Genesis 16:11 - Exposition

And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and thou shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael . "God shall hear," or, "Whom God hears," the first instance of the naming of a child before its birth (cf. afterwards Genesis 17:19 ; 1 Kings 13:2 ; 1 Chronicles 22:9 ; Matthew 1:21 ; Luke 1:13 ). Because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. τῇ ταπεινώσει ( LXX .), "thy prayer" (Chaldee), of which there is no mention, though men's miseries are said to cry when men themselves are mute (Calvin; cf. Exodus 1:1-22 :24; Exodus 3:7 ).