Genesis 16:2

Sarai [Mockery] said to Avram [Exalted father], “See now, Adonai has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Avram [Exalted father] sh'ma ·hear obey· the voice of Sarai [Mockery].

One Unity Resource Bible

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

1Now Sarai [Mockery], Avram [Exalted father]’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian [person from Abode of slavery], whose name was Hagar [Flight]. + 16:1 Context: Hagar: In (Gen. 12:10–20) Abraham and “his sister” Sarah went down to Egypt, Sarah was taken to the house of Pharaoh. In response, Adonai afflicted Pharaoh and all his household with mighty plagues. In the midrash (Gen. Rabbah 45:1), Pharoah sees the character and relationship to the God that Sarah and Abraham have, so he gives Sarah his own daughter so that she can learn to be of this type of person. He said: “It would be better for my daughter to be a handmaiden in this house than a noblewoman in another Egyptian.”

3Sarai [Mockery], Avram [Exalted father]’s wife, took Hagar [Flight] the Egyptian [person from Abode of slavery], her servant, after Avram [Exalted father] had lived ten years in the land of Canaan [Humbled], and gave her to Avram [Exalted father] her husband to be his wife.

Read all of Genesis 16

Cross References

Genesis 3:12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Genesis 11:30Sarai [Mockery] was barren. She had no child.

Genesis 18:10He said, “I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah [Princess] your wife will have a son.” + 18:10. Quoted in Rom 9:9 Sarah [Princess] sh'ma ·hear obey· in the tent door, which was behind him.

Genesis 25:21Isaac [Laughter] entreated Adonai for his wife, because she was barren. Adonai was entreated by him, and Rebekah [Securely bound] his wife conceived.

Genesis 30:3She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah [Bashful]. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.”

Genesis 30:9When Leah [Weary] saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah [Frailty], her servant, and gave her to Jacob [Supplanter] as a wife.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 16:2-4

Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. ( b. c. 1911.) 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 16:2