Chapter Twenty-One

The Birth of Isaac

Genesis 21:1. And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. Evidently the historian marks here the fulfillment of the divine promise to visit Sarah, given exactly one year before (Gen 18:14); consequently, by God’s visitation he understands the very birth of Isaac; analogies to this exist also in other places of Scripture (1 Sam 2:21). Similarly, the verb “did” more clearly indicates the extraordinary and miraculous character of Isaac’s birth from the deadened womb of ninety-year-old Sarah (Gal 4:28).

Genesis 21:2. And Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. A remark of the biblical narrator that restores the connection of events (Gen 17:21).

The Circumcision of Isaac

Genesis 21:3–4. And Abraham named his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac on the eighth day, as God had commanded him. In both these actions Abraham demonstrated his complete obedience to God and readiness to fulfill His holy will (Gen 17:12). On this basis, one can also suppose that from this time the practice was established of naming a newborn male child on the eighth day—on the day of his circumcision, which served as a symbol of his inclusion in the community of the chosen people (Luke 1:59; Acts 7:8).

Genesis 21:5. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. In view of the extraordinary importance of this event, the historian notes its date.

Genesis 21:6. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; everyone who hears of me will laugh with me. Here again the Slavonic Bible gives a more successful translation: “God has made me laugh; whoever hears of me will rejoice with me.” This translation would be even better and more precise if the word “laugh” were replaced by a more suitable synonym here—“joy.” In this form Sarah’s exclamation becomes entirely natural and intelligible and comes very close to similar exclamations of the righteous Elizabeth and the Holy Virgin Mary (Luke 1:25).

Genesis 21:7. And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son in his old age. Here is the reason for that high joy which Sarah cannot contain and which pours forth from her in a whole series of jubilant exclamations.

Genesis 21:8. And the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Nursing infants in the ancient East lasted very long, reaching, according to the testimony of Jerome, up to five years and usually continuing no less than three, as can be seen from various passages of Sacred Scripture (1 Sam 1:22; 2 Macc 7:27). Jewish rabbis and the Quran even today prescribe not to end it before two years. The completion of this period was celebrated with a solemn family feast, in which the child himself could now take some part.

The Expulsion of Hagar

Genesis 21:9. And Sarah saw that the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, was mocking [her son, Isaac], The LXX, Vulgate, and our Slavonic Bible have here a slight variant: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar playing with her son Isaac.” The reason for this difference is the different translation of the main word of this entire phrase, namely the Hebrew verb mezachek, which, deriving from the same root as the name “Isaac,” allows various translations: to laugh, to rejoice, to play, to make merry. That this laughter was not always innocent, but sometimes contained a note of irony or mockery, is evident from the example of Lot’s sons-in-law (Gen 19:14). From the many ancient and modern explanations of how one should understand such an rather indefinite designation of Ishmael’s behavior toward Isaac, we note two: one belonging to the Apostle Paul and indicating that the older brother persecuted or harassed the younger (Gal 4:28-31), and another based on the analysis of the root meaning of the word “laughed” (mezachek—Itzhak, Isaac), which sees here a peculiar play on words, having the sense that Ishmael was playing at being Isaac, that is, behaving not as the son of a slave but as the son of a mistress and future rightful master, subjugating Isaac to himself and exercising a bad influence on the development and education of his character.

Genesis 21:10. And she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman and her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac. The contemptuous and haughty behavior of Hagar with Ishmael toward Sarah with Isaac, perhaps especially strongly expressed itself in some outburst at the aforementioned family feast (Gen 21:8) and prompted Sarah to take more decisive measures against this. Guided in her decision by a special divine inspiration (see further verses 12), she authoritatively demands that Abraham remove this slave woman and her son, motivating her demand by the argument that in vain do Hagar and Ishmael cherish dreams of primacy and inheritance—they shall have nothing of the sort and will not receive it, for all this belongs solely to their legitimate heir, the son of the promise—Isaac.

