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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XVI.
Hagar is the person mostly concerned in the story of this chapter, an
obscure Egyptian woman, whose name and story we never should
have heard of if Providence had not brought her into the family of
Abram. Probably she was one of those maid-servants whom the
king of Egypt, among other gifts, bestowed upon Abram,
Concerning her, we have four things in this chapter:–
I. Her marriage to Abram her master,
II. Her
misbehaviour towards Sarai her mistress,
III. Her discourse
with an angel that met her in her flight,
IV. Her delivery of a son,
| Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. | B. C. 1911. |
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1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare
him no children: and she had
a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose
name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said
unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD
hath restrained me from bearing: I
pray thee, go in unto my maid; it
may be that I may obtain children by
her. And Abram hearkened to the
voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram’s
wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian,
after Abram had dwelt ten years
in the land of Canaan, and gave her
to her husband Abram to be his wife.
We have here the marriage of Abram to
Hagar, who was his secondary wife. Herein,
though some excuse may be made for him,
he cannot be justified, for from the beginning
it was not so; and, when it was so, it seems
to have proceeded from an irregular desire to
build up families for the speedier peopling
of the world and the church. Certainly it
must not be so now. Christ has reduced
this matter to the first institution, and makes
the marriage union to be between one man
and one woman only. Now,
I. The maker of this match (would one
think it?) was Sarai herself: she said to
Abram, I pray thee, go in unto my maid,
v. 2.
Note,
1. It is the policy of Satan to tempt us
by our nearest and dearest relations, or those
friends that we have an opinion of and an
affection for. The temptation is most dangerous
when it is sent by a hand that is least
suspected: it is our wisdom therefore to consider,
not so much who speaks as what is
spoken.
2. God’s commands consult our
comfort and honour much better than our
own contrivances do. It would have been
much more for Sarai’s interest if Abram had
kept to the rule of God’s law instead of being
guided by her foolish projects; but we often
do ill for ourselves.
II. The inducement to it was Sarai’s barrenness.
1. Sarai bare Abram no children. She was
very fair
(ch. xii. 14),
was a very agreeable,
dutiful wife, and a sharer with him in his
large possessions; and yet written childless.
Note,
(1.) God dispenses his gifts variously,
loading us with benefits, but not overloading
us: some cross or other is appointed to be an
alloy to great enjoyments.
(2.) The mercy
of children is often given to the poor and
denied to the rich, given to the wicked and
denied to good people, though the rich have
most to leave them and good people would
take most care of their education. God does
herein as it has pleased him.
2. She owned God’s providence in this
affliction: The Lord hath restrained me from
bearing. Note,
(1.) As, where children are,
it is God that gives them
so where they are wanted it is he that withholds
them,
This evil is of the Lord.
(2.) It becomes us to acknowledge this, that
we may bear it, and improve it, as an affliction
of his ordering for wise and holy ends.
3. She used this as an argument with
Abram to marry his maid; and he was prevailed
upon by this argument to do it. Note,
(1.) When our hearts are too much set upon
any creature-comfort, we are easily put upon
the use of indirect methods for the obtaining
of it. Inordinate desires commonly produce
irregular endeavours. If our wishes be not
kept in a submission to God’s providence,
our pursuits will scarcely be kept under the
restraints of his precepts.
(2.) It is for want
of a firm dependence upon God’s promise,
and a patient waiting for God’s time, that we
go out of the way of our duty to catch at
expected mercy. He that believes does not
make haste.
4. Abram’s compliance with Sarai’s proposal,
we have reason to think, was from an
earnest desire of the promised seed, on whom
the covenant should be entailed. God had
told him that his heir should be a son of his
body, but had not yet told him that it should
be a son by Sarai; therefore he thought,
“Why not by Hagar, since Sarai herself proposed
it?” Note,
(1.) Foul temptations may
have very fair pretences, and be coloured with
that which is very plausible.
(2.) Fleshly
wisdom, as it anticipates God’s time of mercy,
so it puts us out of God’s way.
