Genesis 21

This chapter belongs to the Abraham section of the patriarchal narratives in Genesis. The son whom God promised in Genesis 18 is born here. Abraham's dealings with Abimelech, king of Gerar, in Genesis 20 carry over into the covenant described in the latter part of this chapter.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 Sarah bears a son as promised. Abraham names the child Isaac and circumcises him on the eighth day. Abraham is one hundred years old at the time. Sarah says that God has made her laugh.
• Verses 8–13 A great feast is held on the day Isaac is weaned. When Sarah sees Hagar's son mocking Isaac, she demands that mother and son be cast out. Abraham is grieved, but God tells him to listen to Sarah and promises to make the bondwoman's son into a nation as well.
• Verses 14–16 Abraham sends Hagar away with bread and a bottle of water. When the water runs out in the wilderness of Beersheba, Hagar places the child under a shrub, sits down at a distance, and weeps.
• Verses 17–21 God hears the voice of the lad, and the angel of God calls to Hagar. Her eyes are opened, and she sees a well of water. The boy grows up in the wilderness of Paran and becomes an archer, and his mother takes a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
• Verses 22–27 Abimelech and Phichol, the chief captain of his host, ask Abraham to swear an oath. Abraham reproves Abimelech over a well that had been seized, and the two men make a covenant.
• Verses 28–34 Abraham gives seven ewe lambs as a witness that he dug the well. The place is named Beersheba. Abraham plants a tamarisk tree and calls on the name of "the LORD, the everlasting God."

Key Verses

• Genesis 21:6 "God hath made me to laugh": Sarah's confession, which echoes the "laughter" contained in the name Isaac.
• Genesis 21:12 "For in Isaac shall thy seed be called": quoted in Romans 9:7 and Hebrews 11:18.
• Genesis 21:17 "God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is": shows that God cares even for a child outside the line of promise.

People and Places

• Sarah, Isaac
• Hagar and Ishmael: In this chapter the son is never named; he is called only "the son of Hagar" and "the lad."
• Abimelech: the king of Gerar who appears in chapter 20.
• Phichol: the chief captain of Abimelech's host.
• Beersheba: the wilderness where Hagar wandered, and the name given to the place after the covenant was made.
• Wilderness of Paran: the place where Hagar's son grew up and lived.
• Egypt: Hagar's homeland and the land from which her son's wife came.
• Philistia: the land to which Abimelech returned.

Points for Reflection

• The Hebrew word rendered "mocking" in verse 9 comes from the same root as Isaac's name, "to laugh." Interpretations therefore range from simple "playing" to ridicule or harassment. In Galatians 4, Paul reads this scene as the one born after the flesh persecuting the one born after the Spirit, and he interprets the two women as an allegory of two covenants.
• By the chronology of chapter 16, Hagar's son would be a teenager at this point. Verses 14–15, however, describe him as though he were a small child, and various explanations have been offered concerning the interpretation and translation of the original text.
• The element sheba in Beersheba can be connected with both "seven" and "oath." The text gives both the seven ewe lambs and the oath as the origin of the name.
• Islamic tradition associates Hagar's finding of water with a spring at Mecca. The biblical text mentions only the wilderness of Beersheba and the wilderness of Paran.
• This chapter leads into the account of Mount Moriah in Genesis 22.