הנה עצרני ה' מלדת, "even though G'd has promised to grant you offspring to whom I will give this land, (Genesis 12,7) He has not said that the mother of Avram's offspring would be I."

אולי אבנה ממנה, Sarah hoped that the jealousy which would develop within her when she saw that Hagar gave birth to a child for Avram would stimulate her own biological and sexual urges so that in due course she too would become pregnant by her husband. (based on Megillah 13)

שרי לקול, the Torah wants to make plain that Avram was not motivated by sexual lust to sleep with Hagar, but had only fallen in with Sarai's reasoning, hoping to assuage her feelings in the matter.

חמסי עליך, "you should have rebuked her for her conduct vis-à-vis me, seeing that she has become your wife [and you are now her boss instead of me. Ed.] She treats me as inconsequential after she has become pregnant from you."

שפחתך בידך, for she has not been given her freedom by you who are her mistress.

ותענה שרי, Sarai's objective in maltreating Hagar was to remind her of the fact that she remained her slave. She was not to insult her mistress any more. She meant to make clear that any gentile who insults Israelites will experience similar harsh treatment. Compare Isaiah 60,14 והשתחוו על כפות רגליך כל מנאציך, "all those who reviled you shall prostrate themselves at your (Israel) feet."

וימצאה מלאך ה, the angel found her in a state of readiness to receive a Divine vision. As a result, he appeared o her. [after all it is not likely that an angel roamed the earth looking for Hagar. Ed.]

על עין המים, she was engaged in prayer. Compare Pessachim 11 where the words of the angel in verse 11 כי שמע ה' אל עניך "for the Lord has heard your affliction" are understood as referring to Hagar's prayer prior to her receiving this vision.

על העין, at a junction of the roads. Whenever there is a juncture of two roads this is described as עינים. The place where these two roads commence is called פתח עינים. In Rabbinic parlance this is known as פרשת דרכים, "a parting of the ways." (Ketuvot 17)

בדרך שור, this is a place known as חגר, as interpreted by Onkelos. This is a town on the order of the land of Israel, or just beyond the border as mentioned in Gittin 2. The Torah informs us by mentioning this detail that it had been Hagar's intention to emigrate from the land of Israel (Canaan).

?אי מזה באת ואנה תלכי, the angel wanted Hagar to realise what kind of an unprofitable exchange she was about to make if she left the house of a man such as Avram and traded that holy environment in the land of Canaan, preferring the spiritually contaminated regions outside the Holy Land and the evil people residing there.

אנכי בורחת, "I am not going to a place I have chosen myself; I am simply escaping intolerable conditions."

והתעני, the additional comment after telling Hagar to return to her mistress, was an allusion to the future; it would be Hagar's destiny, as well as that of her offspring to submit to the authority of the Jewish people. Kings II 13,17 where the prophet Elisha instructs the king to shoot arrows [which are ostensibly not intended to hit anyone. Ed.] is similarly an allusion to the future, foreshadowing events yet to occur. The words כן כן יסד המלך in Esther 1,8 are also to be understood in a similar fashion. The king's decree to let everyone enjoy the feast according to the laws of his own religion was a cornerstone of the policy which enabled Achashverosh to rule over so many diverse cultures as existed in the 127 provinces of his empire.

פרא אדם. The word פרא describes a wild donkey, an animal that has not been domesticated. The angel told Hagar that the son she would bear would be genetically very similar in his character to a wild donkey. This would be due to his having part of the genes of his Egyptian mother. The prophet Ezekiel already described the Egyptians as being physically not much different from wild donkeys (Ezekiel 23,20) These characteristics would manifest themselves in the fact that he would make his home in the desert, a region not imposing restrictions on him. The Torah testifies to this in Genesis 21,20. The reason that the word אדם is added by the angel in describing Ishmael, was that he would inherit any human traits from his father Avram. The fact that he did possess such traits is confirmed by the Midrash which claims that he became a penitent before his father Avraham's death. (Baba Batra 16).

ותקרא שם ה, the meaning of the words ותקרא שם ה', is prayer. It refers to the kind of prayer in which one praises the Lord, or thanks Him. This prayer may be offered silently, in one's mind or with words. The source for this definition is found in Berachot 32: "as a rule a person should first address G'd by praising Him, before beginning to pray." [to tell G'd of his requests from Hi. Ed.] This thought is reflected in the inscription in most synagogues on the Holy Ark שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, "I am ever mindful of the Lord's presence" (Psalms 16,8) The word קרא for prayer is also found in Lamentations 3,55 קראתי שמך ה', "I have prayed to You o Lord," as well as in Psalms 79,6 ושמואל בקוראי שמו, "as well as the prophet Samuel who would pray (successfully) to Him." Also the well-known line כי שם ה' אקרא, (Deut. 32,3) is best translated as "for I will pray to the Lord," rather than as "I will proclaim the name of the Lord." Hagar's new insight, expressed by her saying אתה א-ל ראי, meant that whereas up until now she had assumed that revelations from G'd are confined to the house of Avram, she had now learned that G'd may reveal Himself in any location. This is in line with Baba Metzia 59 כל השערים ננעלו חוץ משערי דמעות, that although the gates of prayer have largely remained shut since the destruction of the Temple, the prayer of people complaining (shedding tears) of being dealt with unfairly by their fellow human beings have not been closed.

שם בנו אשר ילדה הגר ישמעאל, he was aptly called by that name both from Avram's point of view and from Hagar's point of view. Avraham prayed on behalf of his son Yishmael in 17,20, whereas Hagar's prayer had been heard as confirmed to her by the angel.