Thank you for the biblical question, “What was the ethnicity of Hagar in the Bible?”
May I suggest that Hagar was of a Middle Eastern descent, not necessarily an Egyptian.
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration:
A. Genesis 12:4 says that Abram and Sarai took all their possessions and people and left for the Promised Land.
The text says this, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there” (NIV). Citations are from the NIV.
It appears that in Harran Abram was able to amass wealth and servants while living in Harran. It is likely that Abram and Sarai had servants to care for the liv stock that they had accumulated and to help with the maintenance of the tents. It is my assumption that Sarai had maid servants, but they were not concubines of Abram.
B. Gensis 12:14-16 says that Abram was given additional livestock and servants by Pharaoh.
Genesis 12 says this, “When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels”
When Abram and Sarai traveled into Egypt, Pharaoh allowed Abam to increase his livestock and servants. The reference that Abram had male and female servants in Egypt may indicated that it was in Egypt that Hagar was among the female servants of Abram.
C. Genesis 16:4 says that Abram had an Egyptian slave name Hagar.
Genesis 16:4 says this, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
As one looks at the phrase, an Egyptian slave named Hagar, there are two possible interpretations of it.
The first interpretation is that Hagar was of an Egyptian descent but was sold into slavery. The second interpretation is that Hagar was of a different nationality but was in bondage as an Egyptian slave. In other words, did Abram purchased or acquired Hagar who was an Egyptian slave or was Hagar an Egyptian, being a slave?
Since Pharaoh was showing favor to Sarai, he may well have given one of his servant girls to Sarai to care for her. She must have been very beautiful. When Abram and Sarai left Egypt, Hagar went with them with all their possessions.
The Analytical Key to the Old Testament by John Owens interprets the phrase in this manner, “so took Sarai the wife of Abram Hagar the Egyptian her maid after (at the end of) ten years had dwelt Abram in the land of Canaan and gave her Abram her husband as a wife.”
Based on that translation, one can conclude that Hagar was an Egyptian descendant. She was a maid of Sarai living with them for 10 years.
Summary: It is likely that Pharaoh gave one of his Egyptian servants to Hagar to be her maid as Sarai prepared to live in Pharaoh’s court.
-Kingston