Genesis 21
Introduction
Genesis 21 marks one of the great turning points in the patriarchal narrative: the long-awaited birth of Isaac, the child of promise. After twenty-five years of waiting since God first called Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4), and through episodes of doubt, attempted surrogacy (Genesis 16), and repeated divine reassurance (Genesis 17:19, Genesis 18:10), God at last fulfills his word. The chapter opens with deliberate echoes of earlier promises, emphasizing that the birth occurs precisely at the time God had appointed. Sarah's laughter, which in Genesis 18:12-15 was laughter of incredulity, is now transformed into laughter of joy and wonder.
Yet the arrival of Isaac creates an immediate crisis in Abraham's household. The presence of Ishmael, now a teenager, threatens the inheritance of the promised son, and Sarah demands the expulsion of Hagar and her boy. The chapter wrestles honestly with the human cost of God's covenant plan: Hagar and Ishmael are cast into the wilderness with nothing more than bread and a skin of water. But God hears the boy's voice and rescues them, promising that Ishmael too will become a great nation. The chapter closes with Abraham making a covenant with Abimelech at Beersheba, establishing a place where he plants a tree and calls on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. The themes of promise, laughter, expulsion, rescue, and covenant-making weave together into a chapter about what it costs to receive what God has sworn to give.
The Birth of Isaac (vv. 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."
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had spoken. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had told him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." 7 And she said, "Who would have declared to Abraham, 'Sarah has nursed children'? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
Notes
פָּקַד ("visited/attended to") in verse 1 is a theologically weighty verb. It means more than merely "remembering" — it denotes God taking decisive action on behalf of someone, often after a period of apparent silence. The same verb is used for God's visitation of Israel in Egypt (Exodus 3:16) and Hannah's conception of Samuel (1 Samuel 2:21). The word carries overtones of both divine inspection and divine intervention. I have translated it "visited" to preserve its personal, active character — God does not merely think of Sarah; he comes to her situation and changes it.
The opening verse uses two parallel clauses: "as he had said" (כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר) and "as he had spoken" (כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר). This doubled emphasis on fulfilled speech underscores that the birth of Isaac is the culmination of a series of divine promises stretching back to Genesis 15:4, Genesis 17:16, and Genesis 18:10. The narrator wants the reader to understand that nothing about this birth is accidental.
לַמּוֹעֵד ("at the appointed time") in verse 2 — the word מוֹעֵד refers to a fixed, predetermined time. It is the same word later used for the appointed festivals of Israel (Leviticus 23:2) and for the Tent of Meeting (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד). The birth of Isaac happens not merely "eventually" but at a divinely scheduled moment, echoing God's promise in Genesis 18:14: "At the appointed time I will return to you."
יִצְחָק ("Isaac") means "he laughs." The name gathers up the entire arc of laughter in the Abraham cycle: Abraham's laughter of stunned wonder in Genesis 17:17, Sarah's laughter of disbelief in Genesis 18:12, and now Sarah's laughter of joy in verse 6. The child's very name is a perpetual memorial to the astonishment of receiving what seemed impossible.
Sarah's declaration in verse 6 uses the noun צְחֹק ("laughter"), from the same root as Isaac's name. Her words are carefully constructed: "God has made laughter for me" — God himself is the author of this joy. Then she adds that "everyone who hears will laugh with me" (יִצְחַק לִי), using a verbal form identical to the name Isaac. There is a jubilant wordplay: everyone who hears of this will "Isaac" along with her.
Verse 7 contains the rare verb מִלֵּל ("declared/spoke"), which appears only in poetry or elevated speech in the Hebrew Bible (see Job 8:2, Psalm 106:2). Sarah's exclamation has a poetic, almost song-like quality — she is not making a prosaic statement but breaking into exultation. The rhetorical question "Who would have declared to Abraham..." expects the answer: no one but God. The plural "children" (בָנִים) may be a generalizing plural expressing the sheer improbability — Sarah, who could not even bear one child, is now a nursing mother.
