In Your Power  Abram said to Sarai, ‘Behold, your servant is in
your power; do to her as you please.’ Then Sarai dealt harshly
with her, and she fled from her” (Gen. 16:6).  - Genesis 16:4–6
Predictably, Abram and Sarai’s faithless attempt to bring about
the promised heir only produces additional problems. However, as
we will see, none of the actors in this story is
entirely blameless.  In today’s passage, Abram lies with Hagar,
and the Egyptian maid conceives. Yet instead of expressing
gratitude to Sarai for providing her with a more honorable
estate as Abram’s child-bearer, Hagar looks “with contempt on
her mistress” (Gen. 16:4). The Hebrew for contempt in this verse
is the same word used in 12:3 for the “curse” that will fall
upon all who dishonor Abram. It is unlikely Hagar actually
vocalized a curse; she probably just became proud of her
fertility in light of Sarai’s barrenness. This pride and
contempt was actually common enough in the ancient Near East for
other cultures to regulate the behavior of sur