(3.) This
would be happily prevented if we would ask
counsel of God by the word and by prayer,
before we attempt that which is important
and suspicious. Herein Abram was wanting;
he married without God’s consent. This
persuasion came not of him that called him.
4 And he went in unto Hagar, and
she conceived: and when she saw
that she had conceived, her mistress
was despised in her eyes.
5 And
Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be
upon thee: I have given my maid
into thy bosom; and when she saw
that she had conceived, I was despised
in her eyes: the LORD judge between
me and thee.
6 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.
We have here the immediate bad consequences
of Abram’s unhappy marriage to
Hagar. A great deal of mischief it made
quickly. When we do not well both sin and
trouble lie at the door; and we may thank
ourselves for the guilt and grief that follow
us when we go out of the way of our duty.
See it in this story.
I. Sarai is despised, and thereby provoked
and put into a passion,
v. 4.
Hagar no
sooner perceives herself with child by her
master than she looks scornfully upon her
mistress, upbraids her perhaps with her barrenness,
insults over her, to make her to fret (as
and boasts of the prospect
she had of bringing an heir to Abram, to
that good land, and to the promise. Now
she thinks herself a better woman than Sarai,
more favoured by Heaven, and likely to be
better beloved by Abram; and therefore she
will not submit as she has done. Note,
1. Mean and servile spirits, when favoured and
advanced either by God or man, are apt
to grow haughty and insolent, and to forget
their place and origin. See
It is a hard thing to bear
honour aright.
2. We justly suffer by those
whom we have sinfully indulged, and it is a
righteous thing with God to make those instruments
of our trouble whom we have made
instruments of our sin, and to ensnare us in
our own evil counsels: this stone will return
upon him that rolleth it.
II. Abram is clamoured upon, and cannot
be easy while Sarai is out of humour; she
upbraids him vehemently, and very unjustly
charges him with the injury
(v. 5):
My wrong
be upon thee, with a most unreasonable jealousy
suspecting that he countenanced Hagar’s
insolence; and, as one not willing to hear
what Abram had to say for the rectifying of
the mistake and the clearing of himself, she
rashly appeals to God in the case: The Lord
judge between me and thee; as if Abram had
refused to right her. Thus does Sarai, in
her passion, speak as one of the foolish women
speaketh. Note,
1. It is an absurdity which
passionate people are often guilty of to quarrel
with others for that of which they themselves
must bear the blame. Sarai could not but
own that she had given her maid to Abram,
and yet she cries out, My wrong be upon thee,
when she should have said, What a fool was
I to do so! That is never said wisely which
pride and anger have the inditing of; when
passion is upon the throne, reason is out of
doors, and is neither heard nor spoken.
2. Those are not always in the right who are
most loud and forward in appealing to God.
Rash and bold imprecations are commonly
evidences of guilt and a bad cause.
III. Hagar is afflicted, and driven from the
house,
v. 6.
Observe,
1. Abram’s meekness
resigns the matter of the maid-servant to
Sarai, whose proper province it was to rule
that part of the family: Thy maid is in thy
hand. Though she was his wife, he would
not countenance nor protect her in any thing
that was disrespectful to Sarai, for whom he
still retained the same affection that ever he
had. Note, Those who would keep up peace
and love must return soft answers to hard
accusations. Husbands and wives particularly
should agree, and endeavour not to be
both angry together. Yielding pacifies great
offenses. See
2. Sarai’s passion
will be revenged upon Hagar: She dealt
hardly with her, not only confining her to her
usual place and work as a servant, but probably
making her to serve with rigour.
Note, God takes notice of, and is displeased
with, the hardships which harsh masters unreasonably
put upon their servants. They
ought to forbear threatening, with Job’s
thought, Did not he that made me make him?
Job xxxi. 15.
