Ten years later, Sarai stood at the edge of her tent, watching the sun disappear behind the hills of Canaan. Ten years had passed since the promise, and yet her womb remained silent, untouched by life. She clenched her robe tightly and turned toward Abram with eyes full of storm.
"The Lord has kept me from bearing children," she said, her voice laced with quiet desperation. "But maybe... maybe I can build a family another way. Take Hagar, my Egyptian maid. Lie with her. Perhaps through her, we can raise a child."
Abram hesitated, but the years had wearied him too. With a heavy nod, he agreed.
And so, Hagar was given to Abram, not as a servant, but as a second wife. She entered his tent that night — and not long after, she conceived.
But with life growing inside her, Hagar's heart changed. She no longer looked at Sarai with humility, but with a subtle fire of pride. Sarai felt it like knives beneath her skin.
"This is your fault," she hissed at Abram one morning. "I gave you my servant, and now that she carries your child, she looks down on me. May the Lord judge between us."
Abram raised his hands. "She's your servant. Do what you think is right."
With bitterness burning in her chest, Sarai treated Hagar harshly — harsh enough that the young woman fled into the desert alone.
Out in the wilderness, by a spring near the road to Shur, Hagar collapsed in exhaustion. The sun was unforgiving, but the silence was worse — until a voice broke it.
"Hagar, servant of Sarai," said the Angel of the Lord. "Where have you come from, and where are you going?"
"I'm running from my mistress," she said faintly.
The Angel knelt beside her. "Go back to her. Submit to her. For I will multiply your descendants beyond number."
Then the Angel's eyes met hers with fierce compassion. "You are with child. You will bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your misery. He will be a wild man, untamed like a donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's against him. He will dwell apart from his brothers."
Tears welled up in Hagar's eyes. She looked around at the desolate place and whispered, "You are the God who sees me."
From that day, the spring was named Beer Lahai Roi — the well of the Living One who sees me.
Hagar returned to Abram and Sarai, her heart changed by the encounter. And in time, she gave birth to a son.
Abram named the child Ishmael.
He was eighty-six years old when his son by the Egyptian servant came into the world.