Bible Strands
Genesis 16:8
“Hagar, servant of Sarai,” he said, “where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she replied.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The angel of the LORD addresses Hagar, identified as Sarai’s maidservant, after locating her at a desert spring on the road to Shur. He questions her origin and destination at the exact moment she is fleeing her mistress.
The words — The Hebrew אֵֽי־מִזֶּה בָ֖את (‘ei-mizzeh vat) literally translates to “where from have you come?” and is immediately followed by וְ/אָ֣נָה (ve./’A.nah), meaning “and where?” to press for her intended direction.
The thread — This divine pattern of questioning a person’s location and movement reappears in Genesis 3:9 when God calls out to Adam, “Where are you?”
Why it lands — The text requires a clear accounting of one’s present position and intended trajectory before any correction or command is given. It demands that the reader confront their own direction before receiving instruction.
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 he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Cross-references
- Genesis 3:9 But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
- Genesis 4:10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4 If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Jeremiah 2:17 Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
- 1 Samuel 26:19 Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
- Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
- 1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Genesis 16:1 Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.
- Genesis 16:4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.