(11) The messenger of יהוה said to her further,
“Behold, you are pregnant
And shall bear a son;
You shall call him Ishmael,
For יהוה has paid heed to your suffering.
(1) AND THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME ISHMAEL. The angel informed Hagar that his name will be Ishmael — just as in the verse, Behold, a son shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by name360I Kings 13:2. — and he told her that she should so call him, and thus remember that G-d heard her affliction.361The name Ishmael (G-d heareth) is, as the angel explained to Hagar, “because the Eternal hath heard thy affliction.” (Verse 11.) Now Abraham either called him by this name on his own,362Verse 15: And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. with the intent that G-d hear him and answer him, or the Holy Spirit rested upon him, as Rashi has it, and he called him Ishmael because G-d had heard his mother’s affliction, as the angel had said.
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the angel commanded Hagar that she call him so, but she, being a concubine,363Verse 3 above is no proof to the contrary, as it may express only Sarai’s desire. was afraid to give a name to her master’s son, so she revealed the matter to him, and Abram fulfilled the word of G-d. Scripture, however, did not need to delve at length into this matter.
(13) And she called יהוה*יהוה who spoke to her, “You Are El-roi,”=by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after my being seen!”