What does Genesis 16:11 mean?
In the previous verse, the angel of the Lord—most likely a pre-incarnate Christ Himself—made a surprising promise to the servant girl carrying Abram's first child. This pregnancy is the result of Abram and Sarai scheming to speed up God's fulfillment of His promises to Abram. While this child is not the heir God intends to give Abram, the angel of the Lord still has good news for Hagar: her offspring would become so numerous as to be uncountable. This is very similar to the promise given to Abram regarding his eventual descendants.Here, that promise is followed by a formal prophecy, something occasionally referred to as a "birth oracle" and often delivered by angels. First, the angel of the Lord reveals that Hagar's child is a boy, and she will call him Ishmael. Ishmael means "God has heard." In this case, it meant that the Lord listened to Hagar's affliction and stepped in to help.
The oracle continues in the following verse.