Kejadian 16:10-15

16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ¹  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ²  16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ³  pregnant

and are about to give birth ⁴  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ⁵ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ⁶ 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ⁷  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ⁸ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ⁹ 

He will live away from ¹⁰  his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ¹¹  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ¹²  16:14 That is why the well was called ¹³  Beer Lahai Roi. ¹⁴  (It is located ¹⁵  between Kadesh and Bered.)

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. ¹⁶ 

Kejadian 17:20

17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. ¹⁷  I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. ¹⁸  He will become the father of twelve princes; ¹⁹  I will make him into a great nation.

Kejadian 21:13

21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

Mazmur 83:6

83:6 It includes ²⁰  the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites, ²¹ 

[16:10]  ¹ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ² tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[16:11]  ³ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ⁴ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ⁵ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:11]  sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.

[16:12]  ⁷ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[16:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).

[16:13]  ¹² tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[16:13]  sn For a discussion of Hagar’s exclamation, see T. Booij, “Hagar’s Words in Genesis 16:13b,” VT 30 (1980): 1-7.

[16:14]  ¹³ tn The verb does not have an expressed subject and so is rendered as passive in the translation.

[16:14]  ¹⁴ sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” The text suggests that God takes up the cause of those who are oppressed.

[16:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “look.” The words “it is located” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”

[16:15]  sn Whom Abram named Ishmael. Hagar must have informed Abram of what the angel had told her. See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ¹⁷ sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.

[17:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.

[17:20]  ¹⁹ tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[83:6]  ²⁰ tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[83:6]  ²¹ sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.