And he went in to Hagar: see discussion of Sarai’s proposal in Gen 16.2. She conceived as a result of sexual relations with Abram. We may also say, for example, “and so she became pregnant” or “and was going to have a baby.” In some translations the sense of Hagar continuing with Abram as his wife is brought out by saying “… Hagar stayed with Abram until she became pregnant.”

When she saw, or as Good News Translation says, “when she found out,” that is, “when she realized that she was pregnant….”

She looked with contempt on her mistress is literally “her mistress was despised in her [Hagar’s] eyes.” The verb rendered here “was despised” means “to be small, insignificant, unimportant, of little account.” Hagar’s attitude toward her mistress (owner) was that of considering Sarai to be of little worth, of no importance. She looked down on Sarai, as if Sarai were now inferior to her. New Jerusalem Bible says “her mistress counted for nothing in her eyes.” In some languages such an attitude of superiority is expressed through such idiomatic expressions as “she put her nose up at Sarai,” “she turned her head away from Sarai,” “she lifted her head when she saw Sarai,” “she got a big head toward Sarai.”

Mistress translates a Hebrew word that indicates a woman of high social position. In 1 Kgs 11.19 it is rendered “queen” by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. It clearly marks Sarai, whose name means “princess,” as a person of rank. However, in relation to a servant she is a lady or owner. In some languages the status of a mistress is expressed as “the housewife” or “the number one woman.”

A typical translation of this whole verse is “After that they-two slept together, and Hagar got heavy. Well then she reckoned that she was number one, and she looked down on Sarai.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .