"... in a sudden and shocking plot twist, we hear that the messenger of YHWH finds Hagar – the immigrant, pregnant, fugitive slave – ‘by a spring of water in the wilderness … on the way to Shur’ (Genesis 16:7). Scholars such as Dozeman draw parallels between Hagar’s and Moses’ divine encounters in the wilderness and between Hagar’s wilderness journey and the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. Shur was one of the southern routes that led to Egypt. Therefore, it is possible to assume that Hagar is making her way back home to Egypt. The messenger calls her by her name, and ‘invites her to speak’ (Genesis 16:8). I would point to three aspects of Hagar’s encounter with the messenger of YHWH. Firstly, this is the first time in Scripture that the messenger of YHWH appears to a person. Thus, the fact that YHWH’s messenger first appears to an Egyptian, runaway slave girl, makes this encounter even more striking because it would seem to signify that an encounter with YHWH is ‘not based on nationality, ethnicity, or social status’. Secondly, it is instructive to note that YHWH’s messenger is the subject of the verb מצא [find], indicating that ‘Hagar was not running away in order to find God, but [the messenger] of Yahweh found her running’. Indeed, YHWH is always attentive to the stranger, the foreigner, the refugee, the marginalised, the abandoned, and the oppressed ... Thirdly, the divine messenger’s treatment of Hagar contrasts sharply with Sarah and Abraham’s treatment of Hagar. By calling Hagar by her name and inviting her to speak, YHWH’s messenger does what Abraham and Sarah neglected to do: affirm Hagar’s dignity, uphold her personhood, establish a relationship with her, and allow her to speak ..."