EXTRA on Lech Lecha 16:1

Complete Passuk

וְשָׂרַי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת אַבְרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יָלְדָ֖ה ל֑וֹ וְלָ֛הּ שִׁפְחָ֥ה מִצְרִ֖ית וּשְׁמָ֥הּ הָגָֽר׃

Sarai, Avram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.

Source

Rashi on Genesis 16:1 — Rashi explicitly cites Bereshit Rabbah 45:1 for the tradition that Hagar was Pharaoh’s daughter.

Core Text

שִׁפְחָה מִצְרִית — בַּת פַּרְעֹה הָיְתָה, כְּשֶׁרָאָה נִסִּים שֶׁנַּעֲשׂוּ לְשָׂרָה אָמַר: מוּטָב שֶׁתְּהֵא בִתִּי שִׁפְחָה בְּבַיִת זֶה וְלֹא גְבִירָה בְּבַיִת אַחֵר.

English: “A handmaid, an Egyptian” — she was Pharaoh’s daughter; when he saw the miracles done for Sarah, he said: Better that my daughter be a handmaid in this house than a mistress in another house.

On the daf / in context: Rashi, citing Bereshit Rabbah 45:1, accounts for an Egyptian maidservant in Avraham’s household by linking her to the earlier episode in Egypt: Pharaoh, recognizing the household’s sanctity, sends his own daughter as a gift.

What Is Learned: Hagar enters the story already marked by the Egyptian encounter; the later tension between Sarah and Hagar is set against that royal origin.

Supplementary classical material not listed by Torah Temimah under this exact passuk.