Discovery BoxGenesis 16:10-11 
Context16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, 1 “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 2 16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,
“You are now 3 pregnant
and are about to give birth 4 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 5
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 6
1 tn Heb “The
2 tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”
3 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
4 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
5 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
6 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.
