Greek word · G28

Ἄγαρ

agar

Hagar

Hebrew Hāgār, Sarah's Egyptian slave woman, given to Abraham as a surrogate wife and the mother of Ishmael (Gen 16; 21:8–21).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Ἅγαρ (Rec. Ἄ-), ἡ, indecl. (in FlJ, Ἀγάρα, -ης, Heb. הָגָר),

Hagar (Gen.16): Galatians 4:24,25.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Galatians 4:24

Range of meaning

Hebrew Hāgār, Sarah's Egyptian slave woman, given to Abraham as a surrogate wife and the mother of Ishmael (Gen 16; 21:8–21).

Against the English

KJV 'Agar' follows the Greek spelling without the rough breathing. Modern versions have 'Hagar'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Jewish tradition Hagar and Ishmael were ancestors of the Arab peoples (Gen 25:12–18; Josephus, Antiquities 1.214, 220–221). The 'Hagrites' were a tribe east of the Jordan (1 Chr 5:10, 19–20; Ps 83:6). Philo reads Hagar as the preliminary 'school subjects' that serve virtue (Sarah).

Where it appears

Galatians · 2

  1. Galatians 4:24 Ἁγάρ. Hagar.

    These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.

    Here: Sarah's Egyptian slave woman and the mother of Ishmael (Gen 16; 21). Naming her last gives the sentence its sting: the Sinai covenant is Hagar.

  2. Galatians 4:25 Ἁγὰρ Hagar

    Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.