Genesis 21:17-27

17 God ¹heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar? ²Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where * he is.

18 "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, ³for I will make a great nation of him."

19 Then God ⁴opened her eyes and she saw ⁵a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.

20 ⁶God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer *.

21 ⁷He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

22 Now it came about at that time that ⁸Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "⁹God is with you in all that you do;

23 now therefore, ¹⁰swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned."

24 Abraham said, "I swear it."

25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech because * of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech ¹¹had seized.

26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor * did I hear of it until today."

27 Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ¹²the two of them made a covenant.

Genesis 21:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 21

This chapter gives an account of the conception, birth, circumcision, and weaning of Isaac, Ge 21:1-8; of the mocking of Ishmael, and of the casting out of him and his mother from Abraham's house, at the request of Sarah, which, though grievous to Abraham, he complied with at the direction of God, Ge 21:9-13; of the provision Abraham made for their departure, and of the supply they met with in the wilderness from God, where Ishmael was brought up, and where he married, Ge 21:14-21; and of a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar, Ge 21:22-32; and of Abraham's planting a grove, and calling on the name of the Lord, Ge 21:33; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days, Ge 21:34.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 3:7; Deuteronomy 26:7; Psalms 6:8
• 2. Genesis 26:24
• 3. Genesis 16:10; Genesis 21:13; Genesis 25:12-16
• 4. Numbers 22:31; 2 Kings 6:17
• 5. Genesis 16:7, 14
• 6. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 39:2, 3, 21
• 7. Genesis 25:18
• 8. Genesis 20:2, 14; Genesis 26:26
• 9. Genesis 26:28; Isaiah 8:10
• 10. Joshua 2:12; 1 Samuel 24:21
• 11. Gen 26:15, 18, 20-22
• 12. Genesis 26:31

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "your"
• [b]. V 14, note 1
• [c]. Lit "dwelt"
• [d]. Lit "dwelt"
• [e]. Lit "reproved"
• [f]. Lit "except"