Genesis 21:1-34
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.
24 And Abraham said, I will swear.
25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba;a because there they sware both of them.
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham planted a groveb in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
Genesis 21:3. Isaac; that is, laughter or holy joy. Luke 6:21. Sarah had once laughed through unbelief; now being ashamed of that, she could sing with Mary, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Genesis 21:7. Who would have thought that Sarah should have given suck! The Hebrew women with their last child have often given suck three years. Samuel was not weaned till he could attend the tabernacle. In the isles of the Pacific ocean, princes have been suckled by fourteen women, as our missionaries report. The object of those parents is to make the child grow to enormous strength and stature. How much then does Sarah reprove those effeminate courtiers who refuse their milk to their children. A nurse is not a mother.
Genesis 21:9. Mocking, playing, which sometimes means fighting, 2 Samuel 2:14; or persecuting, with sneers of contempt, as Galatians 4:29. Here the bitter fruits of concubinage were tasted in the patriarch's house. It was Sarah, when distrusting the promise, that had brought Hagar to Abraham's bed, as her maid; and some families gave a dotal maid with their daughters to prevent divorce. Now Sarah, feeling as a mother and a wife, requires her to be cast out, and sent home to her own people. One decisive stroke of this kind would prevent a thousand future pains.
Genesis 21:12. Hearken unto her voice. Here God has plainly decided against polygamy. Hagar was not Abraham's wife, for in these very words the Lord calls Ishmael the son of a bond-woman: and there is no passage in which God allowed of it. Hence concubinage was a licentious liberty, but too generally assumed by the patriarchs of the earth, and from which the good patriarchs were not wholly free.
Genesis 21:14. Bread is here put for the whole of provisions. No doubt Abraham, who grieved for Ishmael, sent the mother and the lad (now near twenty years of age) away, properly equipped with presents, that they might go to their own people in Egypt. But poor Hagar through grief delayed till all the water was spent.
Genesis 21:17. God heard and the Angel of God. Primitive christians urged this passage, and very justly too, against the Arians in favour of the Godhead of Christ, and of the Holy Trinity. The preservation of the patriarchs by the angelic presence of the Lord, fairly marks a sociality or a plurality of persons in the Godhead. See Genesis 18:2.
Genesis 21:20. God was with the lad. Ishmael was indeed cut off from being Abraham's heir; but he was not cut off from the blessing of Abraham's seed, promised to all the families of the earth.
Genesis 21:21. His mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. It is a great addition to the calamity of children born like Ishmael, that they cannot be educated in their father's house. This is a reproach to religion, and a dangerous stroke at public morals.
Genesis 21:33. A grove. אשׁל Eshel, or esholt, as the Saxons would pronounce it. Holt is the name of very many villages in Germany and in England, once the inviting abodes of knights and chiefs, surrounded with woods. The country people around York still aspirate a short e in the enunciation of the name of that city, and say Eyork. After the covenant with Abimelech, Abraham considered Beer-sheba, the well of the oath, as his favourite residence for the remaining years of his pilgrimage. It was the nearest point of the promised land to Egypt, where he knew his family must sojourn. Groves and fountains in the torrid zones were therefore the pleasing retreats of true devotion, as well as the haunts of idolatry before the erection of temples; while, on the contrary, the druids preferred raising their Cromlech, or broad tabled altar, on three blocks of stones, on the summit of a craggy mountain, as at Cairne-brae near Redruth, and innumerable other places. But where no such places offered, they chose the best situations which the country afforded.
REFLECTIONS.
The long expected and happy day of Isaac's birth arrived at last. Abraham, after having discovered in twenty five years many fears, and sometimes great weakness in his faith, at length embraces the promised son. He could indeed say, Now Lord, mine eyes have seen thy salvation; for in the supernatural gift of Isaac he saw the Saviour, and the glory of his day. Hence we learn, that the birth of a son, when he proves the hope of his family, is to be regarded as one of the greatest of God's temporal gifts. But let us rejoice with trembling: our children are certain cares, and doubtful comforts. This day of joy to Abraham and Sarah, proved a day of grief and tears to Hagar. Sarah seeing her son mocked, required the expulsion of the bond- woman and her son; and though Abraham would not hearken to her, yet as soon as he knew it to be the will of God he immediately complied. These things, says St. Paul, are an allegory. Hagar represents mount Sinai where the law was given, or Jerusalem where it reigned, which is in bondage with its children. Sarah represents mount Zion which is above, whose children are free, having received the spirit of adoption.
But did Abraham cast out this bond-woman for whom he was grieved; did he alienate this once favourite son, for whom he had entreated the Lord in this fervent prayer, Oh that Ishmael might live before thee? Let us learn of him to comply with God's severest commands in the mortification of sin; let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Then our hearts being renewed by faith in the promises, we shall be prepared to serve God in all the duties and difficulties of future life.
Did Hagar and Ishmael weep and cry to the Lord in their grief and trouble; and did the Lord graciously hear and provide for them, and comfort them with future hopes? Let us all learn of them to seek God's counsel and aid in the day of trouble. He is the orphan's father, and the widow's friend. Nor let us be discouraged at adversity, for a young man's day of greatest trouble has often proved the day for laying the foundation of his future peace.
Did Abimelech, prompted by selfish motives, on seeing the prosperity of Abraham, court alliance and friendship with him? Just so it is still with worldly men, who on observing the prosperity of the righteous solicit their friendship and connection; and if good men are, in this age of trade and riches, called to stand this trial of their faith and virtue, let them imitate the caution of our patriarch. He reproved Abimelech because of the well; and God having promised the land to Abraham and his seed, he contracted a covenant for three generations only. Good men must contract no covenants with the world at the expense of God's covenant.