Maybe you have heard about Hagar in the Bible. Or perhaps you came across the story of Hagar while reading the Old Testament book of Genesis. Although she is the first person in the Bible who meets the Angel of the Lord and the first to receive God’s promise of a “multitude of children that cannot be numbered,” she is often viewed as a minor character in God’s redemptive story. But is that how God sees her?
Who Was Hagar in the Bible?
Hagar’s Origin and Role in Abraham’s Household
The story of Hagar is intricately tied to God’s promise to give Abram a land and a future. But there was a problem: Abram’s wife Sarai was barren. After more than fifty years of heartache and still no son to call their own, Sarai comes up with a plan.
Hagar’s Status as an Egyptian Maidservant
Hagar was a young Egyptian slave of Sarai, likely acquired during Abram and Sarai’s journey into Egypt in Genesis chapter 13. When God’s promise to give Abram a son does not materialize according to Sarai’s timeline, she takes matters into her own hands. Despite his old age, Sarai sends Hagar to sleep with Abram in the hopes that the woman’s son would become the child of promise which God spoke of in Genesis chapter 15. (In my Bible study HAGAR: Rediscovering the God Who Sees Me, we examine whether Hagar became Abraham’s second wife or remained the slave of Sarai.)
The Significance of Hagar’s Story in the Bible
When Hagar realizes she is pregnant, things really start to spiral out of control.
Hagar’s Struggles with Sarai
The newly pregnant Hagar believes she is carrying Abraham’s son. While Hagar is essentially a victim of Sarai’s schemes, let us not presume her to be altogether blameless. If Hagar had ever hoped to elevate her social status, giving birth to the patriarch’s firstborn might very well do the trick. In Hagar’s eyes, she has risen to a higher position and as a result, no longer treats her mistress Sarai with respect. Now Sarai, who is already questioning God’s plan, brings her grievance to Abram, saying, “May the LORD judge between you and me!” (Genesis 16:5). But Abram refuses to step in the middle of the hornet’s nest and essentially dismisses the conflict as Sarai’s problem.
Poor Hagar. Taken into a man’s chamber, but never into his heart; released by her mistress, but never set free. In one brief, heated exchange, Hagar was tossed back and forth as the couple tried to decide what to do with her. Finally, when Hagar realized her attempt to gain the upper hand had not worked, she ran away.
God’s Promise to Abraham and Hagar’s Role in It
- How Hagar’s pregnancy played a part in fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham.
- Introduction to Ishmael’s significance in biblical history.
What Happened When Hagar Fled?
So what happened to Hagar in the Bible after she ran away?
Hagar’s Encounter with the Angel of the Lord
Genesis 16:7-8 records the next events in Hagar’s story, “The Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness . . . And he said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.’” Notice how He begins by asking Hagar a question, gently exposing the reality of her situation. Then, he tells her, “Return to your mistress Sarai, and submit to her.”
The Angel of the Lord does not affirm Hagar’s decision to run away or promise to change Hagar’s situation. In fact, He reaffirms Hagar is still the slave of Sarai and tells her to go back and submit to her mistress Sarai. Running away is not the answer.
But God doesn’t stop there. He blesses her with God’s promise of a multitude of children that cannot be numbered. Even more, He tells her to name her son Ishmael, and the son of Hagar becomes the first person named by God before he is born.
Not only that, but the name Ishmael means “God Hears.” What a beautiful reminder of God’s love for Hagar and her son Ishmael. But then … we come to Verse 12. This seems to be the one verse everyone remembers about the story of Hagar.
“He shall be a wild donkey of a man,” which is often presumed to describe Hagar’s son Ishmael as being headstrong or stubborn. Scholars still debate what is meant by referring to Hagar’s son as a “wild donkey of a man.”
But I did some digging. It turns out that the English phrase “wild donkey” is PE-RE in Hebrew. It is one word; there is no adjective. Pe-re simply refers to donkeys that roam free. Similar to the concept of “horses” and “wild horses”: one group is owned and the other group roams free. The prophecy about Ishmael offers Hagar hope in God’s plan for her own son to one day enjoy the freedom she herself so desperately sought when she ran away.
But the Angel of the Lord isn’t finished. Scholars differ on how to interpret the rest of the passage (In my HAGAR Bible study video series, I present a deep dive into the fascinating insights on this prophecy concerning the son of Hagar based on the Hebrew Bible). But most scholars agree that the prophecy does suggest some future hostility in the life of Hagar’s son Ishmael. However, this is not so surprising when we consider the hostility that was already brewing between Hagar and her mistress Sarai before Ishmael was even born.
Hagar’s response to the Angel of the Lord
While the prophecy regarding Ishmael can be difficult to interpret, the best clue we have is how did Hagar respond? Was she upset? Frightened? Distressed? No. Listen to what she says in verse 13, “You are a God Who Sees Me”.
She is so overcome by His intimate concern for her that she gives God the name, El Roi (“God of seeing”). In fact, Hagar is the only person in the Bible who is credited for giving God a name (Genesis 16:13). So profound is Hagar’s divine encounter that the location is later built into a well of water called “the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”
Hagar Returns to Abraham’s Household
In the midst of the wilderness and her woundedness, Hagar discovered she was known and she was loved. Her encounter with God gave her the courage to obey His voice and return to Abraham and Sarah, but she did not return the same. She had a voice. And she had a place. While she would remain the servant of Sarah, Hagar would also be known as the mother of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom God Himself named “God hears.”
Though she could not yet see it clearly, God was weaving a beautiful plan for Hagar’s life. As a result of Hagar’s obedience, her son is born, and, “Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael” (Genesis 16:15).
The Birth of Ishmael: What Happened Next?
For the next 13 years, Ishmael would be raised under the faith of Abraham. Then suddenly, God announces the birth of Isaac.
Hagar’s Life After Ishmael’s Birth
Try to imagine how Hagar may have felt. Can you imagine her crying out to God, “Why did You send us back here?” Yet, had God not intervened and had Hagar not obeyed by going back, Ishmael would never have been raised under the faith of Abraham.
In fact, Ishmael becomes the first person born and raised under the faith of Abraham! Abraham likely taught his slaves and servants about God, but Ishmael is the first person born and raised under the true faith as a son.
Tensions Between Sarah, Isaac, and Ishmael
But then God announces that Abraham’s wife Sarah will have a son in her old age. A year later, Isaac is born and after he is weaned, Abraham holds a great feast. Ishmael is now roughly 16 or 17 years old. During the feast, Genesis chapter 21 tells us that, “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.’” But this upset Abraham because he loved his son Ishmael. But God assures him, “I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also because he is your offspring.”
The story continues in verse 14, “So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.”
What Happened to Hagar After She Was Sent Away?
What happened to Hagar in the Bible after she left Abraham’s household? Hagar and Ishmael are cast out into the wilderness with nothing but a few days’ supply of bread and water. Imagine how devastated Hagar would be. Feeling she has lost everything, but she doesn’t realize she has actually gained an even greater gift: freedom!
As long as Hagar remained in the camp, she was a slave, but when God tells Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away, she becomes a free woman!
Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness
How did God provide for Hagar and Ishmael? Hagar has suffered a lot. Freedom comes at a price. When the water runs dry, Hagar watches helplessly as her only son lay dying. Hagar may have felt entirely alone, but her tears never went unnoticed by El Roi. And what about Ishmael? Lying at death’s door, feeling forsaken by his father and abandoned by his mother . . . Father! Surely this was the boy’s heart cry, perhaps not in words, but in the sorrow of soul. Then Hagar “lifted up her voice and wept.” Lost. Broken. Her son is dying. She has run out of water and run out of hope. Is it any wonder Hagar is weeping? This is the first time the Old Testament records someone weeping or personally witnessing the impending death of their only child. In that moment, the Angel of God calls to Hagar from heaven, saying, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.”
God’s Promise to Hagar and Ishmael
It’s as if God is saying, I’m here, Hagar. I never left you. Then He tells her in verse 18, “Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” In other words, you hold onto the boy, and I’ll hold onto you. What a promise! (Discover fascinating connections to the New Testament here)
Then, perhaps the most beautiful verse in Hagar’s story, verse 19, “God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.” This is the first time the Bible records that God opened someone’s eyes. This is salvation! And the first thing Hagar sees is the life-giving water that God supplies. And the story finishes with verse 20, “and God was with the boy.”
Lessons from Hagar’s Story in the Bible
What lessons can we learn from Hagar’s story? It’s in these wilderness moments that God’s presence, power, and provision become most evident. Whenever we try to assess God’s favor toward us based on our fickle feelings or changing circumstances, we run the risk of believing God to be unpredictable, untrustworthy, or even unloving—all of which are a great offense to His character.
Faith and Trust in God During Hardships
What Hagar could not have known was that “The God Who Sees Me” was orchestrating a glorious plan precisely with her, and countless others, in His mind.
Just as God met Hagar in the wilderness, acknowledged her affliction, and comforted her with a promise, He does the same for us. God not only freed Hagar from slavery, He saved her son from death, and then called Hagar to participate in His plan to raise up Ishmael into “a great nation.” Throughout Hagar’s story, it was in the wilderness, when all appeared lost, that she experienced God’s presence, power, and provision.
God’s Provision in Times of Desperation
If only Hagar could see herself through God’s eyes. The God who promised her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude” has not changed and cannot fail. But before Hagar could stand and embrace her call, she had to fall to her knees, surrender her idol of self-reliance, and come face-to-face with her complete and utter dependence on God. The moment her cry passed over heaven’s threshold, God answered from heaven.
Overcoming Rejection and Pain
Just as God invites Hagar into His plan for her life, He has a plan for us. God invites Hagar to help Ishmael to grow strong and in turn, God will keep His promise to make Ishmael into a great nation. I cannot think of any purpose in life more significant than to trust God and be invited to join Him in His holy work, can you?
Hagar’s Legacy: What Does Hagar’s Story Teach Us?
Hagar as a Symbol of God’s Faithfulness
Hagar’s story paints a beautiful picture of God’s tireless pursuit to capture the heart of one wounded soul.
Sometimes God leads us down a hard road not in order to make us stronger, but to bring us into a deeper and more intimate dependence on Him because it is only in Him where we find true strength. It would be wrong to assume that no one believed a runaway slave could ever amount to anything. God believed in her . . . and that’s all that mattered.
The Importance of Hagar’s Story
As a slave, Hagar had spent the better part of her life living in Sarah’s shadow. When Hagar realized she was pregnant, she assumed, or at least hoped, that an elevated social status was soon to follow. Sadly, when we live our lives in someone else’s shadow, it is difficult to see clearly.
Hagar’s greatest aspiration was infinitely inferior to God’s plan. Where Hagar may have sought “second place” in Abraham’s household, God was preparing for her a place of her own: to become the mother of a mighty nation.
And most important of all: to partner with God in His plan. God never sets us free to be left to ourselves. We are set free for one purpose: to be wholly devoted to God. And just as He did with Hagar, God may ask us to surrender our dreams—anything that threatens to distract or derail us from God’s greater plan. The reason? Because He wants us to experience something far better: to know the Living God, to love Him, and to partner with Him to accomplish His work in the world.
Recap of What Happened to Hagar in the Bible
Very often, when we talk about the story of Hagar and Ishmael, the discussion centers on one or two obscure verses like “Ishmael will be a wild donkey of a man” or the fact that Ishmael laughs at his baby brother, with little to no mention of the beauty and redemption in their stories.
And yet, consider all that we have discovered in Hagar’s story so far:
- God meets Hagar in the wilderness and promises her a multitude of children
- God names her son Ishmael, meaning ‘God hears’
- Hagar’s son is the first person named by God before he is born
- He is also the first person raised under the faith of Abraham as a son
- Hagar experiences two encounters with the Angel of the Lord (or Angel of God)
- Hagar is the only person in the Bible to give God a name
- Hagar is the first person of whom it is said that “God opened her eyes”
Throughout our lives, we will all experience times when God seems silent… even absent. And if we’re not careful, it’s in those moments when the enemy will do everything he can to try to convince us that God doesn’t see or doesn’t care. Imagine what the enemy whispered in Hagar’s ear: “You’re just a slave girl, a foreigner… who do you think you are? You even tried to run away, remember… you don’t even belong here!” But as we journeyed through her story, we watched God deliver her from slavery to freedom, from death’s door to living water, from all appearing lost to receiving hope, purpose, and a future.
Shadia is a passionate Bible teacher, award winning author, and speaker who has a heart for seeing lives transformed by the power of God’s Word. She holds a master’s in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary and is the author of several books and Bible studies, including HAGAR, TAMAR, LEGION, Worthy of Love and her newest study, RAHAB: Rediscovering the God Who Saves Me!
