Hagar

Lore & Background

According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar was the Egyptian woman, Abram's wife (whose names later became Sarah and Abraham). Sarai regarded herself as barren and offered Hagar as a concubine to Abram. Hagar became pregnant and tension arose between the two women. Hagar fled into the desert on her way to Shur. At a spring, an angel of the LORD appeared to Hagar and instructed her to return to Sarai and to submit to her mistress. The angel promises Hagar that her offspring will multiply and become uncountable. She was told she would give birth to a son and should call him Ishmael. Afterward, Hagar referred to God as 'El Roi' (variously 'god of sight'; 'god saw me'; 'god who appears'). She returned and gave birth to Ishmael. Later, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and at a celebration after Isaac was weaned, Sarah found the teenage Ishmael mocking her son. She demanded that Abraham send Hagar and her son away. Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together, gave them bread and water, and sent them into the wilderness of Beersheba. When their water was consumed, God heard her son crying and came to rescue them. The angel opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well of water. He told Hagar that God would 'make a great nation' of Ishmael. Hagar found her son a wife from Egypt and they settled in the Desert of Paran. A verse in the Sayings of Agur (Proverbs 30:23) has been associated with Hagar: '[Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up]: ... a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.' The Septuagint has this wording, whereas the Masoretic text refers to a maid 'inheriting from her mistress'. John Gill observes that such a servant 'might be exemplified in the case of Hagar, the bondmaid of Sarah.' Hagar does not directly appear in the Quran, but she features in various Islamic traditions, which do not portray her as a slave but as a maid (of Sarah or of Abraham) named Hājar. The Islamic narrative differs from the biblical account, in that it is God alone who commands Abraham to take Hagar and Ishmael down to the desert, later Mecca, and leave them there. Hagar ran between the hills of Safa and Marwah in search of water. After the seventh run, an angel appeared and said that God heard Ishmael cry and would provide them with water, and Hagar found the sacred Zamzam Well. An Arab tribe called the Banu Jurhum settled there with Hagar and her son Ishma

Reader's Guide

Hagar is a key figure in the biblical narrative, illustrating themes of barrenness, divine promise, and God's care for the outcast. Her story is also significant in Islamic tradition, where she is honored as the mother of Ishmael and associated with the Zamzam Well and the rites of Hajj.

Did You Know?

• Hagar is the only person in the passages who names God directly, as recorded in Genesis 16:13 where she names God 'El Roi'.