Post 24 "Ishmael"

Chapter 16 the Summary
*Sarai being barren giveth Hagar to Abram v1
*Hagar being affilicted for despising her mistress runneth away v4
*An angel sendeth her back to submit herself v7
*And telleth her of her child v11
*Ishmael is born v15

Hagar was Sarai's handmaid. She was an Egyptian by birth. I expect she came into the family when Abram went to Egypt during the famine in surrounding countries. It seems here that Sarai was trying to help out God a little but it was not God's plan for Hagar's son to be in the line of the nation Israel. He did, however, become the father of 12 princes and a great people, chapter 25: 12-16 . We see that after Hagar began to despise Sarai because she conceived and Sarai didn't, that Sarai wanted Abram to handle the outcome but Abram told her to deal with her handmaid. Perhaps, this is the first quarrel, written about in the Bible, between husband and wife.

(I'll insert this because I'm sure everyone is wondering. Abram and Sarai seemed to have no problem with Abram and Hagar making a baby together. I found no mention of any rebuke to them from God about the incident. We know that in the New Testament it teaches that a man should be the husband of one wife. Although, Abram did not marry Hagar, they were playing like it which is also condemned in the New Testament. There are many traditions I do not understand about early Bible days. I expect in the very early dawn of mankind there were men with several wives to expand civilization. It would certainly help explain the rapid growth in numbers. As with Sarai and Hagar, it obviously causes problems a home can do without. My only explanation is that we now have a New Testament which refines the best way to live.)

Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar and Hagar ran away. An angel found her and told her to return to Abram's family which is where she remained until Hagar was older.

Verse 11-12 "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

Ishmael later married an Egyptian. Ishmael's descendants are the Ishmaelites, wild Bedouin tribes who still roam the same region. Ishmael went into the wilderness of Beersheba after he left Abram's family. The Bible says he became an archer. Chapter 21 verse 20. Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born.