Bible Strands
Genesis 16:11
The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The angel of the LORD addresses Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian slave, in the wilderness after her flight from the household. This is a direct divine word to a woman outside the covenant line.
The words — יִשְׁמָעֵל (Yishma'el), from שָׁמַע (shama', "to hear"), is not a label but a theological claim: the LORD has heard. The name is the message; the verse is the etiology.
The thread — "Heard the cry of affliction" mirrors the language of Exodus 2:23 and 3:7, where God hears Israel's groaning in Egypt. The "behold, you have conceived" formula anticipates Isaiah 7:14.
Why it lands — The verse places a slave woman at the center of a divine promise, then names the child in a way that binds the name to God's attentiveness. It demands that the reader hold two truths at once: God heard, and what follows is a life of hostility (v. 12).
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
Cross-references
- Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Genesis 17:19 But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
- Genesis 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
- 1 Samuel 1:20 So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
- Exodus 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.
- Job 38:41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
- Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.