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.
6. in thy hand ] Abram replies, with forbearance, that Hagar is under Sarai’s authority. Whether this is a formal transference of Hagar back into the power of Sarai, after she had become, as a concubine, the property of Abram, is not explained.
dealt hardly ] The same word as that rendered “afflict” (Gen 15:13). Here it evidently means “persecute,” “ill-treat.”
fled ] The character of Hagar is depicted as high-spirited and courageous, as well as independent. There is no evidence that her conduct was insolent.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 6. Sarah dealt hardly with her] teanneha, she afflicted her; the term implying stripes and hard usage, to bring down the body and humble the mind. If the slave was to blame in this business the mistress is not less liable to censure. She alone had brought her into those circumstances, in which it was natural for her to value herself beyond her mistress.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy maid is in thine hand, i.e. subject to thy power and authority, as the phrase is taken, Gen 24:10; 39:4,6,8; Num 31:49. For though she be my concubine, yet she is thy inferior; and therefore if she exalt herself above her measure, I give thee power to exercise thy authority over her. But whether this was not one of Abram’s infirmities, to give up his second wife into the hands of the first, may well be questioned. Use whatsoever power God hath given thee over her; for we must not think that Abram gave her power of life and death over her, especially now when she was with child. Therefore here, as often elsewhere, the general words must be limited from the nature of the thing, and from other texts of Scripture, which forbid cruelty even to our servants.
And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, either by imposing labours upon her above her strength, or by grievous stripes which she could not bear,
she fled from her face, contrary to God’s command, Ecc 10:4, and to the laws of justice, because both her person and the fruit of her body were not her own, but Abram’s right in possession.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But Abram said unto Sarai,…. In a meek, mild and gentle manner:
behold, thy maid [is] in thine hand; though Hagar was Abram’s secondary wife he still considers her as Sarai’s maid, and as subject to her, and allows her to exercise authority over her; for he still retained the same love and affection for Sarai, his first and lawful wife, and showed the same respect he ever did, and supported her in her honour and dignity:
do to her as it pleaseth thee: not giving her liberty to take away her life, nor even to use her cruelly, but to deal with her as a mistress might lawfully do with a servant, or however exercise that power which a first wife had over a second: perhaps Abram, in complaisance to Sarai, gave her too large a commission, and left it too much in her power to distress Hagar; and it might have been more correct to have heard both sides, and judged between them, and used his own authority, by reproving and correcting as he saw meet; had she been only Sarai’s maid and not his wife, it would have been less exceptionable; however, for peace sake, he gave leave to Sarai to do as she would:
and when Sarai dealt hardly with her; or afflicted her m, not only with words but with blows, as some think, and unmercifully beat her, and laid hard service upon her she was not able to go through, especially in her circumstances; though it may be she only chastised her in such a manner as a mistress may chastise her maid, since the angel seems to approve of what she did, Ge 16:9; which her proud spirit not being able to bear,
she fled from her face; which was set against her, and was full of wrath and fury: she deserted her service, quitted Abram’s house though with child by him; unmindful of the various relations she stood in, which should have obliged her to have kept her place, and especially until she had made proper remonstrances of her ill usage, and could have no redress; but, unable to bear the treatment she met with, meditated a flight into her own country, Egypt, for by what follows it appears she steered her course that way; this flight of hers was agreeable to her name, for Hagar in the Arabic language signifies to “flee”, hence the flight of Mahomet is called the Hegira.
m “eam affligeret”, Tigurine version, Schmidt; “afflixit eam”, Fagninus, Montanus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. The greatness of Abram’s humanity and modesty appears from his answer. He does not quarrel with his wife; and though he has the best cause, yet he does not pertinaciously defend it, but voluntarily dismisses the wife who had been given him. In short, for the sake of restoring peace, he does violence to his feelings, both as a husband, and a father. For, in leaving Hagar to the will of her enraged mistress, he does not treat her as his wife; he also, in a certain way, undervalues that object of his hope which was conceived in her womb. And it is not to be doubted that he was thus calm and placid in bearing the vehemence of his wife; because, throughout her whole life, he had found her to be obedient. Still it was a great excellence, to restrain his temper under an indignity so great. It may, however, here be asked, how it was that his care for the blessed seed had then vanished from his mind? Hagar is great with child; he hopes that the seed through which the salvation of the world was promised, is about to proceed from her. Why then does he not set Sarai aside, and turn his love and desire still more to Hagar? Truly we hence infer, that all human contrivances pass away and vanish in smoke, as soon as any grievous temptation is presented. Having taken a wife against the divine command, he thinks the matter is succeeding well, when he sees her pregnant, and pleases himself in foolish confidence; but when contention suddenly arises, he is at his wit’s end, and rejects all hope, or, at least, forgets it. The same thing must necessarily happen to us, as often as we attempt anything contrary to the word of God. Our minds will fail at the very first blast of temptation; (386) since our only ground of stability is, to have the authority of God for what we do. In the meantime, God purifies the faith of his servant from its rust; for by mixing his own and his wife’s imagination with the word of God, he, in a sense, had stifled his faith; wherefore, to restore its brightness, that which was superfluous is cut of. God, by opposing himself in this manner to our sinful designs, recalls us from our stupidity to a sound mind. A simple promise had been given ‘I will bless thy seed.’ Sarai’s gloss supervened, (387) namely, that she could have no seed but a supposititious one by Hagar: this mire of human imagination, with which the promise had been defiled must be purged away, that Abram might derive his knowledge from no other source, than the pure word of God.
