Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 16:7

"And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur." — Genesis 16:7 (ASV)

The angel of the Lord. —Hebrew, of Jehovah. (See Excursus at end of Book.)

In the way to Shur. —Hagar evidently fled by the usual route leading from Hebron past Beer-sheba to Egypt. The wilderness was that of Paran, in which Kadesh was situated. The fountain by which Hagar was sitting was on the road to Shur, which is a desert on the eastern side of Egypt, forming the boundary of the territory of the Ishmaelites (Genesis 25:18) and of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:7; 1 Samuel 27:8), and reached by the Israelites soon after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15:22; Numbers 33:8). It is now called J’afar.