Genesis 16:1

Now Sarai, ¹  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ²  but she had an Egyptian servant ³  named Hagar. ⁴ 

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar;

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.

But Sarai, Abram’s wife, had no children. So Sarai took her servant, an Egyptian woman named Hagar,

Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had given him no children; and she had a servant, a woman of Egypt whose name was Hagar.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar,

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children . And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.

Now Sarai, ¹  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ²  but she had an Egyptian servant ³  named Hagar. ⁴ 

¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

² sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

³ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

⁴ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)