3. Hagar’s pride cannot bear
it, her high spirit having become impatient of
rebuke: She fled from her face. She not
only avoided her wrath for the present, as
David did Saul’s, but she totally deserted
her service, and ran away from the house,
forgetting,
(1.) What wrong she hereby did
to her mistress, whose servant she was, and
to her master, whose wife she was. Note,
Pride will hardly be restrained by any bonds
of duty, no, not by many.
(2.) That she
herself had first given the provocation, by
despising her mistress. Note, Those that
suffer for their faults ought to bear their
sufferings patiently,
7 And the angel of the LORD found her
by a fountain of water in the wilderness,
by the fountain in the way
to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar,
Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou?
and whither wilt thou go? And she
said, I flee from the face of my mistress
Sarai.
9 And the angel of the
LORD 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. 5.
Observe,
I. How the angel arrested her in her flight,
v. 7.
It should seem, she was making towards
her own country; for she was in the
way to Shur, which lay towards Egypt. It
were well if our afflictions would make us
think of our home, the better country. But
Hagar was now out of her place, and out of
the way of her duty, and going further astray,
when the angel found her. Note,
1. It is a
great mercy to be stopped in a sinful way
either by conscience or by Providence.
2. God suffers those that are out of the way to
wander awhile, that when they see their folly,
and what a loss they have brought themselves
to, they may be the better disposed to return.
Hagar was not stopped till she was in the
wilderness, and had set down, weary enough,
and glad of clear water to refresh herself
with. God brings us into a wilderness, and
there meets us,
II. How he examined her,
v. 8.
Observe,
1. He called her Hagar, Sarai’s maid,
(1.) As a check to her pride. Though she was
Abram’s wife, and, as such, was obliged to
return, yet he calls her Sarai’s maid, to humble
her. Note, Though civility teaches us
to call others by their highest titles, yet humility
and wisdom teach us to call ourselves
by the lowest.
(2.) As a rebuke to her
flight. Sarai’s maid ought to be in Sarai’s
tent, and not wandering in the wilderness
and sauntering by a fountain of water. Note,
It is good for us often to call to mind what
our place and relation are. See
2. The questions the angel put to her were
proper and very pertinent.
(1.) “Whence
comest thou? Consider that thou art running
away both from the duty thou wast
bound to and the privileges thou wast blessed
with in Abram’s tent.” Note, It is a great
advantage to live in a religious family, which
those ought to consider who have that advantage,
yet upon every slight inducement are
forward to quit it.
(2.) “Whither wilt thou
go? Thou art running thyself into sin, in
Egypt” (if she return to that people, she will
return to their gods), “and into danger, in
the wilderness,” through which she must
travel,
Note, Those who are
forsaking God and their duty would do well
to remember not only whence they have fallen,
but whither they are falling. See
What hast thou to do (with Hagar) in the
way of Egypt?
3. Her answer was honest, and a fair confession:
I flee from the face of my mistress.
In this,
(1.) She acknowledges her fault in
fleeing from her mistress, and yet,
(2.) Excuses it, that it was from the face, of displeasure,
of her mistress. Note, Children
and servants must be treated with mildness
and gentleness, lest we provoke them to take
any irregular courses and so become accessory
to their sins, which will condemn us,
though it will not justify them.
4. How he sent her back, with suitable
and compassionate counsel: “Return to thy
mistress, and submit thyself under her hand,
v. 9.
Go home, and humble thyself for
what thou hast done amiss, and beg pardon,
and resolve for the future to behave thyself
better.” He makes no question but she
would be welcome, though it does not appear
that Abram sent after her. Note, Those that
have gone away from their place and duty,
when they are convinced of their error, must
hasten their return and reformation, how
mortifying soever it may be.
| The Promise Concerning Ishmael. | B. C. 1911. |
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10 And the angel of the LORD
said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered
for multitude.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And
she called the name of the LORD that
spake unto her, Thou God seest me:
for she said, Have I also here looked
after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore
the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;
behold, it is between Kadesh and
Bered.
