Greek: Septuagint (LXX)
English: John Barach
English: John Barach
Chapter 16
Sarai and Hagar
| 1 Σάρα δὲ ἡ γυνὴ Ἅβραμ οὐκ ἔτικτεν αὐτῷ. ἦν δὲ αὐτῇ παιδίσκη Αἰγυπτία ᾗ ὄνομα Ἄγαρ. 2 εἶπεν δὲ Σάρα πρὸς Ἅβραμ, ἰδοὺ συνέκλεισέν με κύριος τοῦ μὴ τίκτειν· εἴσελθε οὖν πρὸς τὴν παιδίσκην μου, ἵνα τεκνοποιήσῃς ἐξ αὐτῆς. ὑπήκουσεν δὲ Ἅβραμ τῆς φωνῆς Σάρας. 3 καὶ λαβοῦσα Σάρα ἡ γυνὴ Ἅβραμ Ἄγαρ τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν τὴν ἑαυτῆς παιδίσκην μετὰ — δέκα ἔτη τοῦ οἰκῆσαι Ἅβραμ ἐν γῇ Χαναάν — καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἅβραμ τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς αὐτῷ γυναῖκα. 4 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς Ἄγαρ, καὶ συνέλαβεν καὶ εἶδεν ὅτι ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχει, καὶ ἠτιμάσθη ἡ κυρία ἐναντίον αὐτῆς. 5 εἶπεν δὲ Σάρα πρὸς Ἅβραμ ἀδικοῦμαι ἐκ σου· ἐγὼ δέδωκα τὴν παιδίσκην μου εἰς τὸν κόλπον σου, ἰδοῦσα δὲ ὅτι ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχει, ἠτιμάσθην ἐναντίον αὐτῆς· κρίναι ὁ θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σου. 6 εἶπεν δὲ Ἅβραμ πρὸς Σάραν, ἰδοὺ ἡ παιδίσκη σου ἐν ταῖς χερσίν σου· χρῶ αὐτῇ, ὡς ἄν σοί ἀρεστὸν ᾖ. καὶ ἐκάκωσεν αὐτὴν Σάρα, καὶ ἀπέδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῆς. | 1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, did not bear him children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold, the Lord has closed me from bearing; enter therefore to my maidservant, so that you may produce children from her." And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar the Egyptian, her own maidservant—after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan—and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he entered to Hagar, and she conceived; and she saw that she was with child, and her mistress was dishonored in her sight. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, "I am being wronged because of you; I gave my maidservant into your bosom, but seeing that she is with child, I am dishonored in her sight. Let God judge between me and you." 6 And Abram said to Sarai, "Behold, your maidservant is in your hands; use her as it is pleasing to you." And Sarai mistreated her, and she ran away from her presence. |
| 7 εὗρεν δὲ αὐτὴν ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐπὶ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἐπὶ τῆς πηγῆς ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ Σούρ. 8 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου Ἄγαρ παιδίσκη Σάρας, πόθεν ἔρχῃ καὶ ποῦ πορεύῃ; καὶ εἶπεν, ἀπὸ προσώπου Σάρας τῆς κυρίας μου ἐγὼ ἀποδιδράσκω. 9 εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου, ἀποστράφητι πρὸς τὴν κυρίαν σου καὶ ταπεινώθητι ὑπὸ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς. 10 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου, πληθύνων πληθυνῶ τὸ σπέρμα σου, καὶ οὐκ ἀριθμηθήσεται ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους. 11 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου, ἰδοὺ σὺ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχεις καὶ τέξῃ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰσμαήλ, ὅτι ἐπήκουσεν κύριος τῇ ταπεινώσει σου. 12 οὗτος ἔσται ἄγροικος ἄνθρωπος· αἱ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πάντας, καὶ αἱ χεῖρες πάντων ἐπ' αὐτόν, καὶ κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ κατοικήσει. 13 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἄγαρ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου τοῦ λαλοῦντος πρὸς αὐτήν, σὺ ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐπιδών με· ὅτι εἶπεν καὶ γὰρ ἐνώπιον εἶδον ὀφθέντα μοι. 14 ἕνεκεν τούτου ἐκάλεσεν τὸ φρέαρ, φρέαρ οὗ ἐνώπιον εἶδον· ἰδοὺ ἀνὰ μέσον Κάδης καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον Βαράδ. 15 καὶ ἔτεκεν Ἄγαρ τῷ Ἅβραμ υἱόν, καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἅβραμ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὃν ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ Ἄγαρ, Ἰσμαήλ. 16 Ἅβραμ δὲ ἦν ὀγδοήκοντα ἓξ ἐτῶν, ἡνίκα ἔτεκεν Ἄγαρ τὸν Ἰσμαὴλ τῷ Ἅβραμ. | 7 And an angel of the Lord[1] found her at the spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring on the road to Shur.[2] 8 And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Hagar, maidservant of Sarai, where do you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am running away from the presence of Sarai, my mistress." 9 And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress and be humbled under her hands." 10 And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Multiplying, I will multiply your seed, and it shall not be numbered because of its multitude." 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael,[3] because the Lord has hearkened to your humiliation. 12 He shall be a wild man;[4] his hands shall be against all, and the hands of all against him, and he shall dwell over against the face of all his brothers." 13 And Hagar called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "For I have seen plainly Him who appeared to me." 14 For this reason she called the well, "The Well of Him whom I saw plainly"; behold, it is between Kadesh and Barad. 15 And Hagar bore a son to Abram, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. |
[1]This is the first time this specific figure appears in the Bible. In the LXX, an angelos is a messenger. However, verse 13 makes it clear that Hagar believes she has seen God himself. This tension between the "messenger" and "God" is a recurring theme in the patriarchial narratives.
[2]Hagar was fleeing toward Shur, which was the desert region on the border of Egypt. As an Egyptian, she was likely trying to go home.
[3]Ishmael means "God hears."
[4]The Greek agroikos literally means "living in the fields" or "rustic." It translates the Hebrew "wild donkey of a man," signifying a life of independence and nomadic freedom outside the urban centers of the time.
[2]Hagar was fleeing toward Shur, which was the desert region on the border of Egypt. As an Egyptian, she was likely trying to go home.
[3]Ishmael means "God hears."
[4]The Greek agroikos literally means "living in the fields" or "rustic." It translates the Hebrew "wild donkey of a man," signifying a life of independence and nomadic freedom outside the urban centers of the time.