Who Was Hagar in the Bible — Meaning Explained

Hagar was an Egyptian servant of Sarah (Sarai), mentioned in Genesis 16 and 21. When Sarah, still childless after years of waiting, suggested that Abraham take Hagar as a surrogate, the plan seemed pragmatic. But it produced the very conflict Sarah had sought to avoid. When Hagar conceived, she 'despised her mistress.' Sarah complained to Abraham, who told her to do as she pleased. Sarah dealt harshly with Hagar, and Hagar fled into the wilderness toward Egypt. At a spring of water, the angel of the Lord found her and asked, 'Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?' Hagar answered honestly that she fled from her mistress. The angel instructed her to return and submit, with a remarkable promise: 'I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.' He told her to name her son Ishmael, meaning 'God hears,' 'because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.' He also prophesied that Ishmael 'will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him.' Hagar called the Lord who spoke to her 'Thou God seest me,' for she said, 'Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?' She named the well Beer-lahai-roi — 'the well of him that liveth and seeth me.' Years later, after Isaac was born, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking and demanded that Abraham cast out Hagar and her son. 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.' Abraham was 'very grievous,' but God told him to do as Sarah said, promising that Ishmael too would become a great nation. Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba until their water ran out. Hagar put Ishmael under a bush and sat down to die, 'a good way off,' for she could not watch her son perish. But God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, opening her eyes to see a well of water. God was with Ishmael, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. Hagar's story reveals that God sees and cares for the marginalized. Though she was a servant, a foreigner, and a castaway, the God of Abraham appeared to her, spoke to her, and preserved her. She is one of the few people in Scripture to give God a name, and the only woman to receive a promise of multiplied descendants.