Hagar

Hagar, an Egyptian servant likely acquired during Abraham's sojourn in Egypt, became the first individual in the Bible to receive a direct angelic visitation promising that her offspring would form a multitude too numerous to count, a covenant parallel to Abraham's yet given to a marginalized woman.

She alone among biblical figures named God "El Roi" (the God who sees me) after her encounter at a desert spring, which she then called Beer Lahai Roi, highlighting a personal theophany rare for non-Israelite women in the patriarchal narratives.

When expelled into the wilderness a second time with the teenage Ishmael, Hagar secured an Egyptian wife for her son from her native land, preserving cultural ties and ensuring Ishmael's lineage as ancestor to twelve tribal princes mirroring Israel's structure.

The narrative depicts Ishmael as a youth capable of being carried briefly yet able to survive independently, underscoring ancient Near Eastern customs of surrogate motherhood where a handmaid's child could inherit status before displacement.

Hagar's two wilderness encounters with the divine emphasize God's attention to foreign slaves, a detail often overlooked yet central to the text's portrayal of providence extending beyond the chosen family line.