Hagar

Egyptian handmaid of Sarah, secondary wife/concubine of Abraham, and mother of Ishmael

Hagar is an Egyptian woman, secondary wife/concubine of Abraham, and mother of Ishmael, who became the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, generally taken to be the Arabs. Various commentators have connected her to the Hagrites (sons of Agar), perhaps claiming her as their eponymous ancestor.

Quick Facts

Role: Handmaid of Sarai, then secondary wife/concubine of Abram (Genesis 16:1, 16:3)

Lore & Background

According to the Bible, Hagar was the Egyptian handmaid of Sarai (later Sarah), Abraham's primary wife. Sarai regarded herself as barren and offered Hagar as a concubine to Abram. Hagar became pregnant and tension arose; she fled into the desert, but an angel instructed her to return and submit. The angel promised her offspring would multiply and that she would bear a son named Ishmael. Later, after Sarah gave birth to Isaac, Sarah demanded Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away. God told Abraham to comply, and Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the wilderness of Beersheba. When their water was consumed, God heard Ishmael crying and showed Hagar a well. Abraham found a wife for Ishmael from Egypt (Genesis 21:21), and they settled in the Desert of Paran. A verse in Proverbs 30:23 has been associated with Hagar: 'a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.' Rabbinical commentators asserted that Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. Some Jewish commentators identify Hagar with Keturah, the woman Abraham married after Sarah's death, though others list them as two different people in the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1:29–33.

Reader's Guide

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: God alone commands Abraham to take Hagar and Ishmael to the desert, later Mecca. Hagar ran between the hills of Safa and Marwah in search of water; after the seventh run, an angel appeared and she found the Zamzam Well. An Arab tribe called the Banu Jurhum settled there with Hagar and Ishmael because of the water.