So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.
- KJV But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
- BSB “Here,” said Abram, “your servant is in your hands. Do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her.
- NASB But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
- NLT Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abram deferred to Sarai, who treated Hagar harshly, causing her to flee. Conflict drove the pregnant Hagar into the wilderness.
Overview
Abram steps back rather than mediating, and Sarai's harsh treatment forces Hagar to run away. The breakdown of the household leaves a vulnerable, pregnant woman alone in the desert. Yet this flight becomes the occasion for God's gracious intervention, showing His care for the mistreated even amid human failure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 38:5Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”
- Prov 15:17–18Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fattened calf with hatred.
- Prov 27:8As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
- Ps 106:41–42He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
- Eccl 10:4If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don’t leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.
- Prov 29:19A servant can’t be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.
- 1 Pet 3:7You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; that your prayers may not be hindered.
- Prov 14:29He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
- Prov 15:1A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
- Gen 24:10The servant took ten camels, of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
- Job 2:6Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.”
- Exod 2:15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
- Gen 13:8–9Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are relatives.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 16:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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