Genesis 16

World English Bible 87 include this book

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.

4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5 Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May the LORD judge between me and you.”

6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

7 The LORD’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur.

8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.”

9 The LORD’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.”

10 The LORD’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.”

11 The LORD’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction.

12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposed to all of his brothers.”

13 She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”

14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

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1 place named in this chapter.

Where this was written

Sinai traditional Written by Moses during the wilderness period.

Jerusalem disputed On the documentary view the sources were gathered and edited in Judah, reaching final form after the exile.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 1450 BC–1400 BC Moses
Jewish and Christian tradition ascribes the Torah to Moses, written during the wilderness period.
Critical: 950 BC–450 BC Multiple sources, compiled
Historical-critical scholarship sees the Torah as woven from several sources over centuries, reaching final form in the Persian period.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (1450 BC–450 BC).

1900 BC–1450 BC Minoan palace culture Greece
Crete supported a literate palace society trading across the Aegean long before mainland Greece.
1600 BC–1178 BC Hittite empire Anatolia
An Anatolian power rivalling Egypt, ended in the Bronze Age collapse.
1600 BC–1046 BC Shang dynasty oracle bones China
The earliest substantial Chinese writing, inscribed on bone and shell for divination.
1550 BC–1069 BC Egyptian New Kingdom Egypt
Egypt at its imperial height, ruling from Nubia to the Levant under Thutmose III, Akhenaten and Rameses II.
1200 BC–400 BC Olmec civilisation Mesoamerica
The earliest major Mesoamerican civilisation, known for colossal stone heads and an early calendar.
1200 BC–600 BC Zoroaster teaches in Persia Persia
Founder of Zoroastrianism, whose dating is disputed by as much as six centuries. His teaching on a cosmic struggle between good and evil later touched Jewish and Christian thought.
1200 BC–1000 BC Iron working spreads in the Levant Levant
Iron gradually displaced bronze for tools and weapons across the eastern Mediterranean.
1200 BC–1150 BC Late Bronze Age collapse Mediterranean
Within roughly two generations most eastern Mediterranean states fell; cities were destroyed, trade networks broke and literacy contracted sharply.

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