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away (vv. 8-13)
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."
8 And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 10 So she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit alongside my son — alongside Isaac." 11 And the matter was very grievous in Abraham's eyes on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be grievous in your eyes concerning the boy and your slave woman. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be called. 13 And also the son of the slave woman — I will make him into a nation, for he is your offspring."
Notes
Weaning in the ancient Near East typically occurred at age two or three. The "great feast" (מִשְׁתֶּה גָדוֹל) signals a significant household celebration — Isaac has survived infancy, and the promise is taking visible form. It is at this moment of celebration that the crisis erupts.
מְצַחֵק ("laughing/mocking") in verse 9 is a piel participle from the same root as Isaac's name (צחק). The precise meaning is debated. The word can mean simply "laughing" or "playing," but in the piel stem it can carry connotations of mockery, ridicule, or even sexual impropriety (as in Genesis 26:8, Genesis 39:14). The Septuagint and Vulgate add "with her son Isaac," and some traditions interpret the mocking as Ishmael claiming the inheritance or mimicking Isaac's status. Paul interprets it as persecution in Galatians 4:29. The ambiguity is part of the text's power: Sarah perceives a threat in Ishmael's behavior, whatever its exact nature. The wordplay is devastating — the one who "Isaacs" (laughs/mocks) is not Isaac but Ishmael, and Sarah will not tolerate a rival to the child of laughter.
Sarah's demand uses גָּרֵשׁ ("drive out/expel"), a harsh verb used for divorce (Leviticus 21:7) and for driving out nations from the land (Exodus 23:28-31). It is not a request but a demand for permanent removal. Her repetition of "this slave woman" (הָאָמָה הַזֹּאת) is pointed — she refuses to name Hagar, reducing her to her social status. Sarah's language is possessive and sharp: "my son Isaac" stands against "the son of this slave woman." The full emotional weight of the Hagar-Sarah rivalry, stretching back to Genesis 16, comes crashing down in this scene.
The text says the matter was "very grievous in Abraham's eyes" (וַיֵּרַע הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּעֵינֵי אַבְרָהָם), specifically "on account of his son" (עַל אוֹדֹת בְּנוֹ). Note that the text says "his son" — not "Ishmael." Abraham regards Ishmael as fully his son. The emotional cost is real: he is being asked to sever a bond with his firstborn.
God's instruction to Abraham in verse 12 is striking: "In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice" (שְׁמַע בְּקֹלָהּ). This phrase echoes the fateful moment in Genesis 3:17 where God tells Adam "because you listened to the voice of your wife" — but here, listening to the wife is the right thing to do. God validates Sarah's demand, not because her motives are pure, but because it aligns with his sovereign plan for the covenant line.
The declaration כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לְךָ זָרַע ("for through Isaac your offspring shall be called") becomes a foundational text for understanding election. Paul cites it in Romans 9:7 to argue that physical descent from Abraham does not automatically constitute membership in the people of God — it is the children of promise who are counted as offspring. The author of Hebrews also cites it in Hebrews 11:18 as evidence of Abraham's faith. The niphal יִקָּרֵא ("shall be called/named") means more than mere naming; it means "shall be reckoned, shall be recognized as" — Isaac's line will carry the identity and purpose of Abraham's seed.
Yet God immediately adds a promise for Ishmael in verse 13: "I will make him into a nation, for he is your offspring." The conjunction וְגַם ("and also") is gracious — God does not abandon Ishmael. The promise to Ishmael is subordinate to but real alongside the promise to Isaac. The Hebrew זַרְעֲךָ הוּא ("he is your offspring") affirms that Ishmael genuinely belongs to Abraham, even though the covenant line passes through Isaac.
God Rescues Hagar and Ishmael (vv. 14-21)
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.
