Genesis 16:6
in Genesis 16“Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes. And Sarai dealt hardly with her, and she fled from her face.
KJV
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
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This verse in Genesis 16
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSarah dealt hardly with her - תאנה teanneha, she afflicted her; the term implying stripes and hard usage, to bring down the body and humble the mind. If the slave was to blame in this business the mistress is not less liable to censure. She alone had brought her into those circumstances, in which it was natural for her to value herself beyond her mistress.
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 steps out of the quarrel, and Sarai treats Hagar harshly. The Hebrew verb is anah, to afflict, the same word God used at 15:13 of Israel in Egypt. An Egyptian is afflicted in Abram's house.
This site's exposition
Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled
Adam Clarke reads the word harshly as stripes and hard usage, and he lays equal blame on Sarai, who had put her servant in that place herself. Augustine clears Abram of guilt toward Hagar. She fled from her mistress carrying Abram's child.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
And here follow the times of Abraham's sons, the one by Hagar the bondmaid, the other by Sarah the free woman, about whom we have already spoken in the previous book. As regards this transaction, Abraham is in no way to be branded as guilty concerning this concubine. For he dealt with her for the begetting of progeny, not for the gratification of lust, and not to insult but rather to obey his wife, who supposed it would be solace of her barrenness if she could make use of the fruitful womb of her handmaid to supply the defect of her own nature. By that law of which the apostle says, "Likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife," Sarah could, as a wife, do benefit to him through childbearing by another, when she could not do so in her own person. Here there is no wanton lust, no crude lewdness. The handmaid is delivered to the husband by the wife for the sake of progeny and is received by the husband for the sake of progeny, each seeking not guilty excess but natural fruit. Then the pregnant bondwoman despised her barren mistress, and Sarah, with womanly jealousy, rather laid the blame of this on her husband. Yet even then Abraham showed that he was not a slavish lover but a free begetter of children and that in using Hagar he had guarded the chastity of Sarah his wife and had gratified her will and not his own. He had received her without seeking her, gone in to her without being attached, impregnated without loving her. For he says, "Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please." Here is a man able to treat different women as they require—his wife temperately, his handmaid compliantly, neither intemperately!
In the literal sense, this statement introduces the beginner to the passionlessness (apatheia) of the patriarch, who had received the slave girl from his wife without looking for pleasure and who now yields to his wife and withdraws in accordance with her wishes.
There is a kind of maltreatment of the slave girl that we have likened, by anagogy, to the preparatory exercises (progymnasmata): the shadow [Hagar] of things to come [the generative promise] is transcended.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy maid is in thy hand - Though she was his wife, he would not countenance her in any thing disrespectful to Sarai. Those who would keep up peace and love, must return first answers to hard accusations; husbands and wives particularly should endeavour not to be both angry together.
But Abram said unto Sarai,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
9 And the angel of the L ORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Here is the first mention we have in scripture of an angel's appearance. Hagar was a type of the law, which was given by the disposition of angels; but the world to come is not put in subjection to them, Heb. ii.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַבְרָ֜ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שָׂרַ֗י | sarai | Sarai | H8297 → | 17 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| שִׁפְחָתֵךְ֙ | shifchatekh | maidservant your | H8198 → | 63 times |
| בְּיָדֵ֔ךְ | beyadekh | [is] in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֲשִׂי־ | ʾasi- | do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָ֖הּ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| הַטּ֣וֹב | hatov | the good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| בְּעֵינָ֑יִךְ | beeinayikh | in view your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וַתְּעַנֶּ֣הָ | vateaneha | and she afflicted her | H6031 → | 82 times |
| שָׂרַ֔י | sarai | Sarai | H8297 → | 17 times |
| וַתִּבְרַ֖ח | vativrach | and she fled | H1272 → | 63 times |
| מִפָּנֶֽיהָ׃ | mipaneiha | from before her | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אַבְרָ֜םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שָׂרַ֗יSarai
saraiH8297 →17 times
הִנֵּ֤הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
שִׁפְחָתֵךְ֙maidservant your
shifchatekhH8198 →63 times
בְּיָדֵ֔ךְ[is] in hand your
beyadekhH3027 →1618 times
עֲשִׂי־do
ʾasi-H6213 →2628 times
לָ֖הּto <the> her
lah
הַטּ֣וֹבthe good
hatovH2896 →538 times
בְּעֵינָ֑יִךְin view your
beeinayikhH5869 →887 times
וַתְּעַנֶּ֣הָand she afflicted her
vateanehaH6031 →82 times
שָׂרַ֔יSarai
saraiH8297 →17 times
וַתִּבְרַ֖חand she fled
vativrachH1272 →63 times
מִפָּנֶֽיהָ׃from before her
mipaneihaH6440 →2123 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
Proverbs 14:29A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
it leads to
- James 1:19
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
- Ecclesiastes 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
- Proverbs 14:17
A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, and a devious man is hated.
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Proverbs 19:11
A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
- James 1:19
Through
Exodus 2:15When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
it leads to
- Acts 7:29
At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.
- Hebrews 11:27
By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.
- Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
- Acts 7:29
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.25; Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 241; 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.