Genesis 16:6

But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. This was not evading the responsibility, but insisting upon its remaining where it had been during the entire incident: Hagar was still the slave of Sarai, who might use force in making her conscious of her subordinate position. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. The mistress took measures to make the slave woman feel her power, probably by demanding that the latter perform the most menial services in the household, whereas Hagar seems to have occupied a position of some importance before. The proud spirit of the slave refusing to yield to such treatment, she fled from Hebron, willing rather to brave the wilderness than to submit to Sarai's harsh treatment. Thus the sins and weaknesses of the saints are openly narrated in Scriptures, the story forming a mirror in which we may see our own hearts.