Jun 23, 2021 · Hagar is Sarai’s Egyptian slave woman, whom Sarai (later Sarah) gives to Abram (later Abraham) as a wife who would bear a child that would be considered Sarai’s ( Gen 16:3 ). Although it bears a resemblance to modern technological surrogate motherhood, this custom may seem bizarre. According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar [a] was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah (then known as Sarai ), [2] whom Sarah gave to her own husband Abram (later renamed Abraham) as a wife to bear him a child. Abraham's firstborn son, through Hagar, Ishmael, became the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, generally taken to be the Arabs. .