Genesis 21:8-21

4. The Expulsion of the Bondwoman and Her Son (Genesis 21:8-21)

8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son: for the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account 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 handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the handmaid 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 gave her the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the bottle was spent, 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 look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted 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 thy 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 he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

(1) Sarah's Anger (Genesis 21:8-10). Genesis 21:8Isaac weanedat about the age of three. The feast was the customary celebration of the occasion of the weaning of a child. The age of weaning in modern Palestine is from two to three years; in ancient Israel it must have been later, at least in some instances (Cf. 1 Samuel 1:22 2Ma. 7:27 ff.). The weaning was always regarded as a joyous occasion, as we find with Samuel, who on being weaned was taken by his mother to the Tabernacle at Shiloh (SC, 103): (cf. 1 Samuel 1:22 ff.). Genesis 21:9Sarah saw Hagar's son mocking. Other versions (LXX, Vulgate, JB) gave it playing with her son Isaac. Leupold translates: Sarah observed that the son of the Egyptian woman Hagar, whom she had borne to Abraham, was (always) mocking: the frequentative participle is used here, says this writer. Another allusion to Isaac's name, cf. Genesis 17:17 f.; the one verb means -to laugh-' and -to play-' (JB, 37, n.). The recently published Hebrew commentary (SC, 103-104) reads: making sport: the verb denotes idolatry (cf. Exodus 32:6), immorality (cf. Genesis 39:17), or murder (cf. 2 Samuel 2:14 f.); in all these passages the same or a similar verb occurs, and in the last-mentioned the meaning is to fight to the death. Also, he quarreled with Isaac about the inheritance, claiming he would be the heir as the eldest son; this follows from Sarah's insistence in the next verse that he should not be co-heir with Isaac.. Ishmael derided Isaac and jeered at the great feast, and Sarah resented that the son of a bondmaid should presume to do this, which explains her allusion to his lowly parentage. Skinner (ICCG, 322) certainly disagrees: playing with Isaac her son ... It is the spectacle of two young children playing together, innocent of social distinctions, that excites Sarah's maternal jealousy and prompts her cruel demand. Leupold takes the opposite view (EG, 599): The writer did not want to say that he mocked Isaac, because, apparently, Ishmael mocked the prospects of Isaac and his spiritual destiny; in fact, just adopted a mocking attitude over against everything involved in Isaac's future.. To translate, as many would do, he was playing, certainly imputes to Sarah the cheapest kind of jealousy, quite unworthy of this woman of faith. But, why should we not here, as elsewhere, resolve this problem in the light of New Testament teaching, on the principle that any Scripture must be in harmony with the teaching of the whole Bible? Therefore, we shall allow Galatians 4:29 to settle the question: he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, etc. This is a capsule description of the never-ending warfare of the carnally minded against the spiritually minded (Romans 8:5-9). The Bible will never speak clearly to those who will not accept it and treat it as a whole. Just how old was Ishmael by this time? Correlating Genesis 16:16 with Genesis 21:5, we conclude that he was about fifteen years old. It is rather difficult to think that on this occasion a fifteen-year-old would have been doing much playing with a two- or three-year-old.

Genesis 21:10Sarah demands that both the bondwoman and her son should be cast out; this would seem to indicate that Sarah held Hagar responsible for Ishmael's mocking attitude toward Isaac. Genesis 21:11Abraham was grieved, not so much apparently about the prospect of losing the bondwoman as about the lack of proper care and protection for the son if they were to be cast out, for, after all, Ishmael was his son. Abraham's language in Genesis 17:18 seems to indicate that he had hoped that Ishmael might be recognized as the promised heir; however, this plea and God's answer in Genesis 21:19 indicate clearly that this was not the Divine will. This should teach us that man's responses and ways of doing things (righteousness) cannot be substituted for God's way of doing things. In the present instance (Genesis 21:11) Abraham's displeasure may well have been a reflection of the fact that customary law of his day forbade the expulsion of a slave wife and her children (HSB, 3 5). Genesis 21:12-13: God intervenes to reassure the patriarch, telling him to hearken to his wife's demand because she is justified in making it. God's reason for sanctioning the demand is that according to His Eternal Purpose (Ephesians 1:3-14; Ephesians 2:11-21; Ephesians 3:1-12) the true descendants (seed) of Abraham should be found in the line of Isaac. Since, then, Ishmael potentially is a foreign element among the offspring of Abraham, he must be removed. That being God's reason for Ishmael's and Hagar's dismissal, why should it not also have been Sarah'S? (EG, 603). Genesis 21:12. Isaac, as thine heir, shall bear and propagate thy name; and the promised seed and land, and the spiritual prerogatives, shall be entailed upon him, Romans 9:7-8, Hebrews 11:8 (SIBG, 246). Reassurance is now given to Abraham with respect also to the future of Ishmael and his progeny: for Abraham's sake, God tells him, He will make him expand into a great people; hence Abraham should have no misgivings as to Ishmael's survival of any or all vicissitudes that might lie ahead.

