--- title: "Genesis 16 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible" description: "Read Genesis 16 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LO" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16" --- [ Read](/kjv/genesis/16)[ Commentary](/study/genesis/16)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/genesis/16) Audio 1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name *was* Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.* 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. 4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. 5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong *be* upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. 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.** 7 ¶ And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. 9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. 10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou *art* with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.* 12 And he will be a wild man; his hand *will be* against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. 13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? 14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, *it is* between Kadesh and Bered.* 15 ¶ And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. 16 And Abram *was* fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. [Genesis 15](/study/genesis/15) [Genesis 17](/study/genesis/17) ## Commentary To verse 1 ***[Genesis 16:1](/kjv/genesis/16/1)*****.*****Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children,*****&c.—** Sarai, being now seventy-five years old, and having continued ten years in the land of promise, began to suspect, that she should have no offspring by her husband; and therefore, anxiously desirous of the *promised seed,*she requests her husband to take her handmaid Hagar (an AEgyptian proselyte, most probably born in their house from AEgyptian parents), that she might have children by her: for, as being born of her handmaid, they would have been her children according to the law of those times, [Genesis 30:3](/kjv/genesis/30/3). Abram, being no doubt equally desirous of an offspring, complied with his wife's request, and took this secondary wife: which, though contrary to the original institution of marriage and the purity of the Gospel, appears to have been allowed in those times. It is, however, proper to remark, that Abram having continued to the age of eighty-five constant to his wife Sarai, cannot be supposed actuated by any improper desires, but by the single wish to be the father of the *promised seed:*and as no particular revelation had yet been given him, that Sarai should be the mother of this seed, he might perhaps think that God would fulfil his purpose by means of Hagar, and therefore more readily consented to Sarai's proposal. Hagar signifies a *stranger*or *sojourner*in a strange land. The city of Agar or Petra, the capital of Arabia Petraea, derived its name from her: as did the people anciently called Hagarites or Hagarenes, [1 Chronicles 5:10](/kjv/1-chronicles/5/10). [Psalms 83:6](/kjv/psalms/83/6). **REFLECTIONS.—**After ten years more waiting, Sarai was solicitous to have children by any means, and never feared in a servant to find a rival. *Observe;*1. The most dangerous temptations come from those who are most dear to us: we dare not deny them. 2. God's gifts are wisely distributed. All have much to be thankful for; but there is always some allay, to keep us from seeking our rest in the creature. 3. How many a rich man would give half his estate for an heir; when the peasant, who lives in a cottage, has children like olive-branches round about his table. 4. Inordinate desires after creature-comforts put us on indirect means of obtaining them. 5. The comfort we seek in such ways, generally comes embittered with gall. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16","name":"Genesis 16 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Genesis 16 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LO","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","name":"cokes commentary on the holy bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis","name":"Genesis"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/genesis/16","name":"16"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```