Genesis 16:4

Her mistress was despised. Barrenness among the Hebrews was ever regarded as a dishonor and a reproach (Gen. 30:1, 23; Lev. 20:20; see on Luke 1:25), whereas fecundity was considered a special mark of divine favor (see Gen. 21:6; 24:60; Ex. 23:26; etc.). That the Egyptian maid, honored by admission to the rank of a wife (v. 3), should forget her privileged status and become haughty, was precisely the conduct that might have been expected. She would not assent to the plan of her mistress; why should her child be passed off as Sarai’s son? The maid who had served Sarai so faithfully through the years as to be considered eligible to become Abram’s wife began to despise her whom she had honored heretofore. Homes where the divinely approved marriage status is interfered with are homes where heartache, jealousy, and bitter strife prevail. Abram’s home was no exception, and the harmony of earlier times was transformed into discord.