Genesis 21:8-21

Hagar and Ishmael

8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking.
10 Then she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac."
11 And the matter {displeased Abraham very much} on account of his son.
12 Then God said to Abraham, "{Do not be displeased} on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. {Listen to everything that Sarah said to you}, for through Isaac [your] offspring will be named.
13 And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring."
14 Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba.
15 And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes.
16 And she went and {she sat a good distance away}, for she said, "Let me not see the child's death." So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the cry of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, "{What is the matter} Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry of the boy {from where he is}.
18 Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became {an expert with a bow}.
21 And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Genesis 21:8-21 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.

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Literally "was very bad in the eyes of Abraham"
  • [b]. Literally "Do not let it be bad"
  • [c]. Literally "Everything Sarah said to you, listen with respect to her voice"
  • [d]. Literally "she sat with respect to her, opposite, far away, as the shooting of a bow"
  • [e]. Or "voice"
  • [f]. Literally "What to you"
  • [g]. Or "voice"
  • [h]. Literally "in which he [is] there"
  • [i]. Literally "an archer with the bow"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.