Genesis 21:11–12. And this matter was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; listen to Sarah in all that she says to you, Probably Abraham, hearing such a decisive request from Sarah, not only was distressed, as the biblical text says, but also was puzzled whether to obey it, in view of the earlier divine blessing given to Ishmael (Gen 17:20). For this reason God now assures him of the legitimate justice of Sarah’s request. for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. “It is not the children of the flesh that are children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as offspring” (Rom 9:8), as the Apostle Paul clarifies this thought. From this it is clear that the firstborn in flesh and the sole offspring in spirit will be that which shall come from the God-given son—Isaac. Throughout this entire history the Apostle Paul sees a prefiguration of the two Covenants—the Old, which he compares to Hagar, and the New, which he compares to Isaac (Gal 4:25-31). Just as once Hagar with Ishmael, though they preceded Isaac in fleshly birth, had to yield to him their rights, so also the Old Covenant with the coming of the New, like a shadow before the sun, had to yield it its place.

Genesis 21:13. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring. Comforting Abraham in this separation, which was nonetheless difficult for him, God assures him that by this new commandment He in no way repeals His earlier promise concerning Ishmael (Gen 17:20).

Genesis 21:14. So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder along with the child, and sent her away. Having now received a special revelation from God, Abraham hastens to fulfill it. As for the picture of Hagar’s outfitting itself, it is full of artistic realism and stands in complete agreement with ancient eastern customs, as we know them from ancient Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian monuments, as well as from the testimony of Herodotus. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. As in the first time (Gen 16:6), Hagar now, evidently, was heading by way to her native country—Egypt; but soon she lost her way and wandered about near the place which later was named Beersheba (Gen 21:31) and which lay 12 miles to the southwest of Hebron.

Genesis 21:15. And the water in the skin was exhausted, and she cast the child under one of the bushes. The lack of water is the most severe deprivation for a traveler in the hot wilderness, and therefore it is easy to imagine all the horror of Hagar, finding herself in such a situation with Ishmael. The latter, although at that time he had from 17 to 19 years of age (Gen 17:25), yet, as one unaccustomed in the house of rich Abraham to any privations, felt the tormenting thirst more quickly and acutely, so much so that he was no longer able to continue his journey and was placed by his compassionate mother in the pitiful shade of a prickly desert shrub.

Genesis 21:16. And she went and sat down opposite him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. Weakened by thirst, the young Ishmael was suffering greatly, and his mother, deprived of any means to help him, resolved it was better to withdraw so as not to witness these soul-rending sufferings. Moving away from him at the distance of an arrow shot from a bow, Hagar began to pour out her hopeless grief in a loud wail.

The Angel’s Appearance to Her in the Wilderness

Genesis 21:17. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; In a moment of such complete despair, Hagar suddenly hears an encouraging voice coming from heaven from the Angel of God. In the opinion of most interpreters, this Angel of God, called in the original “Malak-Elohim,” is the same person as the Malak-Yehova, that is, the Angel of the Lord, under whom, as we have seen above, one understands most closely the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, or the Son of God (see Gen 16:9 and others). God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. God heard the innocent sufferings of the boy and sends him deliverance or, as some think, God heard the prayer of the boy directed to Him and fulfills his request.

Genesis 21:18. Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make a great nation of him. The first half of this phrase serves as a beautiful complement to the picture of Hagar’s journey itself with Ishmael (showing that she led him by the hand, not carried him on her shoulders, as some wrongly concluded on the basis of verse 14), and the second provides the best comfort to the mother for the fate of her son (Gen 21:13).

Genesis 21:19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. God opened Hagar’s eyes; that is, drew her attention to what she had not noticed before (Gen 3:5-7; 2 Sam 6:17; Luke 24:16), either because she was in a distressed state, or because the well itself was somehow covered to prevent it from being choked up with desert sand.

