The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs.
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs.
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Genesis 21:14-18 describes Hagar carrying Ishmael on her shoulder, laying "the child" under a shrub, and being told to lift up "the lad" — infant language. But Genesis 17:24-25 plus Genesis 21:5-9 has Ishmael at thirteen when circumcised and Isaac weaned (age 2-3) before the abandonment scene, which puts Ishmael somewhere between 14 and 17 years old.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Genesis 21:15 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/genesis/21/15?version=WEB (retrieved 26 August 2026).