EXPOSITION. bably, to account for thP.ir impatience in OHAP'fER XVI. waiting for tho promised seed), and gave Ver. 1.-Now Sarai Abram's wife bare her to her h11Sband Abram to be his wife. him no children (litera.lly, bai·e not to him, Afterwards styled a pil,qash or concubine notwithstanding ,the promise; the barren- (eh. XXV, 6), she is here improperly called ness of Sarai being introduced ns the point a wife IJU<e pneter Dei le,gem in alien um tho• of departure for the ensuing narrative, and rum inducitur (Calvin), from whom the 'emphasised as the cause or occasion of the pilgash or concubine differed (1) in power subsequent transaction): and she had-liter- over the family, which belonged solely to ally, to her (there was)-an handmaid, an the trno wife, not to the secondary ; (2) in Egyptian (obtained probably while in the the manner of espousal, which in the case of house of Pharaoh (eh. xiL 16)-whose name the former was accompanied with solemn was Hagar-" flight," from hagai·, to flee. rites of espousal an<l liberal gifts of dowry ; Cf. Hcgirah, the flight of l'lfahomet. Not and (3) in privilege of issue, the offspring of her original designation, but given to her the secondary wife having no title to inherit. afterwards, either because of her flight from The act of Sarai (cf. the similar beha vioar of Egypt (Ambrose, Wordsworth), or because Stratonice, the wife of King Deiotarus, who, of her escape from her mistress (l\Iichaelis, according to Plutarch, gave her maid Electrn Bush, ' Speaker's Commentary'). Though to her husband, and so obtained an heir to not the imaginary or mythical (Bohlen), it the crown) is as little to be imitated as the is doubtful if she was the real (Ainsworth, conduct of Abram. The apparent repeti- Bush), ancestor of the Hagarenes (1 Chron. tions in vers. 1-3 do not require the hypo- v. 10, 19, 20 ; xxvii. 31 ; Ps. lxxxiii. 6, 8), thesis of different anthorship (Tuch, Colenso, Ver. 2.-And Sarai said unto Abram, Bleek, Davidson) for their explanation, but Behold now, the Lord bath restrained me arc characteristic of the genius of Hebrew from bee.Ting. Literally, hath shut me up composition (cf. eh. vii. 1-10), anJ may (i. e. my womb, eh. x:x. 18; a,JIJ;.,xuae µ•, even be CO)ISiclernbly remo\'CJ by connecting LXX.) from bearing. Her advancing age vers. 1, 2 with eh. xv., and commeucing the was rendering this every day more and more new sub-section with eh. xvi. 3 (Quarry, nppnrent. I pray thee go in unto my maid p. 331). (cf. eh. xxx. 3, 9). It is so far satisfactory Ver.. 4.-And he went in unto Hagar. that the propo~al to make a secondary wife -',~ Nlal, a linguistic peculiarity of the of Hagar diJ not originate with Abram ; Jehovist, .occun-iug eh. x:-.:ix. 21, 30 ; xxx. though, as Sarai's guilt in making it cannot 3, 4; xxxviii. 2, 9, 16 (Vaihinger, David- altogether be e:;cused,,so neither can .A.bram son)'; bat by some partitionists chs, xxix. an,l bo entirely freed from fault in yielding to x:xx. are nssigned to the Elohist (Tuch, her solicitations. I,t may be that I may Bleek, De Wette). And she conceived: and obtain children by her. Literally, be built when she saw that she had conceived, her '1tp by her; from banah, to build, whence ben, mistress was despised in her eyes, As a son (Deut. xll:v. !) ; Ruth iv.'11). Calvin Hannah, by Peninnah (1 Sam. i. 6) ; bar- notes that Snrai's desire of offspring was not renness among the Hebrews having been re- prompted by natural impulso, but by the garded as a dishonour and reproach (eh. xix. zeal of foi th which made her ,vish to secure 31; xxx. 1, 23 ; Levit. xx. 20), nnd fecundity the promised benediction. As yet it had e.s a special mark of the Divine favour(ch. xxi. not been clearly intimated that Sarai was to 6 ; xxiv. 60 ; Exod. xxiii. 26; Deut. vii. 14). be the mother of Abram's child ; and hence Whether Hngar imagined Sarni to be through hor recourse to what was II prevalent prac- her barrenness "tanquam a Divino promisso tice of the times, while unjustifiable in it- repudiatam" (Lyrn), or anticipated Sarai's self, was a signal proof of her humility, of displacement from her position as Abram's her devotion to her husband, nud perhaps wifo (Inglis), she, immediately on perccfring 'also of her faith in God. And Abram her condition, became insolent (cf. Prov. hearkened to the voice of Sarai. " Tho XXX. 23). faith of both was defective ; not indeed with Ver. 5.-And Sarai said unto Abram, regard to the substance of the promise, but lily wrong be upon thee. 'AJ,,:ovµa, ir: aoii with regard to the method in which they (LXX,) ; inique agis contra me (Yulgo.te) ; proceeded" (Calvin). My injnr.y is upon thee, i. e. thou nrt the Ver. 3.-And Sarai Abram's wife took cause of 1t (Jonathan, RosenmiUler, Ains- Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram worth, Clarke, 'Spoaker's Commentary'); or, had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan it belongs to thee as well as to me ( Clericus, (i. e. in his eighty-fifth, and hor sevonty- Bush, Alford); or, perhaps better, May the 8fth year; a note of time intro,luccd, pro- injury done ,to me return upon thee ! cf. GEN ESIS. Q 226 THE BOOK OF GENESIS [CH, XVI. 1-6.
xxvii. 13 (Keil, Kalisch, Lnnge, Wordsworth) himself) ; do to her aa it pleueth thee. -the language of passionat.e irritation, indi• Literally, the good in thine eyes; in which Jating repentance of her previous action and conduct of tho patriarch may bo seen per- 11. desire to both impute its guilt to, and lay haps (1) an evidence of his peaceful disposi- its bitter consequences on, her husband, who tion iu doing violence to his feelings ns a in the en tiro transaction was more innocent husband in order to restore harmony to. his than she. I have given my ma.id into thy disquieted household (Calvin), nnd (2) a bosom (very imprudent, evcu had it not been proof that he had already found out his sinful ; the result was only what might have mistake in expecting the promised seed been expected) ;-and when she saw that through Hugar (Calvin) ; but also (3) nn in- she had conoeived, I was despised in her dication of weakness in yielding to Sarai's eyes : the Lord judge between me and thee passionate invective (Willet, Bush), 11,nd (4) (cf. I Sam. xriv. 15; Judges xi. 27). An an unjustifiable wrong inflicted on the future irreYerent use of the Divine name on the mother of his child (Candlish). And when part of Sarai (Calvin), and a speech arguing Sarai dealt hardly with her - (literally, great passion (Ainsworth). a.ffticted her, by thrusting her back into the Ver. 6. -But Abram said unto S&rai, condition of a slnve (Lange, Candlish) ; Behold, thy maid is in thy hand (regard- though probably by stripes or maltreatment ing her still as one of Sarai's servants, though of some sort in addition (Ainsworth, Bush) elevated to the rank of secondary '\\ife to -she fled from her face.