Genesis 16:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude."

NIV: The angel added, "I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count."

NASB: The angel of the Lord also said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.'

CSB: The angel of the Lord said to her, "I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count."

NLT: Then he added, 'I will give you more descendants than you can count.'

KJV: And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

NKJV: Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”

The angel of the Lord found Hagar at a spring along the road, possibly on her way back to her homeland in Egypt. She was fleeing from the harsh mistreatment by her mistress Sarai, and she was pregnant with Abram's first child (Genesis 16:6). Sarai's abuse came in response to Hagar's contempt for Sarai, which itself was caused by Hagar immediately conceiving a child for Abram, when Sarai had been barren for decades. Abram allows Sarai to assert her ownership over Hagar, and as a result, Hagar runs away.

After telling Hagar to return and submit to Sarai, the angel of the Lord now makes a familiar promise to this slave girl. It's familiar because it's the same promise the Lord made to Abram himself multiple times over the last few chapters. Specifically, that He—this angel of the Lord—will multiply Hagar's offspring so that they become uncountable. Of course, only the Lord Himself could likely make such a promise. This is a primary reason most scholars presume this "angel of Yahweh" to be a theophany, the Lord Himself in a physical form.

All the same, this child is not the promised heir for Abram and he will not inherit the blessings which God has guaranteed for Abram's descendants. In the following verses, this promise is followed by a prophecy explaining that the future is not entirely good news for Hagar and her unborn son, Ishmael.

Genesis 16:1–16 demonstrates that God hears and sees and cares, but that He won't be rushed or manipulated into keeping His promises. Sarai and Abram attempt to receive God's promised child through their own scheme. In this case, by marrying Abram to an Egyptian servant girl. The resulting pregnancy, though, leads to harsh conflict and a surprising revelation from the Lord to Hagar. Her son Ishmael will not be the child of the promise, though he will become a great nation, and his people will live in conflict with everyone. Abram and Sarai will continue to wait for the arrival of their own son.

Sarai, tired of waiting for a child, convinces Abram to go to plan B. She gives her Egyptian slave girl to Abram as a wife, with the understanding that any children will belong to Sarai. Once Hagar is pregnant, however, conflict sets in. Sarai deals harshly with Hagar, and she flees alone into the wilderness. The Lord finds her there and commands her to return and submit to Sarai. However, the Lord also reveals that Hagar's son will have an uncountable number of offspring and that they will live in conflict with everyone. Hagar praises God as the one who sees, returns to Abram and Sarai, and Ishmael is soon born.

After formally establishing His covenant promises with Abram in the previous chapter, the Lord still has not given Abram and Sarai a child. Sarai convinces Abram to take her slave girl as a wife in hopes of getting a child that way. Abram agrees. Pregnancy and conflict soon follow. Sarai treats Hagar so harshly that the girl runs off alone into the wilderness. The Lord finds her and commands her to return and submit. He also reveals, however, that Hagar's child Ishmael will become the father of a great people who will live in conflict with everyone.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.