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הָגָר

𐤄𐤂𐤓

Hagar

H1904 noun

SILEX Entry

Root uncertain uncertain; likely personal name of foreign origin

Definition

Hagar—personal name of an Egyptian servant woman in the household of Abraham and Sarah, known chiefly as the mother of Ishmael. Primarily used as a proper noun referring to this individual.

Semantic Range

personal name (Egyptian servant woman; mother of Ishmael), proper noun referring specifically to the individual Hagar

Root / Etymology

Etymology uncertain; likely non-Semitic, possibly Egyptian origin. The form does not correspond to any securely identified Hebrew root, and its meaning within Hebrew is unclear. Modern scholarship supports identification as a name borrowed from another language.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, Hagar appears as an Egyptian woman, servant to Sarah (Sarai), and mother of Ishmael, through her union with Abraham (Abram). The narrative occurs in the patriarchal period, where her foreign (Egyptian) status is emphasized. Unlike most personal names in the patriarchal stories, 'Hagar' is not transparently derived from a Hebrew root or descriptive phrase, and this distinguishes her from other figures whose names carry narrative or theological significance in Hebrew. The later Hebrew and Greek traditions transliterate the name as Χάγαρ (Chágar) in the Septuagint, and the name is preserved in subsequent Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition. English translations generally render the name as 'Hagar.' There is no evidence that the name 'Hagar' signified membership in a group (e.g., ‘Hagrites’ or ‘Hagarites’) in the biblical narrative; the proper noun occurs only in reference to the individual woman. Some have speculated on a pun or secondary association in Genesis 21:17—20, but these are not sustained by linguistic evidence. In rabbinic and Islamic literature, Hagar's identity and story are expanded, but those developments are external to the original Hebrew usage. 'Hagar' does not carry a wider range of meaning or usage beyond the identification of this woman.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

of uncertain (perhaps foreign) derivation; Hagar, the mother of Ishmael; Hagar.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

הגר (h-g-r (uncertain)) — uncertain; likely foreign personal name

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1905 הַגְרִי Hagrite

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1904-01 הָגָֽר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar 12

Occurrences in Scripture

12 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1904-01 Genesis 16:1 הָגָֽר hagar HNp was Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:3 הָגָ֤ר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:4 הָגָ֖ר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:8 הָגָ֞ר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:15 הָגָ֛ר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:15 הָגָ֖ר hagar-2 HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 16:16 הָגָ֥ר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 21:9 הָגָ֧ר hagar HNp of Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 21:14 הָ֠גָר hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
H1904-01 Genesis 21:17 הָגָר֙ hagar HNp Hagar Hagar
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