And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
3. And Sarai Abram’s wife ] This verse is P’s duplicate version of Gen 16:1-2, adding the number of years that Abram had dwelt in Canaan.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 3. And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar – and gave her to her husband – to be his wife.] There are instances of Hindoo women, when barren, consenting to their husbands marrying a second wife for the sake of children; and second marriages on this account, without consent, are very common. – Ward
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. His concubine, or secondary wife. Polygamy, though it was forbidden by God’s first institution, Gen 2:24, compared with Mat 19:5, and brought into the world by wicked Lamech, yet it was sometimes practised by the patriarchs, either by God’s permission, who could rightly dispense with his own laws when and where he pleased; or by their mistake about the lawfulness of it. As for the present case, it is most evident this action was not the effect of an inordinate lust, but of an earnest desire of having children, and especially of obtaining the blessed and promised Seed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Sarai . . . gave her to . . .Abram to be his wife“Wife” is here used to describean inferior, though not degrading, relation, in countries wherepolygamy prevails. In the case of these female slaves, who are thepersonal property of his lady, being purchased before her marriage orgiven as a special present to her, no one can become the husband’ssecondary wife without her mistress consent or permission. This usageseems to have prevailed in patriarchal times; and Hagar, Sarai’sslave, of whom she had the entire right of disposing, was given byher mistress’ spontaneous offer, to be the secondary wife of Abram,in the hope of obtaining the long-looked-for heir. It was a wrongstepindicating a want of simple reliance on Godand Sarai wasthe first to reap the bitter fruits of her device.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian,…. Took her by the hand, it is probable, and led her into the apartment where Abram was, and presented her to him; their characters are very exactly described, and the contrast beautifully given, that the affair might be the more remarkable and observable:
after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan; so that he was now eighty five years of age, for he was sventy five when he departed from Haran and came into Canaan, Ge 12:4; and Sarai, being ten years younger than he, must be sventy five; the Jews from hence have formed a rule or canon; that if a man marries a woman, and she has no children in ten years, he is obliged to marry another h:
and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife; his secondary wife, or concubine; which, though contrary to the first institution of marriage, was connived at of God, and was practised by good men: nothing can excuse them but their earnest desire after the Messiah, the promised seed; and one may conclude, that nothing but this especially could move Sarai to take such a step, so contrary to the temper and disposition of women in common.
h Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 45. fol. 40. 2.). Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. And gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. Moses states what was the design of Sarai; for neither did she intend to make her house a brothel, nor to be the betrayer of her maid’s chastity, nor a pander for her husband. Yet Hagar is improperly called a wife; because she was brought into another person’s bed, against the law of God. Wherefore, let us know that this connection was so far illicit, as to be something between fornication and marriage. The same thing takes place with all those inventions which are appended to the word of God. For with whatever fair pretext they may be covered, there is an inherent corruption, which degenerates from the purity of the word, and vitiates the whole.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.He was now, therefore, eighty-five years of age (see Gen. 16:16 and Gen. 12:4), and this long delay had not only tried his faith, but brought him and Sarai to the conclusion that the promised seed was to be obtained by other means.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Ten years in Canaan Abram was now eighty-five years old, (compare Gen 16:16; Gen 12:4,) and Sarai seventy-five . Gen 17:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
For a proof that this was sinful. See Mat 19:3-9
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Ver. 3. After Abram had dwelt ten years. ] The Rabbis tell us of a tradition that the Hebrews grounded from hence, that if a woman had no child in the first ten years, she might be held barren, and another wife taken. But this is like one of their ill glosses that marred so many good texts, and refuted by our Saviour the Lawgiver, who best understood his own meaning. Mat 5:31-32
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ten. These 10 years to be taken into account in any calculations.
wife. This was strictly in accordance with the enactment of Khammurahi (146) which Abram had brought from Ur. See App-15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hagar
Hagar is a type of the law “which gendereth to bondage” Gal 4:24; Gal 4:25.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
am 2093, bc 1911
had: Gen 12:4, Gen 12:5
gave: Gen 16:5, Gen 30:4, Gen 30:9
his: Gen 25:6, Gen 28:9, Gen 32:22, Gen 35:22, Jdg 19:1-4, 2Sa 5:13, 1Ki 11:3, Gal 4:25
Reciprocal: Gen 21:9 – Sarah Gen 22:24 – concubine Gen 30:3 – Behold Gal 4:24 – Agar