“So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.”
Genesis 16:3
BSBGo deeper on this verse (2)
- Sarai, Hagar, and Abram: Helping God Keep His Promise (Genesis 16)
Was giving her servant to Abram normal in that world?
In Abram's world this was a legal remedy for a barren marriage. Ancient law codes and family archives, the Code of Hammurabi and the Nuzi tablets among them, describe a childless wife giving her slave-girl to her husband, with the child reckoned as the wife's own. Genesis notes the ten years in Canaan, the decent interval before a wife was expected to try this.
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How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Engage with Genesis 16:3 in a fresh way
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