the unequal strife, resolved to escape from what had become to her in reality, as well as in name, a house of bondage.
The words behind it
19 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 |
| שָׂרַ֣י | sarai | Sarai | H8297 → | 17 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבְרָם֮ | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| חֲמָסִ֣י | chamasi | injustice my | H2555 → | 60 times |
| עָלֶיךָ֒ | ʾaleikha | [is] on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אָנֹכִ֗י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| נָתַ֤תִּי | natati | I put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| שִׁפְחָתִי֙ | shifchati | maidservant my | H8198 → | 63 times |
| בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ | becheikecha | in bosom your | H2436 → | |
| וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ | vatere' | and she has seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הָרָ֔תָה | haratah | she had conceived | H2029 → | 43 times |
| וָאֵקַ֖ל | vaekal | and I have become insignificant | H7043 → | 82 times |
| בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ | beeineiha | in view her | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט | yishpot | may he judge | H8199 → | 202 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בֵּינִ֥י | beini | between me | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵינֶֽיׄךָ׃ | uveineikha | and between you | H996 → | 407 times |
וַתֹּ֨אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
שָׂרַ֣יSarai
saraiH8297 →17 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַבְרָם֮Abram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
חֲמָסִ֣יinjustice my
chamasiH2555 →60 times
עָלֶיךָ֒[is] on you
ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times
אָנֹכִ֗יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
נָתַ֤תִּיI put
natatiH5414 →2011 times
שִׁפְחָתִי֙maidservant my
shifchatiH8198 →63 times
בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָin bosom your
becheikechaH2436 →
וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙and she has seen
vatere'H7200 →1300 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
הָרָ֔תָהshe had conceived
haratahH2029 →43 times
וָאֵקַ֖לand I have become insignificant
vaekalH7043 →82 times
בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָin view her
beeineihaH5869 →887 times
יִשְׁפֹּ֥טmay he judge
yishpotH8199 →202 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בֵּינִ֥יbetween me
beiniH996 →407 times
וּבֵינֶֽיׄךָ׃and between you
uveineikhaH996 →407 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
Psalms 35:23Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
it leads to
- Psalms 7:6
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
- Psalms 44:23
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
- Psalms 89:26
He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
- Psalms 59:4
For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.
- Psalms 7:6
Through
Genesis 31:53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:42
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen…
- Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and…
- Genesis 11:24–29
When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.
- Genesis 31:42
Through
Exodus 5:21“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill…
it leads to
- Genesis 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…
- Genesis 34:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
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About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 240; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.