14 And Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, placing them on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was used up, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Let me not look upon the death of the child." And she sat at a distance and raised her voice and wept. 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, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Rise, lift up the boy, and hold him firmly 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. And 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 lived in the wilderness, and he became an archer. 21 He settled in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Notes
Abraham rises "early in the morning" (וַיַּשְׁכֵּם בַּבֹּקֶר) — the same phrase used in Genesis 22:3 when he sets out to sacrifice Isaac. In both cases the early rising suggests obedience mingled with anguish. The provisions are painfully meager: bread and a skin of water. Abraham, who is enormously wealthy (see Genesis 13:2), sends Hagar away with almost nothing. Whether this reflects the terms Sarah imposed, or Abraham's assumption that God will provide, or the narrator's way of heightening the desperation, the text does not say. The effect is to strip the scene down to bare human vulnerability.
וַתֵּתַע ("she wandered") in verse 14 comes from the root תעה, meaning "to go astray, to wander aimlessly." It is the same root used for sheep that have gone astray (Psalm 119:176, Isaiah 53:6). Hagar is lost — geographically and existentially. The Wilderness of Beersheba is the arid zone in the northern Negev, a desolate landscape of sparse vegetation and extreme heat.
וַתַּשְׁלֵךְ ("she cast/threw") in verse 15 is a strong verb — the same word used for throwing something away or hurling it (Exodus 1:22, Jonah 1:5). This is not a gentle laying down; it communicates Hagar's desperation and physical exhaustion. She cannot carry the boy any further and lets him drop beneath a shrub.
The distance "about a bowshot away" (כִּמְטַחֲוֵי קֶשֶׁת) is approximately 100-200 meters. Hagar cannot bear to watch her son die but cannot bring herself to leave entirely. The phrase is poignantly ironic: a bowshot's distance is the unit of measurement, and Ishmael will grow up to become an archer (v. 20). The narrative subtly foreshadows his survival through the very language of his mother's despair.
There is a significant textual variant in verse 16. The Hebrew Masoretic Text says "she raised her voice and wept" (וַתִּשָּׂא אֶת קֹלָהּ וַתֵּבְךְּ), referring to Hagar. But the Septuagint reads "the child raised his voice and wept." Verse 17 then says "God heard the voice of the boy" — which fits better with the LXX reading, since it is the boy's voice that God hears. The name Ishmael itself means "God hears" (Genesis 16:11), and this scene is the second fulfillment of that name. Whether it is Hagar's weeping or Ishmael's that reaches heaven, the point is the same: God hears the cry of the desperate.
מַה לָּךְ ("What troubles you?" / "What is the matter with you?") in verse 17 is the same phrase God's angel used when first encountering Hagar in the wilderness in Genesis 16:8. The parallel is deliberate: twice Hagar flees into the wilderness, twice she encounters God, twice she is told not to fear. The pattern establishes Hagar as a figure of repeated divine care — she is outside the covenant line but not outside God's compassion.
וַיִּפְקַח אֱלֹהִים אֶת עֵינֶיהָ ("God opened her eyes") in verse 19 — the verb פקח means to open what was closed, particularly eyes. The well was presumably there all along; Hagar could not see it through her grief and despair. This is not a miracle of creation but a miracle of perception — God removes the blindness of hopelessness. The same verb is used in 2 Kings 6:17 when Elisha prays for his servant's eyes to be opened to see the chariots of fire.
רֹבֶה קַשָּׁת ("archer," literally "one who increases the bow" or "a great bowman") in verse 20 — the phrase is unusual and may mean "one who shoots the bow" (i.e., a skilled archer). Ishmael's future as a wilderness hunter and warrior fulfills the angel's earlier prophecy that he would be "a wild donkey of a man" (Genesis 16:12). His mother takes a wife for him from Egypt, her own homeland, cementing his identity as distinct from the Abrahamic covenant line. Ishmael is the ancestor of various Arabian tribes (Genesis 25:12-18).
The Covenant at Beersheba (vv. 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.