We may suppose that the angel having
given Hagar that good counsel
(v. 9)
to return to her mistress she immediately promised
to do so, and was setting her face
homeward; and then the angel went on to
encourage her with an assurance of the mercy
God had in store for her and her seed: for
God will meet those with mercy that are
returning to their duty. I said, I will confess,
and thou forgavest,
Ps. xxxii. 5.
Here is,
I. A prediction concerning her posterity
given her for her comfort in her present
distress. Notice is taken of her condition:
Behold, thou art with child; and therefore
this is not a fit place for thee to be in. Note,
It is a great comfort to women with child to
think that they are under the particular cognizance
and care of the divine Providence.
God graciously considers their case and suits
supports to it. Now,
1. The angel assures
her of a safe delivery, and that of a son, which
Abram desired. This fright and ramble of
hers might have destroyed her hope of an
offspring; but God dealt not with her
according to her folly: Thou shalt bear a son.
She was saved in child-bearing, not only
by providence, but by promise.
2. He
names her child, which was an honour both
to her and it: Call him Ishmael, God will
hear; and the reason is, because the Lord has
heard; he has, and therefore he will. Note,
The experience we have had of God’s seasonable
kindness to us in distress would
encourage us to hope for similar help in
similar exigencies,
He has heard
thy affliction,
v. 11.
Note, Even where
there is little cry of devotion, the God of
pity sometimes graciously hears the cry of
affliction. Tears speak as well as prayers.
This speaks comfort to the afflicted, that God
not only sees what their afflictions are, but
hears what they say. Note, further, Seasonable
succours, in a day of affliction, ought
always to be remembered with thankfulness
to God. Such a time, in such a strait, the
Lord heard the voice of my affliction, and
helped me. See
3. He promises her a numerous offspring,
(v. 10):
I will multiply thy seed exceedingly,
Heb. multiplying, I will multiply it, that is,
multiply it in every age, so as to perpetuate
it. It is supposed that the Turks at this
day descend from Ishmael; and they are a
great people. This was in pursuance of the
promise made to Abram: I will make thy seed
as the dust of the earth,
ch. xiii. 16.
Note,
Many that are children of godly parents have,
for their sakes, a very large share of outward
common blessings, though, like Ishmael,
they are not taken into covenant: many are
multiplied that are not sanctified.
4. He
gives a character of the child she should bear,
which, however it may seem to us, perhaps
was not very disagreeable to her
(v. 12):
He will be a wild man; a wild ass of a man (so the
word is), rude, and bold, and fearing no
man–untamed, untractable living at large,
and impatient of service and restraint. Note,
The children of the bondwoman, who are
out of covenant with God, are, as they were
born, like the wild ass’s colt; it is grace that
reclaims men, civilizes them, and makes
them wise, and good for something. It is
foretold,
(1.) That he should live in strife,
and in a state of war: His hand against every
man–this is his sin; and every man’s hand
against him–this is his punishment. Note,
Those that have turbulent spirits have commonly
troublesome lives; those that are
provoking, vexatious, and injurious to others,
must expect to be repaid in their own coin.
He that has his hand and tongue against
every man shall have every man’s hand and
tongue against him, and he has no reason to
complain of it. And yet,
(2.) That he should
live in safety, and hold his own against all
the world: He shall dwell in the presence of
all his brethren; though threatened and
insulted by all his neighbours, yet he shall
keep his ground, and for Abram’s sake, more
than his own, shall be able to make his part
good with them. Accordingly we read
(ch. xxv. 18),
that he died, as he lived, in the
presence of all his brethren. Note, Many
that are much exposed by their own imprudence
are yet strangely preserved by the
divine Providence, so much better is God to
them than they deserve, when they not only
forfeit their lives by sin, but hazard them.
II. Hagar’s pious reflection upon this gracious
appearance of God to her,
Observe in what she said,
1. Her awful adoration of God’s omniscience
and providence, with application of
it to herself: She called the name of the Lord
that spoke unto her, that is, thus she made
confession of his name, this she said to his
praise, Thou God seest me: this should be,
with her, his name for ever, and this his
memorial, by which she will know him and
remember him while she lives, Thou God
seest me. Note,
(1.) The God with whom
we have to do is a seeing God, and all-seeing
God. God is (as the ancients express it)
all eye.
