Hagar was an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah. Sarah was beyond childbearing age and did not trust God when He promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Because Sarah did not believe God could or would allow her to bear a child, she sent Hagar to her husband so that she could bear him a child. She gave birth to Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son. It was fourteen more years before Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, and after Isaac's birth, Sarah became bitterly jealous of Hagar and Ishmael and begged Abraham to send them away. God intervened, assuring Abraham that it was okay to send them away as his wife wanted, and promised him that Ishmael would make a great nation of him as well as Isaac. Hagar and Ishmael settled in the desert of Paran where he did indeed father many nations.