Hagar
The God who sees me
This story includes slavery, a woman used to bear a child, harsh mistreatment, and a mother and child near death in the desert.
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- A verse number shows the Bible’s exact words.
- An underlined word shows what it means.
Story
What happened?
Tap a verse number, like , to read the Bible’s exact words.
Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- Hagar: An Egyptian woman enslaved in Abram and Sarai's household. She is Sarai's maidservant. She has no say over her own life.
- Sarai (later Sarah): Abram's wife. She has never been able to have children. In Genesis 17, God changes her name to Sarah (17:15).
- Abram (later Abraham): The head of the household. God has promised him a family too big to count. In Genesis 17, God changes his name to Abraham (17:5).
- Ishmael: Hagar and Abram's son. His name means "God hears."
- The angel of the LORD: A messenger from God. In this story the angel speaks with God's own voice (16:10, 16:13). LORD in capital letters stands for God's personal name. Jewish readers traditionally don't say it aloud, out of respect.
Setting
- Tents in the land of Canaan. Then the desert to the south, on the road back toward Egypt.
When
- About 4,000 years ago, long before Moses. The story covers more than 15 years (16:16, 21:5).
Before the Story
God made Abram a promise. God told Abram to look at the stars and count them. "So shall your offspring be" (Genesis 15:5).
But there was no baby. Abram and Sarai had waited for years. Abram told God, "You have given me no offspring" (Genesis 15:3).
Hagar was not free. She was an enslaved woman from Egypt. Other people decided what happened to her.
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: The people in charge paid no attention to Hagar. God saw her.
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. No choice | 16:1-3 | Sarai gives Hagar to Abram to have a child |
| 2. Hurt on every side | 16:4-6 | Hagar is pregnant. Sarai treats her harshly. Hagar runs |
| 3. By the spring | 16:7-12 | The angel of the LORD finds Hagar and makes her a promise |
| 4. "The God who sees me" | 16:13-16 | Hagar names God. Ishmael is born |
| 5. Sent away | 21:1-14 | Isaac is born. Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away |
| 6. Under a bush | 21:15-16 | The water runs out. Hagar cries |
| 7. God heard | 21:17-21 | God hears the boy and shows Hagar a well |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 7No Choice
An Egyptian woman worked in Sarai's household. Her name was Hagar. She was Sarai's maidservant. She was enslaved, which means she was owned by another person.
Hagar was far from Egypt, her home. The Bible does not tell us how she came to belong to Sarai.
Sarai had no children. She said to Abram, "The LORD has prevented me from bearing children" (16:2). She told Abram to sleep with Hagar. Sarai hoped to build a family through Hagar's baby.
Abram listened to Sarai. He agreed to her plan. So Sarai gave Hagar to Abram as a wife.
Nobody asked Hagar. She had no choice. Her body was being used to give someone else a child.
Sarai had her own sorrow. Abram had lived in Canaan ten years, and the child God promised him had not come. Sarai believed the LORD had kept her from having children.
Scene 2 of 7Hurt on Every Side
Hagar became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to look down on Sarai.
Sarai was hurt and angry. She blamed Abram. "May the wrong done to me be upon you," she said (16:5).
Sarai said she had given Hagar to Abram herself. Now Hagar treated her with contempt, which means scorn. Sarai asked the LORD to judge between her and Abram.
Abram did not defend Hagar. He told Sarai that Hagar was her servant. Sarai could do whatever she wanted with her.
Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that Hagar ran away.
The Bible doesn't say what Sarai did. But remember, Hagar was pregnant. She chose to go alone into the desert rather than stay.
Scene 3 of 7By the Spring
The angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring in the desert. It was on the road to Shur, the way back to Egypt.
The angel called her by name. "Hagar, where have you come from? Where are you going?"
The angel called her "servant of Sarai." That is who she was in Abram's house.
Hagar told the truth. "I am running away from Sarai."
Then the angel said something hard. "Return to your mistress and submit to her authority" (16:9).
Then the angel said more. He promised Hagar that her family would grow too big to count. This promise was like the one God gave Abram.
The angel told her she would have a son. She must name him Ishmael, which means "God hears." The angel said why. "The LORD has heard your cry of affliction" (16:11). Affliction means suffering.
The angel said her son would be like a wild donkey. This is a comparison. He would live free and untamed. The angel also said he would be against everyone, and everyone would be against him.
Halfway thereThis is a good place for a break. Your spot is saved on this device.
Scene 4 of 7"The God Who Sees Me"
Hagar did something rare in the Bible. She gave God a name.
"You are the God who sees me," she said (16:13). "Here I have seen the One who sees me" (16:13).
Nobody in Abram's household had paid attention to her. God had seen her.
The well was called Beer-lahai-roi. It means "the well of the Living One who sees me."
The spring was between two places called Kadesh and Bered.