And Sarai dealt hardly with her (388) The word ענה ( anah,) which Moses uses, signifies to afflict and to humble. I therefore explain it as being put for reducing Hagar to submission. But it was difficult for an angry woman to keep within bounds, in repressing the insolence of her maid. Wherefore, it is possible that she became immoderately enraged against her; not so much considering her own duty as revolving the means of being avenged for the offenses committed. Since Moses brings no heavier charge, I confine myself to what is certain; that Sarai made use of her proper authority in restraining the insolence of her maid. And, doubtless, from the event, we may form a judgments that Hagar was impelled to flee, not so much by the cruelty of her mistress, as by her own contumacy. Her own conscience accused her; and it is improbable that Sarai should have been so greatly incensed, except by many, and, indeed atrocious offenses. Therefore, the woman being of servile temper, and of indomitable ferocity, chose rather to flee, than to return to favor, through the humble acknowledgment of her fault.
(386) “ Ventum trepidationis.” — “Wind of trembling.”
(387) “ Additamentum Sarai supervenerat.” — “ L’addition ou glose de Sarai estoit survenue.” — French Tr
(388) “ Et afflixit eam Sarai.” “And Sarah afflicted her.” See margin of English version.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Sarai dealt hardly with her.The verb is translated afflicted in Exo. 1:11 and Isa. 60:14; its more exact meaning is, Sarai humbled her, that is, reduced her to her original condition. It was quite right that as Hagar had abused her elevation, Abram should make her yield to Sarai all due respect and submission; but in making her resume her old position as a slave, Sarai was possibly dealing unkindly with her (but see on Gen. 16:9). In running away Hagar not only showed the untamable love of freedom which Ishmael inherited from her, but apparently was repeating the act from which she had her name.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Thy maid is in thy hand By this he repudiates the implication of having wronged his wife by exalting another to her place in his affections, or in his household . Sarai’s maid is still her own . At her proposal he had treated her as a wife, and now she has her at disposal to treat her as she pleased .
Dealt hardly with her Treated her with such oppressive rigour and humiliation that she fled from her face, resolved not to submit to such affliction. “The proud, unyielding passion of the Ishmaelite for freedom shows its characteristic feature in their ancestress.” Lange.
‘And Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is in your hand. Do with her whatever is right in your eyes.” And Sarai treated her harshly and she fled from her face.’
Abram passes his judgment. Sarai is given authority to act as she sees fit. The woman is still her maid (it may be that this is an intentional downgrading of Hagar who had become more than just a maid). Whatever she does will be seen as having his sanction. He accepts her, in accordance with custom, as still the principal wife. Hagar possibly did not understand that Sarah was unique as a child of Terah, thus being of the tribal aristocracy.
Sarai then makes clear her position to the tribe, who will have been watching the power struggle and waiting to see what Abram would do, by her harsh treatment of the slave who has tried to rise above her station and who has responded badly to her mistress’s kindness. This also was in accordance with custom. In the code of Hammurabi the punishment for a servant girl who bears a child by her master and seeks to take advantage of the situation is that she be reduced again to the status of a slave.
The harsh treatment does not necessarily involve unfair treatment, it lay in the downgrading that necessarily followed with all that that involved. But Sarai was human and felt she had right on her side, thus it is probable that Hagar had a very hard time.
Hagar cannot accept her new lack of status or her treatment and flees in the direction of Egypt, her homeland. In many ways she had given Sarai little choice. (One of the things that is said to cause the earth to tremble is ‘a handmaid who is heir to her mistress’ (Pro 30:23)). Her attempt to supplant her had had to be treated harshly in order to re-establish Sarai’s overt authority.
