Who was Hagar in the Bible?
Lived in the age of the patriarchs
Hagar was an Egyptian maidservant of Sarah, Abraham's wife. When Sarah was unable to conceive, she gave Hagar to Abraham as a concubine to bear a child on her behalf, following the custom of the time (Gen.16.1-3). Hagar appears in 12 verses across 2 books of the Bible.
What does the Bible say about Hagar?
Hagar was an Egyptian maidservant of Sarah, Abraham's wife. When Sarah was unable to conceive, she gave Hagar to Abraham as a concubine to bear a child on her behalf, following the custom of the time (Gen.16.1-3). Hagar conceived and gave birth to a son named Ishmael (Gen.16.15). However, tensions arose between Hagar and Sarah, leading Sarah to mistreat Hagar, who then fled into the wilderness (Gen.16.4-6). An angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar, instructing her to return and submit to Sarah, and promising that her descendants would be greatly multiplied (Gen.16.7-10). Years later, after Isaac was born to Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away by Abraham at Sarah's insistence (Gen.21.9-14). God heard Ishmael's cry in the wilderness and provided for him and Hagar, promising to make Ishmael into a great nation (Gen.21.17-21). In the New Testament, Paul uses Hagar and Sarah as an allegory, with Hagar representing the old covenant of slavery under the law, and Sarah representing the new covenant of freedom through Christ (Gal.4.24-25). Hagar's story illustrates God's care for the oppressed and His faithfulness to His promises, even to those outside the primary line of Abraham's descendants.
Definition text: STEPBible · Tyndale House Cambridge. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Lightly edited for length and formatting.
Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.
Where does Hagar appear in the Bible?
Hagar is referenced in 12 verses across 2 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.
- Galatians 4:24
- Galatians 4:25
- Genesis 16:1
- Genesis 16:3
- Genesis 16:4
- Genesis 16:8
- Genesis 16:15
- Genesis 16:16
- Genesis 21:9
- Genesis 21:14
- Genesis 21:17
- Genesis 25:12
What else appears in these passages?
These turn up in the same passages as Hagar.
Common questions
How many times does the Bible mention Hagar?
Hagar appears in 12 verses across 2 books, most often in Genesis, which accounts for 10 of them.
Which books of the Bible mention Hagar?
Genesis, Galatians.
Where can I read every verse about Hagar?
This page lists 12 of them. Protos carries all 12, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.