Genesis 21:20. And God was with the boy as he grew up. This frequently occurring expression in the Bible indicates the special providential activity of God directed toward the fulfillment of His promises (Gen 28:15 and others). He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. An indication of the wild and warlike character of the ancestor of the future Bedouins and at the same time of the fulfillment of the divine prediction about this (Gen 16:10-12).

Genesis 21:21. He settled in the wilderness of Paran. This was the name of a mountainous region separating Edom from Egypt and deriving its name from the many caves found in it (Gen 14:6; Num 13:4; Deut 1:1; 1 Sam 25:1). The modern name of this wilderness is El-Tih. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Here is one of the typical examples of how high in biblical antiquity stood the authority of parental power in marriage matters (see Gen 27:46).

Abraham and Abimelech Make a Covenant near Beersheba

Genesis 21:22. At that time Abimelech, and Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, The name Ahuzzath, the king’s confidant, is not found in any text except the LXX and the Slavonic; but it appears in another similar case (Gen 26:26). But the epithet νυμφάγωγος, “confidant,” applied to Ahuzzath, apparently represents an incorrect translation of the Hebrew term “mersa,” meaning “friend, trusted person, counselor, standing at the side” (1 Sam 4:5; 1 Chr 27:33). Evidently, Abimelech, entering into an important alliance with Abraham, brought with him for this purpose two of his chief officials. “God is with you in all that you do.” A conviction formed on the basis of the incident with Sarah (chapter 20), the miraculous birth of Isaac, and Abraham’s general prosperity. It is also remarkable here that Abimelech professes faith in Elohim, the true God of the universe.

Genesis 21:23. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me The verb “to swear,” in Hebrew shaba, derives from the numeral sheba—“seven” and thereby on the one hand points to the sacred character of that number, and on the other either indicates the presence of seven victims (Gen 21:28) or the presence of seven witnesses at the conclusion of the sworn covenant. or with my descendants; as I have dealt kindly with you, so you shall deal with me and with the land where you have resided as an alien.” The Slavonic text has a minor variant: “deal not falsely with me, nor with my seed, nor with my name,” the sense of which is the same as the preceding expression, that is, an indication of family or descendants (Job 18:19; Isa 14:22).

Genesis 21:24. And Abraham said, “I swear it. Abraham solemnly promised to fulfill this request; but in time we see that the land of the Philistines is given as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel (Josh 13:1-2); in all likelihood, by that time the independent existence of the Gerar kingdom had already ceased, so the covenant lost all its significance.

Genesis 21:25–26. Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized. And Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this; you did not tell me, and I heard of it only today.” A dispute over a watering place was one of the chief sources of displeasure and enmity among the nomadic, pastoral tribes of ancient Syria and Palestine (Gen 26:20; Exod 2:16-17), and often it was carried on only among slaves, without the knowledge of their masters (Gen 13:7).

Genesis 21:30. And Abraham said, “Take these seven ewes from my hand, that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well. “We have before us a curious monument of the strengthening of covenants before writing yet existed. Words, pronounced though in the presence of witnesses, are not considered sufficient; passing from mouth to mouth, and even being handed down to another generation, their meaning can be distorted. It is necessary to strengthen the covenant by an action which would remain in memory” (Vlastov).

Genesis 21:31. Therefore that place was called Beersheba; because there both of them swore an oath. Or, in Hebrew: “Beer-Sheba,” which means “well of the oath” or well of seven (see note on verse 23). It was located 12 miles south of Hebron, on Wadi es-Seba and was held in deep veneration (Gen 26:33; Judg 20:1; 2 Sam 24:7; 2 Sam 23:8).

Genesis 21:33. Abraham planted a tree at Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. This planting by Abraham is understood differently: the Slavonic translation, following the LXX, reads “a field,” the Vulgate—nemus, others—an oak or oak grove; but most scholars see here an indication of the local plant “tamarisk” from the class of shrubs, which by its evergreen appearance best symbolized the idea of divine eternity, which Abraham professes here.

Genesis 21:34. Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time. That is, with the rights of a temporary owner, or tenant, and not as a full proprietor (Acts 7:5).