(2) Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness (Genesis 21:14-17). Genesis 21:14Bread and water. This is a phrase which includes all necessary provision, of which it is probable that Hagar and her son had sufficient to have served them till they had gotten to Hagar's friends in Egypt, had they not lost their way (SITB, 246). The patriarch put the bottle (a skin of water, or water-bag) on Hagar's shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away. The critics have had a field day here, so to speak, in the indulgence of speculative sophistry, in assuming that the text indicates that Hagar put the bread, the water-skin, and the boy, on her shoulder. This is ridiculous, of course, because by no possible means can the notion that Ishmael was just a small boy be harmonized with previous passages, such as Genesis 17:24-25; Genesis 21:5, etc. Distorted tradition could hardly have grown blurred on so important a fact as the priority of the birth of Ishmael (EG, 605). Why not accept the simplest and most obvious meaning, namely, that he gave the bread and the water and the child (SC, 106), that is, put the lad's hand in his mother's so that she could lead him by her side. The statement certainly does not mean that Abraham gave her Ishmael also to carry, Genesis 21:14-16: Hagar departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. (It seems evident that Abraham was now dwelling somewhere in the area not too far from Beersheba.) Hagar kept on wandering until her water supply was exhausted, as inevitably would occur under such circumstances; such exhaustion as that which resulted from lack of water supply naturally affected the boy much more quickly than the mother. Haley (ADB, 418): The English version of Genesis 21:14-18 is peculiarly infelicitous, and makes a wrong impression. The -child-' was not placed upon Hagar's shoulder, nor cast under the shrub, nor held in the hand, as an infant might have been. The Hebrew word here rendered -child,-' denotes not only an infant, but also a boy or young man. Ishmael was at the time some sixteen years of age. The growing boy would be much more easily overcome by the heat, thirst, and fatigue of wandering than his mother, the hardy Egyptian handmaid. When he yielded to exhaustion she hastily laid him, fainting and half-dead, under the shelter of a shrub. Even after he was refreshed with water, he needed to be -held,-' that is, supported and led, for a time, (It should be noted that the same word yeled, -child,-' in Genesis 21:14-15, is applied to Joseph when seventeen years old (Genesis 37:2; Genesis 37:30). For a time the mother supports the son, but her fast-failing strength cannot bear to be doubly taxed. She finds one of the bushes of the desert. Scant shade such as may be offered is often sought out by those wandering in the desert when they need protection against the sun's rays (cf. 1 Kings 19:4). The mother desires to ease what appear to be the dying hours of the lad's life. She drops him hastily in exhaustion. with fine skill the author delineates how painfully the mother's love is torn by her son's distress. She must stay within sight. Yet she cannot witness his slow death. At the distance of a bow-shot. she hovers near. Her agonized cry rings out, -I cannot look upon the death of the lad.-' (EG, 606). She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. Divine succor came, Genesis 21:17-19, in two forms, namely, the voice of the Angel of God from heaven, and the opening of Hagar's eyes. While God Himself heard the voice of the lad (perhaps his crying out for water), the medium of His revelation was the Angel of God. What aileth thee?thus the Angel recalled to Hagar that she had no cause for alarm, that in fact she was forgetting what God had promised in Genesis 16:10 ff.; and then He repeated the promise here that He would make of the boy a great people. (Note the tremendously dramatic portrayal of physical and emotional suffering that is given us here, and given in just a few poignant statements). God evidently opened her eyes; that is, He gave her the insight to perceive that water was to be found close at hand. She filled the bottle with water and gave the lad drink. Genesis 21:20-21: Ishmael's Future. The boy grew up, evidently amidst the hardships of the desertthe proof that God was with him. He became a skilful bowman (archer); indeed his descendants were all noted for their archery. (Cf. Isaiah 21:17). Ishmael grew up in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from among her own people. Mohammedan Arabs all claim descent from Ishmael; they hold that the well which God revealed to Hagar was the sacred well of Zemzem at Mecca, their holy city. It should be noted that Ishmael's line soon lost all spiritual kinship with Abraham and his posterity.

Geography. Genesis 21:14the wilderness of Beersheba. The name was introduced here proleptically, unless the incident related in Genesis 21:22-33 had already taken place. The town itself was midway between the Mediterranean Sea and the southern end of the Dead Sea some distance east of Gerar. It became known as the southern limit of Israelite occupancy, so that the entire land (Palestine) could be designated as the territory from Dan to Beersheba (Judges 20:1). The wilderness of Beersheba was the name given to the generally uncultivated waste between Palstine and Egypt. It seems evident that Abraham spent much of his later life in this area (Genesis 21:34; Genesis 22:19). Isaac was dwelling there when Jacob set out for Haran (Genesis 28:10). On this way into Egypt Jacob stopped there to offer sacrifices (Genesis 46:1). In the division of the land this area went to the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:2). Beersheba was some fifty miles southwest of Jerusalem; hence, down through the centuries the southern gate of Jerusalem, leading toward Hebron and Beersheba, has been known as the gate of friendship in memoriam of the close relationship that existed between God and Abraham throughout the latter's sojourn in the Negeb. It was from Beersheba that Abraham set out on his journey to offer up Isaac, the child of promise, somewhere in the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2). The wilderness of Paran (cf. Genesis 14:6)the region in the central part of the Sinai peninsula, east of the wilderness of Shur (cf. Numbers 10:12; Numbers 12:16; Numbers 13:3; Numbers 13:26; 1 Kings 11:18, 1 Samuel 25:1). Kadesh (or Kadesh-barnea) was on the eastern border of the wilderness of Paran, and hence at the western limit of the wilderness of Zin (Numbers 14:32-35, cf. Deuteronomy 2:14; Numbers 33:36-37; Numbers 20:1; Numbers 20:10-13; Numbers 27:14, Deuteronomy 32:51; Deuteronomy 20:14-20; Judges 11:16-17; Numbers 34:4, John 15:3; Ezekiel 47:19, Ezek. 58:28; Joshua 10:41). (The oasis of Beer-lahai-roi was in the northern part of the wilderness of Paran: cf. Genesis 16:7-14, also Genesis 24:62).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

See Genesis 21:22-24.