The Meaning of Genesis 16:1 Explained

Genesis 16:1

KJV: Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

YLT: And Sarai, Abram's wife, hath not borne to him, and she hath an handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name is Hagar;

Darby: And Sarai Abram's wife did not bear him children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant; and her name was Hagar.

ASV: Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now Sarai  Abram's  wife  bare  him no  children:  and she had an handmaid,  an Egyptian,  whose name  [was] Hagar. 

What does Genesis 16:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 16:1-16 - Abram's Son Ishmael
Poor Hagar! What contrasts met in her life! Bought in an Egyptian slave-mart, but destined to be the mother of a great people! She is not the last to suffer from the mistakes and sins of God's children, but she was abundantly recompensed. Abram did her a great wrong. Human policy will often suggest a course which seems right in our own eyes, but the end is death. How remarkable is the advice given to Hagar by the angel: return and submit! Does not the child of God often seek to evade the cross! "Let me but get away from this intolerable trouble," we cry. But God meets us. "No stranger He to all our wanderings wild!" We have to take up the cross, and sit down again on the hard stool. Some day we shall be permitted to go out, but not till we have learned our lesson perfectly. In the meanwhile, we are assured that our life shall be prolific in great results. In an outburst of awe and joy, the slave-girl learned that God sees and hears. Note 2 Chronicles 16:9; 1 Peter 3:12.
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Chapter Summary: Genesis 16

1  Sarai, being barren, gives Hagar to Abram
4  Hagar, being afflicted for despising her mistress, runs away
7  An angel commands her to return and submit herself,
10  promises her a numerous posterity,
12  and shows their character and condition
13  Hagar names the place, and returns to Sarai
15  Ishmael is born
16  The age of Abram

What do the individual words in Genesis 16:1 mean?

And Sarai the wife of Abram not had borne [a child] to him and she had a maidservant an Egyptianess and her name was Hagar
וְשָׂרַי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת אַבְרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יָלְדָ֖ה ל֑וֹ וְלָ֛הּ שִׁפְחָ֥ה מִצְרִ֖ית וּשְׁמָ֥הּ הָגָֽר

וְשָׂרַי֙  And  Sarai 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׂרַי  
Sense: original name of Sarah the wife of Abram or Abraham.
אֵ֣שֶׁת  the  wife 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
אַבְרָ֔ם  of  Abram 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָם  
Sense: original name of Abraham.
יָלְדָ֖ה  had  borne  [a  child] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: יָלַד 
Sense: to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail.
ל֑וֹ  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
וְלָ֛הּ  and  she  had 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition, third person feminine singular
שִׁפְחָ֥ה  a  maidservant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׁפְחָה  
Sense: maid, maid-servant, slavegirl.
מִצְרִ֖ית  an  Egyptianess 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרִי  
Sense: Egyptian—an inhabitant or citizen of Egypt.
וּשְׁמָ֥הּ  and  her  name  was 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
הָגָֽר  Hagar 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: הָגָר  
Sense: Sarah’s Egyptian slave girl, Abraham’s concubine, Ishmael’s mother.