The Birth of Isaac
See Genesis 18:10.
See Genesis 18:10.
1Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised. 2So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
Abraham responded in faith by naming his son...
Abraham responded in faith by naming his son Isaac and circumcising him according to the terms of the covenant (see 17:9–14).
3And Abraham gave the name Isaac† to the son Sarah bore to him. 4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Sarah was filled with joy and praise for...
Sarah was filled with joy and praise for this amazing event—only God could enable her to have a child.
6Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” 7She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
God used the incident of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac...
God used the incident of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac to separate Ishmael and Hagar from the family and the child of promise. They would constantly threaten the promised descendant if they remained with the family.
The feast for Isaac’s weaning probably occurred when...
The feast for Isaac’s weaning probably occurred when he was three and Ishmael was about seventeen years old (16:16). Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of her son, Isaac: The verb metsakheq (“making fun of”) is related to the word for “laughter”; this theme (21:6) is given a sour twist by Ishmael’s mockery.
8So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
Sarah Turns against Hagar
9But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,† 10and 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!”†
Abraham was upset by Sarah’s demand to oust...
Abraham was upset by Sarah’s demand to oust Hagar and Ishmael. God told him to comply, assuring Abraham that Ishmael would also have a future as Abraham’s offspring.
11Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael. 12But 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.† 13But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
God again rescued Hagar in the wilderness and...
God again rescued Hagar in the wilderness and guaranteed her future (cp. 16:7–14). This passage is similar to ch 16, but the differences are great. Here, Hagar and Ishmael are rescued, but there is no commemorative naming. God’s earlier promise to Hagar is reiterated, but this time Hagar is not told to return to Sarah. The repeated motifs on the two occasions confirm God’s sovereign plan for Hagar and Ishmael. As Joseph later told Pharaoh, a twofold event demonstrated God’s confirmation (41:32). God did not abandon Hagar and Ishmael but met them in their despair (cp. 16:7), provided sustenance for them, and promised again that Ishmael would found a great nation (21:13; cp. 16:11–12). Paul uses this event in his letter to the Galatians to illustrate how God’s people must relinquish all that threatens the fulfillment of God’s promise (Gal 4:21–31).
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. 15When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then 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.†
17Then 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. 18Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19Then 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.
20And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer. 21And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
The Covenant at Beersheba
Abimelech pressed for the treaty so that Abraham...
Abimelech pressed for the treaty so that Abraham would not cheat or deceive him. Abimelech knew that God was blessing Abraham even though Abraham was not entirely trustworthy (20:9–10). This sad contradiction made the treaty necessary. By contrast, God’s faithful people are exhorted to speak the truth (Eph 4:15, 25), and Jesus warned against manipulating truth by the clever use of oaths (Matt 5:37; Jas 5:12).
This passage, at its climax, explains the name...
This passage, at its climax, explains the name of Beersheba, Abraham’s home (21:31–34). Beersheba reflected the covenant Abraham made with the residents of the land, which enabled him to dwell there in peace and prosperity. God’s promise was coming to fruition (12:7; 13:14–17; 15:7, 18–21; 17:8).
22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23Now, 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.”
24And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”
25But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”
Abraham’s gifts to Abimelech (cp. 20:14) secured his...
Abraham’s gifts to Abimelech (cp. 20:14) secured his legal right to dwell peaceably in the land and to claim ownership of the well. Beersheba marked one more step toward the fulfillment of God’s promise.
27So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
30He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.” 31So that place was called Beersheba,† because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. 32After 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.
A tamarisk tree requires a lot of water;...
- A tamarisk tree requires a lot of water; this act indicated Abraham’s security in his land rights and his faith that God would provide water in this desert area. He settled as a foreigner in the land, but dwelling under his tree was a sign of peaceful security (cp. Zech 3:10).
- there he worshiped the Lord: See study note on 12:8.
33And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.† 34And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.