Genesis 21 Study Notes

21:1-4 As he had said and what he had promised in v. 1 are almost identical in Hebrew, stressing God’s faithfulness to his word. It is further emphasized by at the appointed time God had told him in v. 2. It was appropriate then that Abraham should do as God had commanded him in v. 4.

21:5 Though Abraham was a hundred years old at Isaac’s birth, at least four pre-flood patriarchs had fathered children when they were older than he (5:6,18,25,28).

21:6-7 The name Isaac means “He Laughs.” His birth turned his parents’ doubting laughter (17:7; 18:12) into obedience and joy.

21:8-10 The Bible does not indicate Isaac’s age when he was weaned. In some cultures children receive nourishment from their mother into their fifth year; beyond age two this provides comfort more than nourishment. When the day came for Isaac to be weaned, Abraham held a great feast to assist the child psychologically in taking this step. During the party, however, Ishmael was mocking Isaac. The apostle Paul understood this to mean he was persecuting Isaac (Gl 4:29). Drive out (Hb garash) is the same term used to describe the expulsions of Adam and Cain following their sins (3:24; 4:14).

21:11-13 It was very distressing to Abraham (lit “it was very bad in Abraham’s eyes”) to expel his firstborn son from the household. However, God’s guidance and comforting assurances enabled Abraham to do the wise thing. Because Ishmael was Abraham’s offspring, God would not allow the child to die in the wilderness; instead, God would make him a nation. And though Isaac was not Abraham’s firstborn, the patriarch’s offspring would be traced through his lineage.

21:14-19 Abraham’s love and concern for Hagar and Ishmael are reflected in his diligence—getting up early and giving them provisions. The banished pair wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba, an area some twenty miles west of the southern end of the Dead Sea. When Hagar and Ishmael ran out of water, Ishmael almost died, perhaps of heatstroke. Overwhelmed with grief, Hagar placed him in the shadow of one of the bushes and then went about a bowshot away—just far enough to avoid hearing the boy as he lay dying. Though Hagar may not have known that where there is large vegetation in a desert there is also a high water table, God opened her eyes to the fact that a well was nearby. God had providentially directed her wanderings and given her a demonstration of his faithfulness.

21:20-21 Honoring his promises to Abraham (v. 13; 17:20) and Hagar (21:18), God protected Ishmael, who eventually settled in the Wilderness of Paran, west of the Gulf of Aqaba in the northern Sinai Desert. Hagar, who was herself an Egyptian (16:3), got her son an Egyptian wife. Ishmael would produce twelve sons (25:13-15).

21:22-24 Isaac’s miraculous birth and the success of Abraham’s prayer (20:17) convinced Abimelech that God was with the patriarch in everything. Fearing that Abraham, who had hundreds of trained fighters in his camp (14:14), might mount a successful attack on Gerar, Abimelech and his military commander Phicol asked Abraham to swear that he would never break an agreement of peace with their community. Abraham calmed their fears by making an oath of peace.

21:25-32 Having relieved their worries about war, the patriarch then expressed his own concerns about water rights. Though Abimelech’s group had wronged the patriarch, Abraham gave flocks and herds to Abimelech as part of a formal covenant. This gift, reminiscent of Abimelech’s gift to Abraham earlier (20:14), was probably used in part for the animal sacrifices offered up when a covenant was established. Abimelech’s acceptance of the additional gift of seven ewe lambs obligated him to recognize that the well that Abraham’s men had dug would not be seized. The name Beer-sheba is a wordplay, meaning both “well of oath” and “well of seven.”

21:33-34 In recognition of God’s good gifts, including a son who would carry the bloodline forward into the future, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree, a tree with many branches and small leaves. It likely grew to a height of twenty to thirty feet. He also worshiped the Lord as the Everlasting God (Hb ’el ‘olam) in recognition of the perpetuity of God’s promises to Abraham.