Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah

Sforno on Genesis 16:2/ספורנו על בראשית ט״ז:ב׳

אהִנֵּה נָא עֲצָרַנִי ה' מִלֶּדֶת. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאָמַר לָתֵת לְךָ זֶרַע כְּאָמְרוֹ "לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת" (בראשית יב:ז), לֹא אָמַר שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לְךָ אוֹתוֹ הַזֶּרַע מִמֶּנִּי:
1הנה עצרני ה' מלדת, "even though G'd has promised to grant you offspring to whom I will give this land, (Genesis 12,7) He has not said that the mother of Avram's offspring would be I."
באוּלַי אִבָּנֶה מִמֶּנָּה. אוּלַי קִנְאַת הַיָּרֵךְ תְּעוֹרֵר הַכֹּחַ לִפְעֻלּוֹתָיו וְיִתְחַזֵּק לְהַשִּׂיג הַזֶּרַע (מגילה יג).
2 אולי אבנה ממנה, Sarah hoped that the jealousy which would develop within her when she saw that Hagar gave birth to a child for Avram would stimulate her own biological and sexual urges so that in due course she too would become pregnant by her husband. (based on Megillah 13)
גלְקוֹל שָׂרָי. נָטָה לְבָבוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה דַּעְתָּהּ אֲמִתִּי, לְפִיכָךְ קִבֵּל דְּבָרֶיהָ לֹא לְהִתְעַנֵּג בְּמִשְׁגַּל הָאִשָּׁה.
3 שרי לקול, the Torah wants to make plain that Avram was not motivated by sexual lust to sleep with Hagar, but had only fallen in with Sarai's reasoning, hoping to assuage her feelings in the matter.