What Does Genesis 16:5 Mean in the King James?
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “despised” pictures Sarai becoming light in Hagar’s eyes, making changed regard the wound at the heart of her accusation.
THE MEANING
You can help set a situation in motion and still experience what follows as harm. When regard collapses into contempt, the verse places the competing claims before the LORD as judge between the two.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If I helped set this in motion, I have no standing to name what hurts me now.
THE ROOT
וָאֵקַל
va’eqal
GROWS FROM
קלל
q-l-l
To be light or slight, or to treat someone as insignificant.
The Hebrew verb beneath “despised” also carries the image of becoming light in another person’s eyes. The English names the injury; the root shows how Hagar’s changed regard makes Sarai seem insignificant to her.
ALSO GROWS
qalal: To be light, slight, or treated lightly.
קָלַל
This is the verb used of Sarai here: she has become light in Hagar’s eyes.
qelalah: Curse or cursing.
קְלָלָה
This related form shows how the root can extend from making light of someone to language that diminishes or curses.
חֲמָסִי
ḥămāsî
GROWS FROM
חמס
ḥ-m-s
To act violently; violence, injury, or wrong.
Sarai names her claim as “my wrong” and places it “upon” Abram. After saying that she gave Hagar to him, she lays out both her part in the arrangement and the harm she says has followed.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāmas: To act violently or do wrong.
חָמַס
The verb gives the force behind Sarai’s word: the issue is framed as harm, not a minor disagreement.
ḥāmās: Violence, injury, or wrong.
חָמָס
This noun is the form Sarai uses with the possessive ending: “my wrong,” the injury she places between herself and Abram.
THE PATTERN
When claims between people conflict, the text places judgment before the LORD, beyond either party’s control.
The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.THE THREAD
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.Genesis 16:4 uses the same קלל root: Sarai has become light in Hagar’s eyes. In verse 5 Sarai repeats that same image as the injury behind her appeal, linking the change in regard to the wrong she names.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us