Hagar

Etymology

Possibly from the Hebrew root meaning 'to flee' or 'to be a stranger.' Some scholars connect it to an Egyptian origin meaning 'forsaken.' Her name foreshadows her story — she fled, she was a stranger, she was sent away.

Who they were

Hagar is one of the most theologically significant women in the Bible, though her story is painful to read. She was Sarah's Egyptian servant, given to Abraham to bear a child when Sarah could not conceive. When Hagar became pregnant, tensions exploded. Sarah treated her harshly, and Hagar fled into the desert. There, by a spring on the road to Shur, the angel of the Lord found her and told her to return. But God also made her a promise: her son Ishmael would father a great nation. Hagar's response was extraordinary. She gave God a name — El Roi, 'the God who sees me' — becoming the only person in the Bible to name God. She said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.' Years later, after Isaac was born, Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be expelled. Abraham sent them into the wilderness of Beersheba with bread and water. When the water ran out, Hagar placed her son under a bush and walked away because she could not bear to watch him die. She wept. God heard the boy's voice, opened Hagar's eyes to a well, and renewed his promise. Hagar is the patron figure of everyone who has been used, discarded, and found by God in the wilderness. Paul, in Galatians, uses her allegorically — but the narrative itself resists allegory. She is too real, too painful, too human for metaphor.

Family

Spouse

Abraham (secondary wife/concubine)

Children

Ishmael

Character qualities

• Endurance under injustice
• Theological insight
• Maternal devotion
• Survival against odds

Key verse

Genesis 16:13

Where they appear

Themes

Variants & related forms

Haggar · Hajar

Related names