Genesis 16:9

9 He said, "Go back to her and be her slave."

Genesis 16:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 16:9

And the angel of the Lord said unto her
The same angel; though Jarchi thinks that one angel after another was sent, and that at every speech there was a fresh angel; and because this phrase is repeated again and again, some of the Rabbins have fancied there were four angels F18, and others five, but without any reason:

return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands;
go back to her, humble thyself before her, acknowledge thy fault, enter into her service again, and be subject to her; do her work and business, bear her corrections and chastisements; and "suffer thyself to be afflicted" {s}, by her, as the word may be rendered; take all patiently from her, which will be much more to thy profit and advantage than to pursue the course thou art in: and the more to encourage her to take his advice, he promises the following things, ( Genesis 16:10-12 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 45. fol. 41. 1.)
F19 (yneth) "te patere affligi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "quid si, patere te affligi?" Drusius.

Genesis 16:9 In-Context

7 The angel of the Lord met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur
8 and said, "Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?" She answered, "I am running away from my mistress."
9 He said, "Go back to her and be her slave."
10 Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.
11 You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cry of distress.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.