The Bible does not tell the trip back as a scene. But Hagar's son was born in Abram's household. Abram named him Ishmael, as the angel had said. Abram was 86 years old.
Scene 5 of 7Sent Away
About 14 years later, God kept his promise to Sarah. She gave birth to a son, Isaac. By now God had given Abram and Sarai new names: Abraham and Sarah.
When Isaac was old enough to stop nursing, Abraham held a big feast.
At the feast, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac.
Sarah told Abraham, "Expel the slave woman and her son" (21:10). She did not want Ishmael to share what Isaac would inherit.
Sarah's demand upset Abraham very much, because Ishmael was his son too.
God told Abraham to listen to Sarah. God said Isaac would carry on the promise. But God also said, "I will also make a nation of the slave woman's son, because he is your offspring" (21:13).
Early the next morning, Abraham gave Hagar some bread and a skin bag of water. He put them on her shoulders. Then he sent her and the boy away.
Hagar wandered in the desert of Beersheba. She had only the bread, the water, and her son.
Scene 6 of 7Under a Bush
The water ran out.
Hagar put the boy under a bush.
Then she walked away and sat down. It was about as far as an arrow flies.
"I cannot bear to watch the boy die," she said (21:16).
She sat there and cried out loud.
Scene 7 of 7God Heard
Hagar was crying. But the Bible says, "God heard the voice of the boy" (21:17).
Years before, the angel had told Hagar to name her son Ishmael, "God hears." Now God heard him.
The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. "What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid" (21:17).
The angel told her what to do. "Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand" (21:18). God would make him into a great nation.
Then God opened Hagar's eyes. She saw a well of water.
She went to the well and filled the skin. She gave the boy a drink.
The boy lived.
"And God was with the boy" (21:20). Ishmael grew up in the desert of Paran. He became an expert with a bow and arrow.
Hagar found him a wife from Egypt, her own home country. Remember, at the start of the story, other people made every choice for Hagar. This choice was hers.
Twice Hagar was alone in the desert. Twice God found her. The God who saw Hagar also heard her son.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "Gave her to Abram to be his wife" (16:3) | Hagar did not choose this. In this household, an enslaved woman's body was not her own. The Bible reports it. It does not call it good. |
| "Treated Hagar so harshly that she fled" (16:6) | Sarai hurt Hagar badly enough that a pregnant woman chose the desert. |
| "Hagar, servant of Sarai" (16:8) | The angel called her by name. Abram and Sarai never say her name in this story. |
| "The LORD has heard your cry of affliction" (16:11) | God heard Hagar's suffering. Every time she said her son's name, Ishmael, she would be saying "God hears." |
| "You are the God who sees me" (16:13) | In Hebrew, this name is El Roi. Many readers point out that Hagar is the only person in the Bible who gives God a name. She was not the one in charge. She was the one God saw. |
| "God heard the voice of the boy" (21:17) | The meaning of Ishmael's name came true. God heard. |
| "Then God opened her eyes" (21:19) | The help was already close. God helped Hagar see it. |
Back Then
Ishmael means "God hears." (Easton's Bible Dictionary) The angel explains the name in Genesis 16:11.
Giving a servant to have a child happened more than once in Genesis. Rachel and Leah later gave their servants to Jacob (Genesis 30:3-4, 30:9). Other old writings from that part of the world describe a similar custom. The Bible reports these things. It does not say they were right.
Beersheba was at the southern edge of Canaan. Shur was a desert on the border of Egypt, so the road to Shur led toward Hagar's home. Paran was a desert to the south, in the Sinai Peninsula (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
A skin of water was a bag made from animal skin. People used skins to hold water, milk, or wine (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
Ishmael's family grew into a great nation, as God promised. He had twelve sons (Genesis 25:13-16). Ishmael and Isaac buried their father together (Genesis 25:9).
Muslims also honor Hagar, whom they call Hajar, and her son Ishmael. During the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims walk between two hills to remember Hajar's search for water for her son.
Literal Reader Alert
Why did the angel tell Hagar to go back? This is hard to read. The angel said, "Return to your mistress and submit to her authority" (16:9). Hagar was being sent back to the place where she was hurt. Christians have struggled with this passage for a long time. The Bible doesn't say why the angel said it. But remember, Hagar was alone and pregnant in the desert. The angel sent her back with a promise. The angel also gave her a name for her son that meant "God hears" (16:10-11). The Bible never says Sarai's harsh treatment was right.
Later, God's law told Israel, "Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you" (Deuteronomy 23:15). Many scholars think that law was mainly about slaves who escaped to Israel from other lands. So that law does not describe the same situation as Hagar's. But this law does show that God's law protected people running from harm. In the 1800s, some American preachers used Genesis 16:9 to argue that God approved of slavery. One Virginia preacher, Thornton Stringfellow, did this in 1841. That was wrong.
