Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs. She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 18 14. And Abraham rose up early. How painful was…
14. And Abraham rose up early. How painful was the wound, which the ejection of his firstborn son inflicted upon the mind of the holy man, we may gather from the double consolation with which God mitigated his grief: He sends his son into banishments just as if he were tearing out his own bowels. But being accustomed to obey God, he brings into subjection the paternal love, which he is not able wholly to cast aside. This is the true test of faith and piety, when the faithful are so far compelled to deny themselves, that they even resign the very affections of their original nature, which are neither evil nor vicious in themselves, to the will of God. There is no doubt that, during the whole night, he had been tossed with various cares; that he had a variety of internal conflicts, and endured severe torments; yet he arose early in the morning, to hasten his separation from his child; since he knew that it was the will of God.
And took bread, and a bottle of water. Moses intimates not only that Abraham committed his son to the care of his mother, but that he relinquished his own paternal right over him; for it was necessary for this son to be alienated, that he might not afterwards be accounted the seed of Abraham. But with what a slender provision does he endow his wife and her son? He places a flagon of water and bread upon her shoulder. Why does he not, at least, load an ass with a moderate supply of food? Why does he not add one of his servants, of which his house contained plenty, as a companion? Truly either God shut his eyes, that, what he would gladly have done, might not come into his mind; or Abraham limited her provision, in order that she might not go far from his house. For doubtless he would prefer to have them near himself, for the purpose of rendering them such assistance as they would need. Meanwhile, God designed that the banishment of Ishmael should be thus severe and sorrowful; in order that, by his example, he might strike terror into the proud, who, being intoxicated with present gifts, trample under foot, in their haughtiness, the very grace to which they are indebted for all things. Therefore he brought the mother and child to a distressing issue. For after they have wandered into the desert, the water fails; and the mother departs from her son; which was a token of despair. Such was the reward of the pride, by which they had been vainly inflated. It had been their duty humbly to embrace the grace of God offered to all people, in the person of Isaac: but they impiously spurned him whom God had exalted to the highest honor. The knowledge of God’s gifts ought to have formed their minds to modesty. And because nothing was more desirable for them, than to retain some corner in Abraham’s house, they ought not to have shrunk from any kind of subjection, for the sake of so great a benefit: God now exacts from them the punishment, which they had deserved, by their ingratitude.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 19 True faith renounceth all natural affections to obey God’s…
True faith renounceth all natural affections to obey God’s commandment.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–19 Gen 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the…
Gen 21:14 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.
Ver. 14. And Abraham rose up early.] He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but set upon the execution of God’s will with expedition. Voluntas Dei, necessitas rei . A godly man says Amen to God’s Amen, go it never so much against the hair with him: he puts his fiat, his assent to God’s; and saith, {as Act 21:14} "The will of the Lord be done," which was Vox vere Christianorum , as one said.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–19 He who before doubted and lingered to do it…
He who before doubted and lingered to do it when Sarah’s passion suggested it, when once he understands it to be God’s will, he makes haste to execute it. An excellent example of prudence and piety.
Bread, by which may be here understood all necessaries, as Mal 1:7,12; Mt 6:11; 14:15, compared with Mar 6:36; Luk 14:1.
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Quest. How is it likely that so rich and liberal a person as Abraham would send away such near and dear relations with so mean accommodations?
Answ.
1. This might be done by particular command from God to Abraham, though it be not here expressed, as many things were said by God, and done by men, which are not mentioned in Scripture, as is evident from Joh 20:30,31; 21:25, and many other places. And God might order it thus, partly, to chastise Abraham’s irregular marriage with Hagar; partly, to correct and tame the haughty and rugged temper of the bond-woman and her son, and to prepare them for the receiving of God’s help and mercy; and partly, that he might more eminently show his care and kindness to Abraham, in providing for such forlorn and neglected creatures, because they belonged to him.
2. It cannot be reasonably doubted that Abraham gave her these provisions only for the present, and intended to send further and better afterward to a place appointed by him, which also he did. But she missed her way, as well she might, in the wilderness, and thereby came into these straits designed by God for the signification of greater mysteries, as may be gathered from Gal 4:1-31.
Beer-sheba, a place near Gerar, so called here by a prolepsis. See Gen 21:31.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v14 Here is, I. The casting out of the bond-woman,…
Here is, I. The casting out of the bond-woman, and her son from the family of Abraham, Gen 21:14. Abraham's obedience to the divine command in this matter was speedy - early in the morning, we may suppose immediately after he had, in the night's visions, received orders to do this. It was also submissive; it was contrary to his judgment, at least to his own inclination, to do it; yet as soon as he perceives that it is the mind of God he makes no objections, but silently does as he is bidden, as one trained up to an implicit obedience. In sending them away without any attendants, on foot, and slenderly provided for, it is probable that he observed the directions given him. If Hagar and Ishmael had conducted themselves well in Abraham's family, they might have continued there; but they threw themselves out by their own pride and insolence, which were thus justly chastised. Note, By abusing our privileges we forfeit them. Those that know not when they are well off, in such a desirable place as Abraham's family, deserve to be cashiered, and to be made to know the worth of mercies by the want of them.
