56 | Genesis 21:1
The Birth of Isaac
21 Now the Lord was gra cious to Sarah f as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what
he had prom ised. g 2 Sarah be came preg nant and bore a son h to Abra ham in his old age, i at the very time God had prom ised him. 3 Abra ham gave the name Isaac a j to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abra ham cir cum cised him, k as God com manded him. 5 Abra ham was a hun dred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said,“ God has brought me laugh ter, l and ev ery one who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added,“ Who would have said to Abra ham that Sarah would nurse chil dren? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abra ham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Ha gar the Egyp tian had borne to Abra ham m was mocking, n
10 and she said to Abra ham,“ Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that wom an’ s son will never share in the in her i tance with my son Isaac.” o
11 The mat ter dis tressed Abra ham greatly be cause it con cerned his son. p 12 But God said to him,“ Do not be so dis tressed about the boy and your slave wom an. Lis ten to what ever Sarah tells you, be cause it is through Isaac that your off spring b will be reck oned. q 13 I will make the son of the slave into a na tion r also, be cause he is your off spring.”
14 Early the next morn ing Abra ham took some food and a skin of wa ter and gave them to Ha gar. He set them on her shoul ders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wan dered in the Des ert of Be er sheba. s
15 When the wa ter in the skin was gone, she put the boy un der one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bow shot away, for she thought,“ I can not watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she c be gan to sob.
17 God heard the boy cry ing, t and the an gel of God called to Ha gar from heaven and said to her,“ What is the mat ter, Ha gar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy cry ing as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great na tion. u”
19 Then God opened her eyes v and she saw a well of wa ter. So she went and filled the skin with wa ter and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy w as he grew up. He lived in the des ert and be came an ar cher. 21 While he was liv ing in the Des ert of Pa ran, his mother got a wife for him x from Egypt.
21:1 f 1Sa 2:21 g Ge 8:1; 17:16, 21; Gal 4:23
21:2 h Ge 17:19 i Gal 4:22; Heb 11:11
21:3 j Ge 17:19
21:4 k Ge 17:10, 12; Ac 7:8
21:6 l Ge 17:17; Isa 54:1
21:9 m Ge 16:15 n Gal 4:29
21:10 o Gal 4:30 * 21:11 p Ge 17:18
21:12 q Ro 9:7 *; Heb 11:18 *
21:13 r ver 18 21:14 s ver 31, 32 21:17 t Ex 3:7 21:18 u ver 13 21:19 v Nu 22:31
21:20 w Ge 26:3, 24; 28:15; 39:2, 21, 23
21:21 x Ge 24:4, 38 21:23 y ver 31; Jos 2:12
The Treaty at Beersheba
22 At that time Abim e lek and Phi col the com mander of his forces said to Abra ham,“ God is with you in ev ery thing you do. 23 Now swear y to me here be fore God that you will not
a 3 Isaac means he laughs. b 12 Or seed c 16 Hebrew; Septuagint the child
21:1 – 7 The Birth of Isaac. In her old age Sarah gives birth to Isaac in fulfillment of God’ s promise to Abraham and Sarah. God does what they had considered to be impossible. 21:1 – 2 God’ s earlier promises to Abraham and Sarah( 17:16,19,21; 18:10,14) are now fulfilled. 21:3 – 4 Abraham obeys God’ s instructions by naming his son Isaac( 17:19) and circumcising him( 17:12). 21:5 – 7 Sarah’ s comments about laughter in v. 6 provide a further wordplay on the name Isaac, which means“ he laughs”( 17:17 – 19; 18:12 – 15). Laughter of disbelief now becomes laughter of joy as God provides the elderly couple with a son. 21:8 – 21 Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away. The departure of Ishmael from Abraham’ s household signals that he is no longer Abraham’ s main heir, something that would have been assumed as he is Abraham’ s firstborn son. 21:8 weaned. Isaac is possibly two or three years old. 21:9 Ishmael’ s attitude toward Isaac distresses Sarah. Ishmael, about 16 years old, mocks his younger brother( cf. Gal 4:29). mocking. The Hebrew term used probably implies here laughing in jest and is a further wordplay on the name Isaac( see note on vv. 5 – 7). 21:10 Offended by Ishmael’ s treatment of Isaac, Sarah demands that Abraham disinherit Ishmael, expelling both him and his mother, Hagar. 21:11 distressed. Abraham is distraught because he viewed Ishmael as his son( 16:15; 17:18). 21:12 – 13 God intervenes, however, confirming Isaac’ s special status and reassuring Abraham again that Ishmael will become a nation( 17:20). 21:12 offspring will be reckoned. In spite of Ishmael being Abraham’ s eldest son, God confirms that Abraham’ s descendants will be traced through Isaac. As in 17:19 – 21, the outworking of God’ s plan to bless the nations is linked to Isaac. Other biblical writers note that God chose Isaac over Ishmael. God’ s promise to establish his covenant with Isaac gives Abraham the confidence to believe that God, if necessary, will raise Isaac to life again( Heb 11:17 – 19). Paul draws on this verse to show that not all of Abraham’ s biological children are automatically“ children of the promise”( Rom 9:8; see Rom 9:6 – 13). God is free to choose how he will fulfill his redemptive plan.
21:14 – 15 In obedience to God, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael off. When they run out of water in the desert region in the south of what became known as Israel, they collapse with exhaustion, anticipating that they will soon die. God, however, intervenes and reassures Hagar that he cares for both her and Ishmael. Although God has special plans for Isaac, he does not abandon Hagar and Ishmael. God previously intervened in Hagar’ s life and promised that she would be the mother of a great nation( 16:10 – 12). 21:19 well of water. Wells were an important source of water in this region( 26:18 – 22; see note on 21:25 – 26). 21:21 Desert of Paran. Lies in the northern part of Sinai, between Egypt and Canaan. See map, p. 2550. 21:22 – 34 The Treaty at Beersheba. Abimelek’ s desire to establish a friendship treaty with Abraham reflects Abraham’ s status as someone of importance. Abimelek’ s actions would be pointless if Abraham was merely an insignificant seminomadic herdsman. 21:22 God is with you in everything you do. Abimelek’ s opening words acknowledge the source of Abraham’ s power. Abimelek, king of Gerar( 20:2), views Abraham as an equal.