1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as he had spoken.
2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, God has made me laugh: all that hear will laugh with me.
7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle children? For I have borne [him] a son in his old age.
8 And the child grew, and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
10 And she said to Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son -- with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy handmaid: [in] all that Sarah hath said to thee hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee.
13 But also the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a flask of water, and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder -- and the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15 And the water was exhausted from the flask; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs,
16 and she went and sat down over against [him], a bow-shot off; for she said, Let me not behold the death of the child. And she sat over against [him], and lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.
18 Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the lad drink.
20 And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and Phichol the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.
23 And now swear to me here by God that thou wilt not deal deceitfully with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson. According to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou sojournest.
24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
26 And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this, neither hast thou told me [of it], neither have I heard [of it] but to-day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What [mean] these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves?
30 And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well.
31 Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they had sworn, both of them.
32 And they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines.
33 And [Abraham] planted a tamarisk in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal ùGod.
34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
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.