Of course her flight exacerbates her wrongdoing. She has no right to leave the tribe and she has not been turned out. Had she stopped to consider earlier none of this would have happened. She must have known the customs, even though as an Egyptian she was unwilling to subscribe to them. But she had made a bid to rise above her station and the consequence of failure was inevitable.
Yet the narrative is very sympathetic to Hagar, even though according to every custom she was in the wrong. In the light of the fact that the covenant it witnesses to, and establishes, is with her and her seed, it is clear that it was written by a sympathiser in the tribe who records it for her at Abram’s request (the whole narrative reveals what a strong minded woman she is).
Gen 16:6. Abram said, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand i.e.. in thy power, ch. Gen 24:10. Gen 39:4.
REFLECTIONS.We have here,
1. Hagar’s insolence. No sooner with child, than she forgets her station, and begins, in conceit perhaps of the promised seed, to usurp over the mistress of the family. 3. Abram’s peaceable answer. Though Hagar was now in some sense his wife, yet he remits her to her mistress Sarai, to know her station, and learn obedience. Note; (1.) Nothing is like a peaceable answer to turn away wrath. (2.) Better yield sometimes even to an unreasonable request of a wife, than by an unseasonable opposition give ground for debate. (3.) Nothing is so fit for proud hearts, as to be degraded, and made to know their place.
4. Sarai’s severity to Hagar. When pride and jealousy unite with power, woe to the poor sufferer! Gen 16:6 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.
Ver. 6. But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, &c. ] Here that of Solomon is verified, “A soft answer pacifieth wrath”. Pro 15:1 Hard to soft cloth no hurt, as a bullet against a woolsack. Uxoris vitium aut tollendum, aut tollerandum , said Varro, a The woman is the weaker, and hath many provocations among children and servants that the man meets not with. This must be considered, and all bitterness abandoned. The heathens, when they sacrificed at their marriage feasts, used to cast the gall of the beast sacrificed out of doors. b Vipera virus, ob venerationem nuptiarum, evomit , saith St Basil, et tu duritiem animi, tu feritatem, tu crudelitatem ob unionis reverentiam non deponis ? What kin art thou to him, whose name is Wormwood? Rev 8:11
And when Sarai dealt hardly with her.
She fled. a Gellius.
b Plutarch. Proecep. Conjug., Basil. Hexemer., hom. vii.
dealt hardly. Hebrew afflicted her. The Code of Khammurabi (119) forbade her being sold. Sarah could only lay tasks on her. See App-15.
Abram: Gen 13:8, Gen 13:9, Pro 14:29, Pro 15:1, Pro 15:17, Pro 15:18, 1Pe 3:7
in: Gen 24:10, Job 2:6, Psa 106:41, Psa 106:42, Jer 38:5
as it pleaseth thee: Heb. that which is good in thine eyes, dealt hardly with her. Heb. afflicted her. Pro 29:19
fled: Exo 2:15, Pro 27:8, Ecc 10:4
Reciprocal: Gen 45:16 – it pleased Pharaoh well Jos 9:25 – we are 1Sa 29:6 – the lords favour 1Ki 12:13 – roughly 1Ki 21:2 – seem good to thee Job 1:12 – power
Gen 16:6. Thy maid is in thy hand Though she was his wife, he would not countenance her in any thing disrespectful to Sarai. Those who would keep up peace and love must return soft answers to hard accusations; husbands and wives particularly should endeavour not to be both angry together. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her Making her to serve with rigour; she fled from her face She not only avoided her wrath for the present, but totally deserted her service.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2. Sarai’s ill-humour: as jealous of her husband, as angry with her maid. Though Abram appears to have been quite blameless, respecting Hagar’s pride, she lays the blame at his door, and then appeals to God for judgment. Note; (1.) A person who is angry with himself, generally gives vent to his anger by abusing the innocent. (2.) Nothing is more common, than to quarrel with others for doing what we desired, when the issue happens to fall out otherwise than we designed. (3.) They who take God’s name in their mouth in anger, are almost sure to take it in vain. (4.) A person in a passion is always in the wrong, whatever cause may be given him for it.
5. Hagar’s flight. It was her duty to submit, as it was Sarai’s to have treated her mildly: but both were wrong, and therefore both perverse. Note; (1.) They who suffer for their faults, have a double obligation to take the punishment patiently. (2.) To fly from our cross is usually not only the way to sin but suffering.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments