• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 16:1-16
• Prophets (P): Judges 13:2-22
• Apostolic (A): Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 14:21-24

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Exodus 33:18-23 (T)
• Judges 8:28 (T)
• 1 Chronicles 1:28-31; 1 Chronicles 5:10-20 (T)
• Psalms 83:1-6 (T)
• Isaiah 54:1 (A)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Genesis Apocryphon 1Q20 Column 20 (T)
• Jubilees 1:7-26 (T)
• Jubilees 20:1-3 (T)
• Judith 14:5-10 (T)
• Additions to Esther 14:15 (T)
• Enoch 9:10 (ADD)
• 1 Maccabees 1:11-15, 44-50, 60-63 (T)
• 2 Maccabees 6:9-11 (T)
• Genesis 16:1-16 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.10.4-5 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Bereshiyt (Genesis) 16:1-16

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had a maidservant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, [Elohim]^(LXX) has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my maidservant. It may be that I may obtain children from her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maidservant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was belittled in her eyes. 5 Sarai said to Abram, “[My violence is upon you].^(MTT) I gave my maidservant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was belittled in her eyes. May [Elohim]^(LXX) judge between me and you.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maidservant is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. 7 The angel of [Elohim]^(LXX) found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur. 8 And [the angel of YHWH]^(LXX) said, “Hagar, Sarai's maidservant, where did you come from? Where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of YHWH said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” 10 The angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be counted for multitude.” 11 Then the angel of [Elohim]^(LXX) said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because [Elohim]^(LXX) has heard your affliction. 12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will [dwell before the face of]^(LXX) all his brothers.” 13 She called [his name, the one]^(mss) who spoke to her, “You are El Roi,” for she said, “Here I have seen the one who sees me” 14 Therefore the well was called Be'er Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Prophets Portion (P)

Judges 13:2-22

13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless. 3 the angel of YHWH appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you will conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing; 5 for, behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor will come on his head, for the child will be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb. He will begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of Elohim came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of Elohim, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name; 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the child will be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb to the day of his death.’ ” 8 Then Manoah entreated YHWH, and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of Elohim whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who will be born.” 9 Elohim listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of Elohim came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her. 10 The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me,” 11 Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What will the child’s way of life and mission be?” 13 the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.” 15 Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” 16 the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to YHWH.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was the angel of YHWH. 17 Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” 18 the angel of YHWH said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to YHWH. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 20 For when the flame went up toward the heavens from off the altar, the angel of YHWH ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But the angel of YHWH didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of YHWH. 22 Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen Elohim.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25

Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Messiah, 6 not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers, but as servants of Messiah, doing the will of Elohim from the heart, 7 with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same good again from the Lord, whether he is bound or free. 9 You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both[ their Master and yours]^(mss) is in the heavens, and there is no partiality with him.

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing [the Lord].^(mss) 23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Messiah. 25 But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

Jubilees 14:21-24

14:21 And Abram rejoiced, and made all these things known to Sarai his wife; and he believed that he would have seed, but she did not bear. 22. And Sarai advised her husband Abram, and said unto him: “Go in unto Hagar, my Egyptian maid: it may be that I will build up seed unto thee by her.” 23. And Abram hearkened unto the voice of Sarai his wife, and said unto her, “Do (so).” And Sarai took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to Abram, her husband, to be his wife. 24. And he went in unto her, and she conceived and bare him a son, and he called his name Ishmael, in the fifth year of this week; and this was the eighty-sixth year in the life of Abram.

Related Scriptures

Exodus 33:18-23 (T)

33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of YHWH before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” 20 He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” 21 YHWH also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you will stand on the rock. 22 It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; 23 then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face will not be seen.”

Judges 8:23-28 (T)

8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, neither will my son rule over you. YHWH will rule over you.” 24 Gideon said to them, “I do have a request: that you would each give me the earrings of his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites. 25 They answered, “We will willingly give them.” They spread a garment, and every man threw the earrings of his plunder into it. 26 The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, in addition to the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and in addition to the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel whored with it there; and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house. 28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

1 Chronicles 1:28-31; 1 Chronicles 5:10-20 (T)

1 Chronicles 1:28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. 29 These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.

1 Chronicles 5:10 In the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead. 11 The sons of Gad lived beside them, in the land of Bashan to Salecah: 12 Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13 Their brothers of their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. 14 These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers’ houses. 16 They lived in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of Sharon, as far as their borders. 17 All these were listed by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. 18 The sons of Reuben, the ones of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred sixty, that were able to go out to war. 19 They made war with the Hagrites, with Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab. 20 They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to Elohim in the battle, and he answered them, because they put their trust in him.

Psalms 83:1-6 (T)

A song. A Psalm by Asaph.

83:1 Elohim, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, Elohim. 2 For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads. 3 They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones. 4 “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the sons of Lot. Selah.

Luke 1:57-60, Luke 2:21 (T)

Luke 1:57 Now the time that Elisheva should give birth was fulfilled, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zechariah, after the name of his father. 60 His mother answered, “Not so; but he will be called John.”

Luke 2:21 When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Yeshua, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Isaiah 54:1 (A)

54:1 “Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t travail with child: for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married woman,” says YHWH.

Related Additional Readings

Genesis Apocryphon 1Q20 Column 20 (T)

Column 20 …When ḤRQNWŠ heard the words of Lot, he went (and) said to the king: ‘All these afflictions and scourgings with which my lord the king has been afflicted and scourged are on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. Let them now return Sarai to her husband Abram, and this affliction and purulent spirit will stop!’ So the [k]i[n]g summoned me and said to me: ‘What have you done to me because of [Sara]i? You said to me: “She is my sister,” but she was your wife! I took her as a wife for myself! Lo, here is your wife: lead her off, go, and depart from every city of Egypt! And now, pray for me and for my family, and let this wicked spirit be exorcized from us!’ Then I prayed for [him that he might he]al quickly. I laid my hands upon his he[ad], and the affliction was removed from him and the evil [spirit] was exorcized [from him], and he recovered. The king arose and gave me on that d[ay] numerous gifts, and the king swore to me with an oath that he had not [molested] her. And he returned Sarai to me, and the king gave her a [la]rge quantity of si[lver and go]ld together with a large quantity of clothing of linen and purple that …. before her, and also Hagar. So he restored her to me, and he appointed people to accompany me who would take me out of Egypt. vacat So I, Abram, departed with very many possessions and also with silver and gold. I came up from [Egyp]t [and Lot], the son of my brother, was with me. Lot too had acquired for himself vast possessions, and he had taken a wife for himself from the [Egyptian] women…

Jubilees 1:7-26 (T)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

1:7 And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: “Unto your seed will I give a land flowing with milk and honey. 8. And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange elohim, to (elohim) which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: “and this witness will be heard for a witness against them. 9. For they will forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the Nations, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their elohim, and these will prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare. 10. And many will perish and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have forsaken My ordinances and My commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set My name upon it, and that it should dwell (there). 11. And they will make to themselves high places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will slaughter their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts. 12. And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes. And I will hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the Nations for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Nations. 14. And they will forget all My law and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and jubilees, and ordinances. 15. And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Nations with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Nations, and they will seek Me, so that I will be found of them, when they seek Me with all their heart and with all their soul. 16. And I will disclose to them abounding peace with righteousness, [and I will plant them the plant of uprightness in the land], with all My heart and with all My soul, and they will be for a blessing and not for a curse, and they will be the head and not the tail. 17. And I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be their Elohim and they will be My people in truth and righteousness. 18. And I will not forsake them nor fail them; for I am the Lord their Elohim.” 19. And Moses fell on his face and prayed and said, “O Lord my Elohim, do not forsake Thy people and Thy inheritance, so that they should wander in the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the hands of their enemies, the Nations, lest they should rule over them and cause them to sin against Thee. 20. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright spirit, and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face. 21. But they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, which Thou hast delivered with Thy great power from the hands of the Egyptians: create in them a clean heart and a holy Spirit, and let them not be ensnared in their sins from henceforth until eternity.” 22. And the Lord said unto Moses: “I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess their own sin and the sin of their fathers. 23. And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they will not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity. 24. And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfill My commandments, and I will be their Father and they will be My children. 25. And they will all be called children of the living Elohim, and every angel and every spirit will know, yea, they will know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them. 26. And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which will come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the witness and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with them throughout eternity.”

Jubilees 20:1-3 (T)

20:1 And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the [sixth] week, Abraham called Ishmael, and his twelve sons, and Isaac and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah, and their sons. 2. And he commanded them that they should observe the way of the Lord; that they should work righteousness, and love each his neighbour, and act on this manner amongst all men; that they should each so walk with regard to them as to do judgment and righteousness on the land. 3. That they should circumcise their sons, according to the covenant which He had made with them, and not deviate to the right hand or the left of all the paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we should keep ourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, [and renounce from amongst us all fornication and uncleanness].

