John Calvin Commentary Genesis 16:6

"But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes. And Sarai dealt hardly with her, and she fled from her face." — Genesis 16:6 (ASV)

Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. The greatness of Abram’s humanity and modesty appears from his answer. He does not quarrel with his wife; and though he has the best cause, he does not stubbornly defend it, but voluntarily relinquishes the wife who had been given him.

In short, for the sake of restoring peace, he acts against his feelings, both as a husband and a father. For, in leaving Hagar to the will of her enraged mistress, he does not treat her as his wife; he also, in a certain way, undervalues that object of his hope conceived in her womb.

Undoubtedly, he was so calm and placid in enduring his wife's vehemence because, throughout her entire life, he had found her to be obedient. Still, it was a great virtue to restrain his temper under such a great indignity. However, it may be asked here how his care for the blessed seed had then vanished from his mind.

Hagar is heavy with child; he hopes that the seed through which the salvation of the world was promised is about to come from her. Why then does he not set Sarai aside and turn his love and desire even more to Hagar? Truly, from this we infer that all human schemes pass away and vanish like smoke as soon as any severe temptation appears.

Having taken a wife against the divine command, he thinks things are going well when he sees her pregnant and pleases himself with foolish confidence; but when contention suddenly arises, he is at his wit’s end and rejects all hope, or, at least, forgets it. The same thing must necessarily happen to us whenever we attempt anything contrary to the word of God.

Our minds will fail at the very first blast of temptation, since our only ground of stability is to have God's authority for what we do. In the meantime, God purifies his servant's faith from its rust; for by mixing his own and his wife’s human reasoning with the word of God, he had, in a sense, stifled his faith. Therefore, to restore its brightness, that which was superfluous is cut off.

God, by opposing our sinful designs in this manner, recalls us from our folly to a sound mind. A simple promise had been given: I will bless thy seed. Sarai’s interpretation was then added, namely, that she could have no seed but a substitute child by Hagar. This mire of human reasoning, with which the promise had been defiled, must be purged away, so that Abram might derive his knowledge from no other source than the pure word of God.

And Sarai dealt hardly with her. The word ענה (anah), which Moses uses, signifies to afflict and to humble. I therefore explain it as meaning to reduce Hagar to submission. But it was difficult for an angry woman to keep within limits in repressing her maid's insolence.

Therefore, it is possible that she became excessively enraged against her, not so much considering her own duty as dwelling on how to be avenged for the offenses committed. Since Moses makes no more serious charge, I confine myself to what is certain: that Sarai used her proper authority in restraining her maid's insolence.

Undoubtedly, from the event, we may judge that Hagar was impelled to flee not so much by her mistress's cruelty as by her own stubborn rebelliousness. Her own conscience accused her, and it is improbable that Sarai would have been so greatly angered except by many—indeed, atrocious—offenses. Therefore, Hagar, being of a defiant spirit and untamable fierceness, chose to flee rather than to return to favor through the humble acknowledgment of her fault.