(2.) We ought to acknowledge this
with application to ourselves. He that sees
all sees me, as David
O Lord,
thou hast searched me, and known me.
(3.) A
believing regard to God, as a God that sees
us, will be of great use to us in our returns
to him. It is a proper word for a penitent:–
[1.] “Thou seest my sin and folly.” I have
sinned before thee, says the prodigal; in thy
sight, says David.
[2.] “Thou seest my
sorrow and affliction;” this Hagar especially
refers to. When we have brought ourselves
into distress by our own folly, yet God has
not forsaken us.
[3.] “Thou seest the sincerity
and seriousness of my return and repentance.
Thou seest my secret mournings
for sin, and secret motions towards thee.”
[4.] “Thou seest me, if in any instance I
depart from thee,”
This thought should always restrain us from sin
and excite us to duty: Thou God seest me.
2. Her humble admiration of God’s favour
to her: “Have I here also looked after him
that seeth me? Have I here seen the back
parts of him that seeth me?” so it might be
read, for the word is much the same with
that,
She saw not face to
face, but as through a glass darkly,
1 Cor. xiii. 12.
Probably she knew not who it was
that talked with her, till he was departing (as
and then she
looked after him, with a reflection like that of
the two disciples,
Or, Have I here seen him that sees me? Note,
(1.) The communion which holy souls have
with God consists in their having an eye of
faith towards him, as a God that has an eye
of favour towards them. The intercourse is
kept up by the eye.
(2.) The privilege of
our communion with God is to be looked
upon with wonder and admiration,
[1.] Considering
what we are who are admitted to
this favour. “Have I? I that am so mean,
I that am so vile?”
[2.] Considering the place where we are thus
favoured–“here also? Not only in Abram’s
tent and at his altar, but here also, in this
wilderness? Here, where I never expected
it, where I was out of the way of my duty?
Lord, how is it?”
Some make
the answer to this question to be negative,
and so look upon it as a penitent reflection:
“Have I here also, in my distress and affliction,
looked after God? No, I was a careless
and unmindful of him as ever I used to
be; and yet he has thus visited and regarded
me:” for God often anticipates us with his
favours, and is found of those that seek him
not,
III. The name which this gave to the
place: Beer-lahai-roi, The well of him that
liveth and seeth me,
v. 14.
It is probable
that Hagar put this name upon it; and it
was retained long after, in perpetuam rei memoriam–a
lasting memorial of this event.
This was a place where the God of glory
manifested the special cognizance and care
he took of a poor woman in distress. Note,
1. He that is all-seeing is ever-living; he
lives and sees us.
2. Those that are graciously
admitted into communion with God,
and receive seasonable comforts from him,
should tell others what he has done for their
souls, that they also may be encouraged to
seek him and trust in him.
3. God’s gracious
manifestations of himself to us are to
be had in everlasting remembrance by us,
and should never be forgotten.
| The Birth of Ishmael. | B. C. 1911. |
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15 And Hagar bare Abram a son:
and Abram called his son’s name,
which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16 And
Abram was fourscore and six years old,
when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
It is here taken for granted, though not
expressly recorded, that Hagar did as the
angel commanded her, returning to her mistress
and submitting herself; and then, in
the fulness of time, she brought forth her
son. Note, Those who obey divine precepts
shall have the comfort of divine promises.
This was the son of the bond-woman that
was born after the flesh
(Gal. iv. 23),
representing the unbelieving Jews,
Note,
1. Many who can call Abraham father are
yet born after the flesh,
Matt. iii. 9.
2. The
carnal seed in the church are sooner brought
forth than the spiritual. It is an easier thing
to persuade men to assume the form of godliness
than to submit to the power of godliness.
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