Hagar

Hagar was an Egyptian servant of Sarah who became the mother of Ishmael through Abraham. When Sarah was unable to conceive, she gave Hagar to Abraham as a wife according to custom. Conflict arose between the two women, and Hagar fled into the wilderness, where the angel of the Lord found her and promised that her son would father a great nation. Paul later used the story of Hagar allegorically in Galatians to represent the old covenant.

Etymology & Roots

Hagar comes from the Hebrew הָגָר (Hagar), whose etymology is uncertain. The most common derivation connects it to a root meaning 'flight' or 'one who flees,' consistent with the narrative in which she flees from Sarai (Genesis 16:6–8). Some scholars derive it from an Arabic root meaning 'stranger' or 'immigrant.' Others propose a connection to the Hebrew root גּוּר (gur), 'to sojourn,' prefixed with the definite article or an aspirate.

In Galatians 4:24–25, Paul makes a wordplay connecting Hagar with Mount Sinai in Arabia, suggesting either geographic association or a linguistic connection in early tradition.

Biblical Bearers

Hagar appears exclusively as the Egyptian servant of Sarah who bore Ishmael to Abraham (Genesis 16; 21). She is one of the few female characters in Genesis to receive a theophany — twice encountering the Angel of the LORD (Genesis 16:7–13; 21:17–19). At the first encounter she named God 'El Roi' (the God who sees me), a remarkable act of naming the divine. She is the only person in the entire Hebrew Bible to give God a name. No other significant biblical figure shares this name.

Theological Significance

Hagar's theological significance far exceeds her narrative role. She is the first person in Scripture visited by the Angel of the LORD, the first to receive a divine annunciation of a son's birth, and the only person to name God. Her story establishes that divine care extends beyond the covenant community to the marginalized and displaced.

Paul's allegory in Galatians 4 uses Hagar to represent the Sinai covenant and law-based slavery, while Sarah represents the new covenant of freedom — a reading that has shaped Christian theology profoundly while requiring careful contextualization to avoid misreading Hagar's personal story.

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