Judith 14:5-10 (T)

The Book of Judith relates the story of Elohim’s deliverance of the Jewish people. This was accomplished “by the hand of a female”—a constant motif meant to recall the “hand” of Elohim in the Exodus narrative. The work may have been written around 100 B.C., but its historical range is extraordinary.

14:5 But before you do these things, summon Achior the Ammonite to me, that he may see and know him that despised the house of Israel, and that sent him to us, as it were to death. 6 And they called Achior out of the house of Ozias; but when he came, and saw the head of Holofernes in a man’s hand in the assembly of the people, he fell upon his face, and his spirit failed. 7 But when they had recovered him, he fell at Judith’s feet, and bowed down to her, and said, “Blessed are you in every tent of Judah, and in every nation, which hearing your name will be troubled. 8 Now tell me all the things that you have done in these days.” And Judith declared to him in the midst of the people all the things that she had done, from the day that she went out until the time that she spoke to them. 9 But when she finished speaking, the people shouted with a loud voice, and made a joyful noise in their city. 10 But when Achior saw all the things that the Elohim of Israel had done, he believed in Elohim exceedingly, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the house of Israel, to this day.

Additions to Esther 14:15 (T)

14:43 (4:43) You know all things, and know that I hate the glory [or, opinion] of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.

Enoch 9:10 (ADD)

14:43 (4:43) You know all things, and know that I hate the glory [or, opinion] of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger.

1 Maccabees 1:11-15, 44-50, 60-63 (T)

1:11 In those days came there forth out of Israel transgressors of the law, and persuaded many, saying, let’s go and cut a covenant with the Nations that are round about us; for since we were parted from them many evils have befallen us. 12 And the saying was good in their eyes. 13 And certain of the people were forward herein and went to the king, and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the Nations. 14 And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem according to the laws of the Nations; 15 and they made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the Nations, and sold themselves to do evil…44 And the king sent letters by the hand of messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, that they should follow laws strange to the land, 45 and should forbid whole burnt offerings and slaughter and libation offerings in the sanctuary; and should profane the Sabbaths and feasts, 46 and pollute the sanctuary and those who were holy; 47 that they should build altars, and temples, and shrines for idols, and should slaughter swine’s flesh and unclean beasts: 48 and that they should leave their sons uncircumcised, that they should make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation; 49 so that they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances. 50 And whoever will not do according to the word of the king, he will die…60 And the women that had circumcised their children they put to death according to the commandment. 61 And they hanged their babes about their necks, and destroyed their houses, and those who had circumcised them. 62 And many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat unclean things. 63 And they chose to die, that they might not be defiled with the meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: and they died.

2 Maccabees 6:9-11 (T)

6:9 and that they should kill such as didn’t choose to go over to the Greek rites. So the present misery was for all to see: 10 for two women were brought up for having circumcised their children; and these, when they had led them publicly round about the city, with the babes hung from their breasts, they cast down headlong from the wall. 11 And others, that had run together into the caves near by to guard the seventh day secretly, being betrayed to Philip were all burned together, because they scrupled to defend themselves, from regard to the honor of that most solemn day.

Genesis 16:1-16 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 16 But Sara, the wife of Abram, had not borne to him. But he had a handmaid, a Mizreitha, and her name was Hagar, a daughter of Pharaoh, whom he gave to him as a handmaid at the time that he received her, being struck by the word from before the Lord. And Sara said to Abram, Behold, now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing, go to my handmaid and set her free; perhaps I may be builded by her. And Abram hearkened to the word of Sara. And Sara the wife of Abram took Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, when Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kenaan, and set her free, and gave her to Abram her husband to wife. And he went unto Hagar, and she conceived; and she saw that she had conceived, and the honour of her mistress was despised in her eyes.

And Sara said to Abram, All my affliction is from thee. Being secure that thou wouldst do me justice, I left the land and house of my father, and came up with thee to a foreign land; and forasmuch as I was not able to become a mother, I set free my handmaid, and gave her to lie in thy bosom; and she seeth that she had conceived, and mine honour is despised before her. But now is my affliction manifest before the Lord, who will spread peace between me and thee, and the land will be replenished from us, nor will we need the help of the progeny of Hagar the daughter of Pharaoh bar Nimrod, who threw thee into the furnace of fire.

