1 And the Lord came to Sarah as he had said and did to her as he had undertaken.
2 And Sarah became with child, and gave Abraham a son when he was old, at the time named by God.
3 And Abraham gave to his son, to whom Sarah had given birth, the name Isaac.
4 And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham made him undergo circumcision, as God had said to him.
5 Now Abraham was a hundred years old when the birth of Isaac took place.
6 And Sarah said, God has given me cause for laughing, and everyone who has news of it will be laughing with me.
7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would have a child at her breast? for see, I have given him a son now when he is old.
8 And when the child was old enough to be taken from the breast, Abraham made a great feast.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with Isaac.
10 So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with my son Isaac.
11 And this was a great grief to Abraham because of his son.
12 But God said, Let it not be a grief to you because of the boy and Hagar his mother; give ear to whatever Sarah says to you, because it is from Isaac that your seed will take its name.
13 And I will make a nation of the son of your servant-woman, because he is your seed.
14 And early in the morning Abraham got up, and gave Hagar some bread and a water-skin, and put the boy on her back, and sent her away: and she went, wandering in the waste land of Beer-sheba.
15 And when all the water in the skin was used up, she put the child down under a tree.
16 And she went some distance away, about an arrow flight, and seating herself on the earth, she gave way to bitter weeping, saying, Let me not see the death of my child.
17 And the boy's cry came to the ears of God; and the angel of God said to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, why are you weeping? have no fear, for the child's cry has come to the ears of God.
18 Come, take your child in your arms, for I will make of him a great nation.
19 Then God made her eyes open, and she saw a water-spring, and she got water in the skin and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he became tall and strong, and he became a bowman, living in the waste land.
21 And while he was in the waste land of Paran, his mother got him a wife from the land of Egypt.
22 Now at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, said to Abraham, I see that God is with you in all you do.
23 Now, then, give me your oath, in the name of God, that you will not be false to me or to my sons after me, but that as I have been good to you, so you will be to me and to this land where you have been living.
24 And Abraham said, I will give you my oath.
25 But Abraham made a protest to Abimelech because of a water-hole which Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
26 But Abimelech said, I have no idea who has done this thing; you never gave me word of it, and I had no knowledge of it till this day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement together.
28 And Abraham put seven young lambs of the flock on one side by themselves.
29 Then Abimelech said, What are these seven lambs which you have put on one side?
30 And he said, Take these seven lambs from me as a witness that I have made this water-hole.
31 So he gave that place the name Beer-sheba, because there the two of them had given their oaths.
32 So they made an agreement at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
34 And Abraham went on living in the land of the Philistines as in a strange country.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 21
Commentary on Genesis 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Ge 21:1-13. Birth of Isaac.
1. the Lord visited Sarah—The language of the historian seems designedly chosen to magnify the power of God as well as His faithfulness to His promise. It was God's grace that brought about that event, as well as the raising of spiritual children to Abraham, of which the birth of this son was typical [Calvin].
3, 4. Abraham called the name of his son … Isaac … and circumcised—God was acknowledged in the name which, by divine command, was given for a memorial (compare Ge 17:19), and also in the dedication of the child by administering the seal of the covenant (compare Ge 17:10-12).
8. the child grew, and was weaned—children are suckled longer in the East than in the Occident—boys usually for two or three years.
Abraham made a great feast, &c.—In Eastern countries this is always a season of domestic festivity, and the newly weaned child is formally brought, in presence of the assembled relatives and friends, to partake of some simple viands. Isaac, attired in the symbolic robe, the badge of birthright, was then admitted heir of the tribe [Rosenmuller].
9. Sarah saw the son of Hagar … mocking—Ishmael was aware of the great change in his prospects, and under the impulse of irritated or resentful feelings, in which he was probably joined by his mother, treated the young heir with derision and probably some violence (Ga 4:29).
10. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman—Nothing but the expulsion of both could now preserve harmony in the household. Abraham's perplexity was relieved by an announcement of the divine will, which in everything, however painful to flesh and blood, all who fear God and are walking in His ways will, like him, promptly obey. This story, as the apostle tells us, in "an allegory" [Ga 4:24], and the "persecution" by the son of the Egyptian was the commencement of the four hundred years' affliction of Abraham's seed by the Egyptians.
12. in all that Sarah hath said—it is called the Scripture (Ga 4:30).
13. also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation—Thus Providence overruled a family brawl to give rise to two great and extraordinary peoples.
Ge 21:14-21. Expulsion of Ishmael.
14. Abraham rose up early, &c.—early, that the wanderers might reach an asylum before noon. Bread includes all sorts of victuals—bottle, a leathern vessel, formed of the entire skin of a lamb or kid sewed up, with the legs for handles, usually carried over the shoulder. Ishmael was a lad of seventeen years, and it is quite customary for Arab chiefs to send out their sons at such an age to do for themselves: often with nothing but a few days' provisions in a bag.
wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba—in the southern border of Palestine, but out of the common direction, a wide extending desert, where they lost their way.
15. the water was spent, &c.—Ishmael sank exhausted from fatigue and thirst—his mother laid his head under one of the bushes to smell the damp while she herself, unable to witness his distress, sat down at a little distance in hopeless sorrow.
19. God opened her eyes—Had she forgotten the promise (Ge 16:11)? Whether she looked to God or not, He regarded her and directed her to a fountain close beside her, but probably hid amid brushwood, by the waters of which her almost expiring son was revived.
20, 21. God was with the lad, &c.—Paran (that is, Arabia), where his posterity has ever dwelt (compare Ge 16:12; also Isa 48:19; 1Pe 1:25).
his mother took him a wife—On a father's death, the mother looks out for a wife for her son, however young; and as Ishmael was now virtually deprived of his father, his mother set about forming a marriage connection for him, it would seem, among her relatives.
Ge 21:22-34. Covenant.
22. Abimelech and Phichol—Here a proof of the promise (Ge 12:2) being fulfilled, in a native prince wishing to form a solemn league with Abraham. The proposal was reasonable, and agreed to [Ge 21:24].
25-31. And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well—Wells were of great importance to a pastoral chief and on the successful operation of sinking a new one, the owner was solemnly informed in person. If, however, they were allowed to get out of repair, the restorer acquired a right to them. In unoccupied lands the possession of wells gave a right of property in the land, and dread of this had caused the offense for which Abraham reproved Abimelech. Some describe four, others five, wells in Beer-sheba.
33. Abraham planted a grove—Hebrew, "of tamarisks," in which sacrificial worship was offered, as in a roofless temple.
34. Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land—a picture of pastoral and an emblem of Christian life.