Genesis 21:8
in Genesis 21So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
KJV
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
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This verse in Genesis 21
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIsaac, Scripture says, "grew" and became strong; that is, Abraham's joy grew as he looked not at those things "which are seen but at the things which are not seen." For Abraham did not rejoice about present things or about the riches of the world and the activities of the age. But do you wish to hear why Abraham rejoiced? Hear the Lord saying to the Jews: "Abraham your father desired to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." In this way, therefore, "Isaac grew."
This site's exposition
God has made me laugh
on Genesis 21:6-8
Sarah laughed inside the tent at 18:12 and denied it. Here she says God has made her laugh, and calls everyone to laugh with her. She asks who told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children. The great feast comes on the day Isaac was weaned.
This site's exposition
Abraham held a great feast
The child grew and was weaned, and Adam Clarke says the Hebrew word for weaned means turned from the breast to other food. Jerome reports Hebrew teachers setting the day a child was weaned anywhere from the fifth year to the twelfth. The great feast marks that day.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
And Abraham held a great feast on the day of Isaac's weaning, because it is indeed a great solemnity for the highest teachers of the mind when they see those whom they have nurtured ascend to the summit of wisdom and virtue.
The boy grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day of his weaning. Isaac is nourished with milk when each chosen one, that is, the son of the promise, newly begotten in Christ, receives the first rudiments of faith, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Special notice is taken of this, though a thing of course, to intimate that the children of the promise are growing children. Those that are born of God shall increase of God, Col. ii.
And the child grew, and was weaned,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The child grew and was weaned - Anglo-Saxon Version. Now the child waxed and became weaned. We have the verb to wean from the Anglo-Saxon awendan, to convert, transfer, turn from one thing to another, which is the exact import of the Hebrew word גמל gamal in the text. Hence wenan, to wean, to turn the child from the breast to receive another kind of ailment.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגְדַּ֥ל | vaiyigdal | and he grew up | H1431 → | 117 times |
| הַיֶּ֖לֶד | haiyeled | the child | H3206 → | 89 times |
| וַיִּגָּמַ֑ל | vaiyigamal | and he was weaned | H1580 → | 37 times |
| וַיַּ֤עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he prepared | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אַבְרָהָם֙ | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| מִשְׁתֶּ֣ה | mishteh | a feast | H4960 → | 46 times |
| גָד֔וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| בְּי֖וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הִגָּמֵ֥ל | higamel | was weaned | H1580 → | 37 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִצְחָֽק׃ | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
וַיִּגְדַּ֥לand he grew up
vaiyigdalH1431 →117 times
הַיֶּ֖לֶדthe child
haiyeledH3206 →89 times
וַיִּגָּמַ֑לand he was weaned
vaiyigamalH1580 →37 times
וַיַּ֤עַשׂand he prepared
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
אַבְרָהָם֙Abraham
ʾavrahamH85 →175 times
מִשְׁתֶּ֣הa feast
mishtehH4960 →46 times
גָד֔וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
בְּי֖וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הִגָּמֵ֥לwas weaned
higamelH1580 →37 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִצְחָֽק׃Isaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 26:30So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:54
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 19:3
But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
- Genesis 31:54
Through
1 Samuel 1:22but Hannah did not go. “After the boy is weaned,” she said to her husband, “I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there permanently.”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 1:28
I now dedicate the boy to the LORD. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.
- 1 Samuel 1:11
And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then…
- Luke 2:22
And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
- 1 Samuel 1:28
Through
Genesis 19:3But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
it leads to
- Genesis 18:6–8
So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
- 1 Samuel 28:24
The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.
- Judges 6:19
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out…
- Genesis 18:6–8
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.1.