Abraham’s Family · c. 2080–2067 BC
Chapter 3
Hagar and Ishmael
She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
For parents
In this chapter Sarai, who has no children, gives her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife, and Hagar becomes pregnant (Genesis 16:1–4). Then Sarai treats Hagar harshly. Later God gives circumcision as the sign of his covenant (17:10–14, 23–27); a name card says plainly what it is.
, ’s wife, still had no children. She had an Egyptian servant named . Sarai said to Abram, “Look, the has kept me from having children. Please sleep with my servant. Maybe I can have children through her.” And Abram listened to what Sarai said.
So after Abram had lived in the land of for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian servant Hagar and gave her to Abram as a wife. Abram slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on Sarai.
Then Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong done to me is your fault! I put my servant in your arms. Once she saw she was pregnant, she looked down on me. Let the Lord decide which of us is right.”
“Look, your servant is yours to deal with,” Abram said to Sarai. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that Hagar ran away from her.
found Hagar by a spring of water out in the wilderness, on the way to . “Hagar, Sarai’s servant,” he said, “where did you come from? Where are you going?”
“I’m running away from Sarai, the woman I serve,” she said.
“Go back to Sarai,” the angel of the Lord told her, “and obey her again.” Then the angel of the Lord said, “I will give you so many that no one will be able to count them.”
The angel of the Lord also said to her, “Look, you are pregnant, and you will have a son. Name him , because the Lord has heard how you are suffering. He will be like a wild donkey among people. He will be against everyone, and everyone against him. He will live opposed to all his brothers.”
Hagar gave a name to the Lord who had spoken to her. She called him “You are a God who sees,” because she said, “Am I really still alive after seeing him?” That is how the well got its name, . You can find it between and Bered.
Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. “I am ,” he said. “Live your life before me and do no wrong. I will make my between me and you, and I will give you many, many descendants.”
Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and God spoke with him. “As for me,” God said, “my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of many nations. Your name won’t be Abram anymore. It will be , because I have made you the father of many nations.
“I will give you many, many children. Nations will come from you, and kings will come from you too. I will set up my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, for all the generations to come. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. I will be your God, and I will also be the God of your offspring after you. I will give the land you are traveling through now, all the land of Canaan, to you and your offspring after you. It will be yours to keep forever. And I will be their God.”
Then God said to Abraham, “You, too, must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, in every generation. This is my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and you must keep it: every male among you must be . It will be a sign of the covenant between you and me.
“In every generation, every baby boy among you must be circumcised when he is eight days old. This goes for every male, whether he was born in your household or is a slave bought with money from a foreigner who is not one of your offspring. Both must be circumcised. In this way my covenant will be in your bodies. It will be a covenant that lasts forever.
“Any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his own people. He has broken my covenant.”
God said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife Sarai anymore. Call her . I will bless her, and what is more, I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”
Abraham bowed with his face to the ground and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a man who is 100 years old have a child? Can Sarah, who is 90, have a baby?” Then Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael could live in your sight!”
“No,” said God. “Your wife Sarah will have a son for you. Name him . I will set up my covenant with him and with his offspring after him, a covenant that lasts forever.
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him. I will give him many children and many, many descendants. Twelve princes will come from him, and I will turn him into a great nation. But I will set up my covenant with Isaac. Sarah will have him for you at this time next year.”
When God had finished talking with Abraham, he went up and left him.
On that same day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the males of his household, both those born in his household and the slaves he had bought, and he circumcised them. He did just what God had told him.
Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was 13 when he was circumcised. Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. All the men of his household were circumcised with him too, both those born there and the slaves bought from foreigners.