Genesis 16:5

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Sarai	שָׂרַ֣י sa.Rai	H8297	Sarai · proper noun, a woman's name
said	וַתֹּ֨אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Abram	אַבְרָם֮ 'av.Ram	H87	Abram · proper noun, a man's name
wrong	חֲמָסִ֣י cha.ma.Si	H2555	violence · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
given	נָתַ֤תִּי na.Ta.ti	H5414	to give · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
maid	שִׁפְחָתִי֙ shif.cha.Ti	H8198	a female slave (as a member of the household) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
bosom	בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ be.chei.Ke.cha	H2436	the bosom (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
saw	וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ va.Te.re'	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
conceived	הָרָ֔תָה ha.Ra.tah	H2029	to be (or become) pregnant · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
despised	וָאֵקַ֖ל va.'e.Kal	H7043	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
eyes	בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ be.'ei.Nei.ha	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
judge	יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט yish.Pot	H8199	to judge · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 31:53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
Exodus 5:21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in th…
1 Samuel 24:12-15 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
2 Chronicles 24:22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The…
Psalms 7:8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
Psalms 35:23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
Luke 10:40-41 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?…
Psalms 43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 16:4-6

We have here the immediate bad consequences of Abram's unhappy marriage to Hagar. A great deal of mischief it made quickly. When we do not well both sin and trouble lie at the door; and we may thank ourselves for the guilt and grief that follow us when we go out of the way of our duty. See it in this story. I. Sarai is despised, and thereby provoked and put into a passion, Gen 16:4. Hagar no sooner perceives herself with child by her master than she looks scornfully upon her mistress, upbraids her perhaps with her barrenness, insults over her, to make her to fret (as Sa1 1:6), and boasts of the prospect she had of bringing an heir to Abram, to that good land, and to the promise. Now she thin…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 16:5

And Sarai said . . . My wrong be upon thee--Bursts of temper, or blows, as the original may bear, took place till at length Hagar, perceiving the hopelessness of maintaining the unequal strife, resolved to escape from what had become to her in reality, as well as in name, a house of bondage.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 16:5

My wrong be upon thee - This appears to be intended as a reproof to Abram, containing an insinuation that it was his fault that she herself had not been a mother, and that now he carried himself more affectionately towards Hagar than he did to her, in consequence of which conduct the slave became petulant. To remove all suspicion of this kind, Abram delivers up Hagar into her hand, who was certainly under his protection while his concubine or secondary wife; but this right given to him by Sarai he restores, to prevent her jealousy and uneasiness.

John Gill on Genesis 16:5

And Sarai said to Abram,.... Being affronted with the behaviour of her maid to her, she applies to Abram for the redress of her grievance, judging it, perhaps, below her dignity to enter into an altercation with her maid: my wrong be upon thee; in her passion imprecating evil on him, as a just punishment upon him for suffering wrong to be done her by her maid; or, "is upon thee" (i); pointing at his duty, and suggesting to him what he ought to do; that it was incumbent on him as her husband to right her wrongs, and do her justice, and vindicate her from the calumnies and reproaches of her servant; and tacitly complaining of him, and accusing him with indolence and unconcern at the injury do…

The Church Fathers

The words ek sou can be understood in two ways: either "by you" or "from the time that." The interpretation "by you" gives the following sense: When one who has engaged the preparatory exercises in view of virtue and perfect wisdom [the promise of faith] remains at that preparatory level [that is, the relation with Hagar], in a sense he wrongs virtue, because he has not properly employed what comes before it. But the translation "from the time that" also yields the same sense, the only difference being the one already mentioned, because in this case too virtue is wronged by one who is eager to have children from the preliminary exercises alone and who makes of this level of child bearing a kind of end in itself.
— Didymus the Blind, ON GENESIS 240

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Bosom — In the East objects are carried in the bosom which Europeans carry in the pocket. To have in one’s bosom indicates kindness, secrecy, or intimacy (Gen. 16:5; 2 Sam. 12:8). Christ is said to have been…
Concubine — In the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was…
Meekness — A calm temper of mind, not easily provoked (James 3:13). Peculiar promises are made to the meek (Matt. 5:5; Isa. 66:2). The cultivation of this spirit is enjoined (Col. 3:12; 1 Tim. 6:11; Zeph. 2:3),…
Oath — A solemn appeal to God, permitted on fitting occasions (Deut. 6:13; Jer. 4:2), in various forms (Gen. 16:5; 2 Sam. 12:5; Ruth 1:17; Hos. 4:15; Rom. 1:9), and taken in different ways (Gen. 14:22;…
Envy · .Sarah, of Hagar — .Sarah, of Hagar
Family · .Of Abraham, on account of Hagar — .Of Abraham, on account of Hagar
Jealousy · .Sarah, of Hagar — .Sarah, of Hagar
Responsibility · .Sarah — .Sarah
Sarah · .Her jealousy of Hagar — .Her jealousy of Hagar

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 16:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 16:4-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 16:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 16:5

John Gill on Genesis 16:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 16:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 16:4-6

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 16:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 16:5

John Gill on Genesis 16:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 16:5

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 16:1-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 16:4-6

Rashi on Genesis 16:5