[JERUSALEM. And Sara said, My judgment and my affliction are delivered into thine hand. I left the house of my birth, and the house of my father, and came with thee in the faith of the Heavens. I have gone in with thee before kings; before Pharaoh King of Mizraim, and before Avimelek king of the Philistaee; and I have said of thee, he is my brother, so that they might not kill thee. And when I saw that I was not made fruitful, I took Hagar the Mizreitha, my handmaid, and gave her to thee to wife, and said, She will bring forth, and I will bring up whom she may bear, that I may be builded, be it only from her. But now seeing that she hath conceived, my honour is contemned and despised in her sight. Now may the Lord appear, and judge between me and thee, and fulfil mercies upon me and thee, and spread His peace between me and thee, and replenish the world from me and from thee, that we may not heed the son of Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, who is of the children of the people who cast thee into the burning furnace of the Kasdin.]

And Abram said to Sara, Behold, thy handmaid is under thy authority: do to her what is right in thine eyes. And Sara afflicted her, and she escaped from before her. And the Angel of the Lord found her at the fountain of waters in the desert; at the fountain of waters which is in the way to Chagra. [JERUSALEM. Chalitza.] And He said, Hagar, handmaid of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither does thou go? And she said, From before Sara my mistress I have escaped. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to thy mistress, and be subject under her hand. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Multiplying I will multiply thy sons, and they will not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou wilt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because thy affliction is revealed before the Lord. And he will be like the wild donkey among men: his hands will take vengeance of his adversaries, and the hands of his adversaries be put forth to do him evil; and in the face of all his brethren will he be commingled, (yitharbeb, Arabized,) and will dwell. And she gave thanks before the Lord whose Word spake to her, and thus said, Thou art He who livest and art eternal; who seest, but art not seen! · for she said, For, behold, here is revealed the glory of the Shekina of the Lord after a vision. (JERUSALEM. And Hagar gave thanks, and prayed in the Name of the Word of the Lord, who had been manifested to her, saying, Blessed be Thou, Eloha, the Living One of all Ages, who hast looked upon my affliction. For she said, Behold, Thou art manifested also unto me, even as Thou wast manifested to Sara my mistress.] Wherefore she called the well, The Well at which the Living and Eternal One was revealed; and, behold, it is situate between Rekam and Chalutsa. And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bare, Ishmael. And Abram was the son of eighty-six years when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.10.4-5 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.10.4. Now Abram dwelt near the oak called Ogyges,–the place belongs to Canaan, not far from the city of Hebron. But being uneasy at his wife’s barrenness, he entreated Elohim to grant that he might have male issue; and Elohim required of him to be of good courage, and said that he would add to all the rest of the benefits that he had bestowed upon him, ever since he led him out of Mesopotamia, the gift of children. Accordingly Sarai, at God’s command, brought to his bed one of her handmaidens, a woman of Egyptian descent, in order to obtain children by her; and when this handmaid was with child, she triumphed, and ventured to affront Sarai, as if the dominion were to come to a son to be born of her. But when Abram resigned her into the hand of Sarai, to punish her, she contrived to fly away, as not able to bear the instances of Sarai’s severity to her; and she entreated Elohim to have compassion on her. Now a Divine Angel met her, as she was going forward in the wilderness, and bid her return to her master and mistress, for if she would submit to that wise advice, she would live better hereafter; for that the reason of her being in such a miserable case was this, that she had been ungrateful and arrogant towards her mistress. He also told her, that if she disobeyed God, and went on still in her way, she should perish; but if she would return back, she should become the mother of a son who should reign over that country. These admonitions she obeyed, and returned to her master and mistress, and obtained forgiveness. A little while afterwards, she bare Ismael; which may be interpreted Heard of God, because Elohim had heard his mother’s prayer.

1.10.5. The forementioned son was born to Abram when he was eighty-six years old: but when he was ninety-nine, Elohim appeared to him, and promised him that he Should have a son by Sarai, and commanded that his name should be Isaac; and showed him, that from this son should spring great nations and kings, and that they should obtain all the land of Canaan by war, from Sidon to Egypt. But he charged him, in order to guard his posterity unmixed with others, that they should be circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin, and that this should be done on the eighth day after they were born: the reason of which circumcision I will explain in another place. And Abram inquiring also concerning Ismael, whether he should live or not, Elohim signified to him that he should live to be very old, and should be the father of great nations. Abram therefore gave thanks to Elohim for these blessings; and then he, and all his family, and his son Ismael, were circumcised immediately; the son being that day thirteen years of age, and he ninety-nine.