Abraham and Sarah were childless. Sarah wanted a child so badly she asked Abraham to take her servant Hagar and have relations with her and thus, de facto, she could have a child that way. In the Middle East, a barren woman at that time might strip down and the newborn child would be placed on her to symbolize that she had "given birth". In this way, she would be honored by having a "child". This was apparently an attempt to practice this very thing. However, it backfired horribly. Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children,...