be built up—or obtain children (v.i.)—from, her] by adopting
Hagar's son as her own; cf. 303.—3 is P's parallel to 2b. 4a.—4.
and went in, etc. (see on 64)] the immediate continuation
of 2b in J.—was despised] a natural feeling, enhanced in
antiquity by the universal conviction that the mysteries of
conception and birth are peculiarly a sphere of divine
action.—5. My wrong be upon thee] i.e. 'May my grievance
be avenged on thee!'—her injured self-respect finding vent
in a passionate and most unjust imprecation.—6. Thy maid is in thy hand] Is this a statement of fact, or does it mean
that Abram now hands Hagar back to her mistress's
authority? The latter is Gu.'s view, who thinks that as a
concubine Hagar was no longer under the complete control
of Sarai.—treated her harshly] The word ((
Hebrew characters)) suggests
excessive severity; Hagar's flight is justified by the indignities
to which she was subjected (v.11).
7-14. The theophany at the well.—7. the Angel of Yahwe] (see below) is here introduced for the first time as the medium of the theophany. The scene is a fountain of water (as yet nameless: v.14) in the desert . . . on the way to Shûr. Shûr is an unknown locality on the NE frontier of Egypt (see Dri. DB, iv. 510b), which gave its name to the adjacent desert: 201 2518, Ex. 1522, 1 Sa. 157 278 (v.i.).
The (Hebrew characters) (or (Hebrew characters)) is "Yahwe Himself in self-manifestation,"
or, in other words, a personification of the theophany. This somewhat
subtle definition is founded on the fact that in very many instances the
Angel is at once identified with God and differentiated from Him; cp.
e.g. vv.10. 13 with 11. The ultimate explanation of the ambiguity is no
doubt to be sought in the advance of religious thought to a more
whether the purpose of presenting a newly-married woman with a (Hebrew characters)
may not have been to provide for the event of the marriage proving
childless. In usage it is largely coextensive with (Hebrew characters), and is characteristic
of J against E, though not against P.—(Hebrew characters)] The motive of Hagar's
'flight' may have been suggested by a supposed connexion with Ar.
haǧara, 'flee.' For another etymology, see Nö. EB, 19332.—2. (Hebrew characters)] (so
only 308) may be either a denom. from (Hebrew characters) (so apparently GVΣ), or a
metaphor from the family as a house (Ex. 121, 1 Sa. 285, Ru. 411 etc.).—5.
(Hebrew characters)] gen. of obj., G-K, § 128 h (cf. Ob. 10). G (Greek characters).—(Hebrew characters)]
The point over [H] indicates a clerical error: rd. (with [E]) (Hebrew characters).
7b seems to be a duplicate of 14b, and one or other may be a gloss. The
words (Hebrew characters)—(Hebrew characters) are omitted by GL entirely, and partly in several
