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Genesis 16:2

So one day Sarai said to Abram, “Listen to me! Yahweh has not allowed me to become pregnant. So ◄sleep with/have sex with► [EUP] my slave Hagar. Perhaps she will bear children whom I can consider to be mine.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

Translation for Translators

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

1Up to that time, Abram’s wife Sarai had not given birth to any children for Abram. But she had a female slave from Egypt, whose name was Hagar.

3So Abram ◄slept with/had sex with► Hagar, his wife Sarai’s slave from Egypt. This happened ten years after they went to live in Canaan land. Sarai gave Hagar to her husband to be his secondary wife.

Read all of Genesis 16

Cross References

Genesis 3:12The man said, “You gave me this woman to be with me. She is the one who gave me some of the fruit from that tree, and so I ate it.”

Genesis 11:30Sarai was unable to bear any children.

Genesis 18:10Then the leader of the group said, “I will return to you ◄about this time/in the springtime► next year, and to your amazement, your wife Sarah will have an infant son.” It happened that Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind the one who was speaking.

Genesis 25:21Almost 20 years after they were married, Rebekah still had no children. So Isaac prayed to Yahweh concerning his wife, and Yahweh answered his prayer. His wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Genesis 30:3Then she said, “Look, here is my female slave, Bilhah. ◄Sleep with/Have sex with► [EUP] her, so that she may become pregnant and give birth to children for me. In that way it will be as though ◄I have children/her children are mine►.”

Genesis 30:9When Leah realized that she was not becoming pregnant and giving birth to any more children, she took her female slave, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob to be another wife for him.

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

King James VersionBíblia Almeida (Português)Luther Bibel (Deutsch)Bible Louis Segond (Français)Библия (Русский)聖經 (中文)성경 (한국어)الكتاب المقدس (العربية)बाइबल (हिन्दी)Biblia (Kiswahili)Bibbia Diodati (Italiano)Alkitab (Bahasa Indonesia)Kinh Thánh (Tiếng Việt)

Study Genesis 16:2

Matthew HenryJamieson-Fausset-BrownAdam ClarkeJohn WesleyJohn CalvinKeil and DelitzschScofieldFamily Bible NotesGeneva Bible Notes (1599)
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