Genesischapter 21

Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.Isaac, the Son of Laughtervv. 1-7

1 Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised. 2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. 3 And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” 7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

B.Hagar and Ishmael Sent Awayvv. 8-21

8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!” 11 Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned. 13 But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.” 14 Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies. 18 Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer. 21 And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

C.The Oath at the Well of Beershebavv. 22-34

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.” 24 And Abraham replied, “I swear it.” 25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.” 27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?” 30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.” 31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. 32 After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

Isaac born.

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Isaac born. ‘The LORD visited Sarah as he had said.’ The child of promise comes at the appointed time; Sarah's laughter turns from doubt to joy. Ishmael mocks at the weaning feast; Sarah demands his expulsion, and Abraham is grieved. God confirms the decision: ‘in Isaac shall thy seed be called’. But Ishmael will also be a nation. Hagar and the boy are dismissed; God meets her in the wilderness and opens her eyes to a well. The chapter closes with Abraham's peace-covenant with Abimelech at Beersheba. Paul allegorises this chapter in Galatians 4. Two sons, two covenants, two cities.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Genesis overview

A. 1–7 Isaac, the Son of Laughter
B. 8–21 Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
C. 22–34 The Oath at the Well of Beersheba

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Genesis 175 verses
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 17:17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?”
- Genesis 17:18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”
- Genesis 17:19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
- Genesis 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
- Read Genesis 17 →
Genesis 215 verses
- Genesis 21:6Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
- Genesis 21:13But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
- Genesis 21:14Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
- Genesis 21:18Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
- Genesis 21:31So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- Read Genesis 21 →
Genesis 164 verses
- Genesis 16:10Then the angel added, “I will greatly multiply your offspring so that they will be too numerous to count.”
- Genesis 16:11The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
- Genesis 16:12He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
- Genesis 16:15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
- Read Genesis 16 →
Genesis 264 verses
- Genesis 26:15So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.
- Genesis 26:26Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.
- Genesis 26:28“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you
- Genesis 26:33So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
- Read Genesis 26 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Hebrews 114 verses
- Hebrews 11:9By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
- Hebrews 11:11By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised.
- Hebrews 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- Hebrews 11:18even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- Read Hebrews 11 →
Genesis 183 verses
- Genesis 18:10Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
- Genesis 18:11And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
- Genesis 18:14Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Read Genesis 18 →
Galatians 42 verses
- Galatians 4:22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
- Galatians 4:29At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
- Read Galatians 4 →
Genesis 292 verses
- Genesis 29:11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
- Genesis 29:22So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.
- Read Genesis 29 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.