The angel's words were for one moment in Hagar's life. They are not a rule for anyone today. God does not want anyone to stay where they are being harmed. If someone is hurting you, tell a trusted adult today. If you are in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. In the United States, you can call or text 988 any time. Outside the United States, findahelpline.com lists free helplines. If this story brings up big feelings, talk with a parent, pastor, or trusted adult.
Was Hagar the bad one, or was Sarai? The Bible doesn't make either one a villain or a saint. Hagar looked down on Sarai (16:4). Sarai was cruel to Hagar (16:6). Abram let it happen. Sarai and Hagar were both hurting. But only one of them was enslaved. Hagar had the least power, and God went looking for her.
Was Ishmael a little child in the desert? The numbers suggest he was a teenager. Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born (16:16) and 100 when Isaac was born (21:5). Chapter 21 calls him "the boy." The Hebrew word can mean a child or a young man. It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.
What does "mocking" mean in 21:9? The Hebrew word can also mean laughing or playing. It sounds like Isaac's name, which means "he laughs." The Bible in Basic English says Ishmael was "playing with Isaac." Readers have understood it in different ways.
Is "wild donkey" an insult? It is a comparison. In the Bible, the wild donkey is free and lives in the desert (Job 39:5-8). This verse must never be used to insult any group of people today.
What does Paul say about Hagar? In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses Hagar and Sarah as a comparison. He says, "These things serve as illustrations" (Galatians 4:24). Paul was writing to non-Jewish Christians. Other Christian teachers were telling them they had to keep the law of Moses to belong to God's people. Paul used the story to say that belonging comes through God's promise. In his comparison, Hagar stands for Mount Sinai, where Israel received the law (4:25). This is a comparison, not a history lesson. Paul was not judging Hagar as a person, and he was not telling the story of her life. Paul was Jewish himself. Some Christians have used this passage to say God rejected the Jewish people. That is wrong, and the ELCA has said so. Paul also wrote, "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sarai | Hurt and sad | She had waited years and had no child (16:2) |
| Hagar | Proud, then hurt | She was pregnant, then Sarai treated her harshly (16:4-6) |
| Hagar | Amazed | God saw her and spoke to her (16:13) |
| Abraham | Very upset | Sarah wanted his son Ishmael sent away (21:11) |
| Hagar | Hopeless | The water was gone and she thought her son would die (21:16) |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
Have you ever felt like nobody sees you? Tap one.
Nobody notices me
Hagar felt that way. Nobody in Abram's household asked what she wanted. God called her by name.
I feel used
Hagar was used by people with more power. God did not treat her like a tool. He spoke to her and made her a promise.
I'm not enough
Sarai believed the LORD had kept her from having children (16:2). Hagar was treated like a tool. Neither woman had to earn God's care. He kept his promises to both families.
I feel seen today
Hagar called God "the God who sees me" (16:13). You can say it too.
It's really bad right now
God heard Hagar's cry. Please tell a trusted adult today. If you are in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number. In the U.S., call or text 988. Outside the U.S., go to findahelpline.com.
You Might Have Heard
"Abram and Sarai didn't wait for God. This story teaches us not to take shortcuts."
What's true: Abram and Sarai tried to make God's promise happen their own way. Their plan caused great pain.
What the story is mainly about: Hagar. She is not only a lesson about someone else's mistake. She is a person God saw, found, named, and rescued. Twice. The people with power used her. God went looking for her.
Where Jesus is: Jesus also met a woman at a well. She was an outsider too. She told her town, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did" (John 4:29). In Jesus, the God who sees us comes close enough to sit beside us.
Good News
Hagar had no power, no money, and no one on her side. She ran into the desert. Years later, Abraham sent her there. Both times, God found her.
God heard her cry (16:11). God heard her son's voice (21:17). God opened her eyes, and she saw water she had not seen before.
The God who saw Hagar is the same God we meet in Jesus. Jesus said he came "to proclaim liberty to the captives" (Luke 4:18).
You are never too small or too far away for God to see you.
Big Idea
God sees and hears Hagar, whom others overlooked, and brings her water and a promise in the desert.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
In the Small Catechism, Luther explains the first part of the Apostles' Creed. He says God has given me my body and soul, and still takes care of me. God protects me from all danger and guards me from all evil. God does all this out of pure, fatherly goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me (Concordia Triglotta, 1921).
This does not mean nothing bad will happen. Hagar nearly lost her son in the desert. But God gave the boy water and life (21:19).
In Church
Many churches follow the Revised Common Lectionary. A lectionary is a shared list of Bible readings for each Sunday. In Year A, some churches read Genesis 21:8-21 on the Sunday between June 19 and 25. That Sunday is called Proper 7, or Lectionary 12. This reading belongs to the set of readings that goes through Genesis in order. Psalm 86 is read with it.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
You are the God who sees me
How did that feel?