Hagar
Who was Hagar? Sarah's Egyptian servant who bore Ishmael to Abraham and called the Lord 'the God who sees me'. Where is she buried, and how did she die?
- Burial place
- Not in the Bible; tradition: Mecca (Tradition: Genesis 21:21)
- Manner of death
- Not recorded in the Bible (Not stated in the Bible: Genesis 21:21, Genesis 25:12)
- Birthplace
- Egyptian; no town named (The Bible: Genesis 16:1, Genesis 21:21, Genesis 25:12)
- Age at death
- Not stated in the Bible (Not stated in the Bible: Genesis 16:16, Genesis 17:24-25)
Hagar was the Egyptian servant of Sarah, then called Sarai. Unable to have children, Sarai gave her to Abram as a wife; when Hagar became pregnant, tension grew and she fled into the desert. By a spring on the road to Shur the angel of the Lord found her, told her to go back and to name her coming son Ishmael. Hagar called the Lord who spoke to her 'the God who sees me'. Years later, sent away with Ishmael, she ran out of water in the wilderness of Beersheba; God heard the boy and showed her a well. Paul uses Hagar in Galatians as a picture of two covenants.
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Related topics
Related places
- Egypt
- Garden of Eden
- Antioch
- Galatia
- Haran
- Mountains of Ararat
- Ur
- Canaan
- Hebron
- Damascus
- Sidon
- Moab
- Shechem
- Dead Sea (Salt Sea)
- Sodom and Gomorrah
Related verse collections
- Bible Verses About Patience
- Bible Verses About Creation
- Bible Verses About Family
- Bible Verses About Marriage
- Bible Verses About Faithfulness
- Bible Verses About Trials and Testing
- Bible Verses About Joy
- Bible Verses About God's Promises
- Bible Verses About Work and Labor
Reading plans
- The Bible for Beginners — 10 Days
- Advent — 24 Days to Christmas
- The Bible in a Year — 365 Days from Cover to Cover
Related guides
- What Are the Old and New Testaments?
What do the Old and New Testaments mean, and how do they differ? A short, neutral guide to the meaning of "covenant," the content of each part and how they relate.
Books
People in the Bible
Where is Hagar buried?
The Bible does not say where Hagar was buried. According to an Islamic tradition that is widely known in Türkiye, she lies with her son Ishmael in the Hijr Ismail (Hatim) beside the Kaaba in Mecca. This tradition rests on Islamic accounts rather than the Bible, where Hagar is last seen in the Wilderness of Paran (Genesis 21:21).
How did Hagar die?
The Bible does not tell us how or when Hagar died. She is last seen living with Ishmael in the Wilderness of Paran and finding him a wife from the land of Egypt (Genesis 21:21). After that she is named only in Ishmael's genealogy as Sarah's Egyptian servant (Genesis 25:12); no details of her death are given.
Where was Hagar from?
Hagar was Egyptian; the Bible introduces her as Sarai's Egyptian servant but does not name her hometown (Genesis 16:1). Her Egyptian roots run through the story: Ishmael's genealogy also calls her Egyptian, and she finds her son a wife from the land of Egypt (Genesis 21:21; 25:12). How she came into Sarai's household is not explained.
How old was Hagar when she died?
The Bible gives neither Hagar's age at death nor her age when she became a mother. The ages it gives belong to Abraham: he was 86 when Hagar bore Ishmael (Genesis 16:16), and 99 when Ishmael was circumcised at 13 (Genesis 17:24-25). Hagar's own age is never mentioned.
Why was Hagar sent away from Abraham's household?
On the day Isaac was weaned, Sarah saw Hagar's son mocking and asked Abraham to send Hagar and her son away. This grieved Abraham deeply, but God told him he would make Ishmael a nation too. So Abraham gave them bread and water and sent them off (Genesis 21:9-14).
What does Beer-lahai-roi mean?
It is the name of the well where Hagar met the angel of the Lord in the desert. Because she called the Lord who spoke to her 'the God who sees me', the well was named after it; it lies between Kadesh and Bered (Genesis 16:13-14). The name roughly means well of the Living One who sees me.