22 And it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my offspring, or with my descendants. As I have dealt kindly with you, so you shall deal with me and with the land in which you have sojourned." 24 And Abraham said, "I will swear." 25 But Abraham reproved Abimelech concerning the well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who did this thing. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today." 27 So Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them cut a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What are these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart by themselves?" 30 He said, "These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand, so that it may be a witness for me that I dug this well." 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 So they cut a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
Notes
Abimelech's opening statement, "God is with you in all that you do," is a remarkable acknowledgment from a foreign king. Despite the deception of Genesis 20, Abimelech recognizes divine favor on Abraham. The phrase אֱלֹהִים עִמְּךָ ("God is with you") becomes a recurring marker of blessing throughout Genesis (see Genesis 26:28, Genesis 28:15, Genesis 39:2). Abimelech's motivation for the covenant is pragmatic: he wants to secure a non-aggression pact with someone who clearly has divine backing.
אִם תִּשְׁקֹר לִי וּלְנִינִי וּלְנֶכְדִּי ("that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my offspring, or with my descendants") — the words נִין and נֶכֶד mean "offspring" and "posterity," extending the covenant commitment across generations. Abimelech asks for חֶסֶד ("kindness/loyal love") — the same covenantal term Abraham misused in Genesis 20:13. Here it is used properly: Abimelech requests genuine covenant faithfulness in return for the hospitality he has shown.
וְהוֹכִחַ אַבְרָהָם ("Abraham reproved/confronted") in verse 25 — the verb הוכיח (hiphil of יכח) means to argue a case, to bring a legal complaint, to reprove. Abraham raises the matter of stolen water rights within the framework of the covenant negotiation. In the arid Negev, wells were the most valuable economic asset. Seizing a well was an act of aggression equivalent to stealing land.
The phrase וַיִּכְרְתוּ בְרִית ("they cut a covenant") in verse 27 preserves the ancient idiom: covenants were literally "cut" because animals were typically slaughtered and divided as part of the ratification ceremony (see Genesis 15:9-10). Abraham provides sheep and cattle as covenant gifts — not payment, but the material basis of the agreement.
The seven ewe lambs (שֶׁבַע כִּבְשֹׂת) serve a dual purpose: they are a gift to Abimelech, and they function as עֵדָה ("witness/testimony") that Abraham dug the well. In a culture without written deeds, accepting a gift publicly constituted legal acknowledgment. The number seven is significant because it connects to the place name: בְּאֵר שָׁבַע can mean both "well of seven" and "well of the oath," since the Hebrew word for "seven" (שֶׁבַע) and the word for "oath" (שְׁבוּעָה) share the same root. The narrator exploits this double meaning in verse 31: the place is called Beersheba "because there the two of them swore an oath" — yet the seven lambs are what prompted the naming. Both "seven" and "oath" are encoded in the place name.
אֶשֶׁל ("tamarisk tree") in verse 33 — the tamarisk is a hardy, long-lived tree that thrives in arid conditions, providing shade and indicating the presence of deep water. Abraham's planting of this tree at Beersheba is an act of settlement and claim: trees take years to grow, signaling that Abraham intends to remain. Some rabbinic traditions interpret אֶשֶׁל as an inn or hospice for travelers (connecting it to the virtue of hospitality), but the plain meaning is a tree.
אֵל עוֹלָם ("the Eternal God" or "the Everlasting God") is a divine title that appears only here in the Pentateuch. It may have originally been a Canaanite divine epithet associated with Beersheba, but the narrator identifies this deity with יְהוָה — Abraham calls on the name of the LORD who is El Olam. The title emphasizes God's enduring, unchanging nature — fitting for a chapter about the fulfillment of a promise that took twenty-five years, and for a covenant meant to endure across generations. Abraham, the sojourner, worships the God who inhabits eternity.
The final note that Abraham "sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days" (יָמִים רַבִּים) underscores his status as a resident alien. Even after covenant-making and tree-planting, Abraham remains a גֵּר — a sojourner, not an owner. The land of promise is still the land of the Philistines. The tension between promise and possession continues.