Chapter 2: The Arrangement

Years passed in Canaan. God spoke to Abram again. One night, He brought him outside his tent and told him to look up.

GOD“Look up at the sky and count the stars if you think you can count them. This is how many descendants you will have.”— Genesis 15:5

Abram believed Him. But ten years after arriving in Canaan, Sarai's womb was still closed.

In that culture, a barren wife carried more than personal grief. She carried shame. Children were a woman's standing, her security, her proof of blessing. Without them, she was incomplete in the eyes of everyone around her.

So Sarai came to Abram with a plan.

SARAI“Look, the Lord has kept me from having children. Sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”— Genesis 16:2

In the ancient Near East, a barren wife could give her servant to her husband as a surrogate. The child born from that union would legally belong to the wife, carrying her name and her inheritance. It was a recognized custom, practiced for centuries. But custom does not erase what it costs.

Abram listened to Sarai's voice. Sarai took Hagar and gave her to Abram as a wife.

And she conceived.