“He consorted with Hagar, and she conceived; she saw that she conceived, and her mistress was diminished in her eyes” (Genesis 16:4). “He consorted with Hagar, and she conceived” – Rabbi Levi bar Ḥayata said: She conceived from the initial act of intercourse. Rabbi Elazar said: A woman never conceives from her initial act of intercourse. But is it not written: “Lot’s two daughters conceived from their father”? (Genesis 19:36).
Rabbi Tanḥuma said: They manipulated themselves, broke their hymens, and conceived as though it were from a second act of intercourse. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Pazi said: Thornbushes are neither weeded nor sown, yet they emerge on their own, grow tall, and rise up; as for wheat, [however,] how much travail and how much toil [must one undertake] until they grow.18Plants of great worth have much more difficulty growing and prospering than worthless weeds.
This is a metaphor for people. The most righteous women often have the most difficulty with procreation. Why were the matriarchs barren?19Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel all had great difficulty conceiving. Rabbi Sheila of Kefar Temarta and Rabbi Ḥelbo in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: It is because the Holy One blessed be He desires their prayers and desires their supplications, as it is stated: “My dove, in the clefts of the rock” (Song of Songs 2:14).
“My dove, in the clefts” – why did I render you barren?20As infertile as rocks. It is for this reason: “Show me your countenance, let me hear your voice” (Song of Songs 2:14). Rabbi Azarya in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan bar Pappa: It was so that they would become beloved to their husbands in their beauty. Rabbi Huna in name of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: So that most of the years would pass without enslavement.21Four hundred years of exile, oppression and enslavement had been decreed for Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:13).
The enslavement portion of the four hundred years was to begin after the deaths of all of Jacob’s sons. By delaying the births of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, this most extreme component of the decree would be shorter. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Avun said in the name of Rabbi Meir: It was so that their husbands could enjoy them, for whenever a woman carries a fetus, she becomes unsightly and neglected. All ninety years that Sarah did not bear children, she was as [beautiful as] a bride under her wedding canopy.
Noblewomen would come and inquire after Sarah’s wellbeing, and Sarah would say: ‘Go and inquire after the wellbeing of that meek woman’ [Hagar]. Hagar would say to them: ‘My mistress Sarah, her inner reality is not like her outward impression. She gives the impression of being a righteous woman, but she is not a righteous woman. Were she a righteous woman, look at how many years that she did not conceive, whereas I conceived in one night.’
Sarah would then say: ‘Should I have a discussion with this woman? Better that I should have a discussion with her master.’22She then went to Abraham and complained about Hagar, as the next verse relates.