II. Their wandering in the wilderness, missing their way to the place Abraham designed them for a settlement.
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1. They were reduced to great distress there. Their provisions were spent, and Ishmael was sick. He that used to be full fed in Abraham's house, where he waxed fat and kicked, now fainted and sunk, when he was brought to short allowance. Hagar is in tears, and sufficiently mortified. Now she wishes for the crumbs she had wasted and made light of at her master's table. Like one under the power of the spirit of bondage, she despairs of relief, counts upon nothing but the death of the child (Gen 21:15, Gen 21:16), though God had told her, before he was born, that he should live to be a man, a great man. We are apt to forget former promises, when present providences seem to contradict them; for we live by sense.
2. In this distress, God graciously appeared for their relief: he heard the voice of the lad, Gen 21:17. We read not of a word he said; but his sighs, and groans, and calamitous state, cried aloud in the ears of mercy. An angel was sent to comfort Hagar, and it was not the first time that she had met with God's comforts in a wilderness; she had thankfully acknowledged the former kind visit which God made his in such a case (Gen 16:13), and therefore God now visited her again with seasonable succours. (1.) The angel assures her of the cognizance God took of her distress: God has heard the voice of the lad where he is, though he is in a wilderness (for, wherever we are, there is a way open heaven-ward); therefore lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand, Gen 21:18. Note, God's readiness to help us when we are in trouble must not slacken, but quicken, our endeavours to help ourselves. (2.) He repeats the promise concerning her son, that he should be a great nation, as a reason why she should bestir herself to help him. Note, It should engage our care and pains about children and young people to consider that we know not what God has designed them for, nor what great use Providence may make of them. (3.) He directs her to a present supply (Gen 21:19): He opened her eyes (which were swollen and almost blinded with weeping), and then she saw a well of water. Note, Many that have reason enough to be comforted go mourning from day to day, because they do not see the reason they have for comfort. There is a well of water by them in the covenant of grace, but they are not aware of it; they have not the benefit of it, till the same God that opened their eyes to see their wound opens them to see their remedy, Joh 16:6, Joh 16:7. Now the apostle tells us that those things concerning Hagar and Ishmael are allegoroumena (Gal 4:24), they are to be allegorized; this then will serve to illustrate the folly, [1.] Of those who, like the unbelieving Jews, seek for righteousness by the law and the carnal ordinances of it, and not by the promise made in Christ, thereby running themselves into a wilderness of want and despair. Their comforts are soon exhausted, and if God save them not by his special prerogative, and by a miracle of mercy open their eyes and undeceive them, they are undone. [2.] Of those who seek for satisfaction and happiness in the world and the things of it. Those that forsake the comforts of the covenant and communion with God, and choose their portion in this earth, take up with a bottle of water, poor and slender provision, and that soon spent; they wander endlessly in pursuit of satisfaction, and, at length, sit down short of it.
III. The settlement of Ishmael, at last, in the wilderness of Paran (Gen 21:20, Gen 21:21), a wild place, fittest for a wild man; and such a one he was, ch. 16. 12. Those that are born after the flesh take up with the wilderness of this world, while the children of the promise aim at the heavenly Canaan, and cannot be at rest till they are there. Observe, 1. He had some tokens of God's presence: God was with the lad; his outward prosperity was owing to this. 2. By trade he was an archer, which intimates that craft was his excellency and sport his business: rejected Esau was a cunning hunter. 3. He matched among his mother's relations; she took him a wife out of Egypt: as great an archer as he was, he did not think he could take his aim well, in the business of marriage, if he proceeded without his mother's advice and consent.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–19 And the water was spent in the bottle,.... It…
And the water was spent in the bottle,.... It was all drank up by them, being thirsty, having wandered about some time in a wilderness, where they could not replenish their bottle: the Jewish writers say (e) that when Hagar came into the wilderness, she began to wander after the idols of the house of Pharaoh her father, and immediately the water ceased from the bottle, or was drank up by Ishmael, being seized with a burning fever:
and she cast the child under one of the shrubs; not from off her shoulder, but out of her hand or bosom; being faint through thirst, he was not able to walk, and she, being weary in dragging him along in her hand, perhaps sat down and held him in her lap, and laid him in her bosom; but, imagining he was near his end, she laid him under one of the shrubs in the wilderness, to screen him from the scorching sun, and there left him; the Greek version is, "under one of the fir trees", and so says Josephus (f): some Jewish writers (g) call them juniper trees; and some make this to be Ishmael's own act, and say, that, being fatigued with thirst, he went and threw himself under the nettles of the wilderness (h), see Job 30:7.
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(e) Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 30.) Targ. Jon. in loc. (f) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 3. (g) Bereshit, ut supra. (sect. 53. fol. 47. 4.) (h) Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 30.)
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14, 17 And Abraham rose up early in the morning -…
And Abraham rose up early in the morning - We may suppose immediately after he had in the night-visions received orders to do this.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 19 Verse 14. Took bread, and a bottle] By the…
Verse 14. Took bread, and a bottle] By the word bread we are to understand the food or provisions which were necessary for her and Ishmael, till they should come to the place of their destination; which, no doubt, Abraham particularly pointed out. The bottle, which was made of skin, ordinarily a goat's skin, contained water sufficient to last them till they should come to the next well; which, it is likely, Abraham particularly specified also. This well, it appears, Hagar missed, and therefore wandered about in the wilderness seeking more water, till all she had brought with her was expended. We may therefore safely presume that she and her son were sufficiently provided for their journey, had they not missed their way. Travellers in those countries take only, to the present day, provisions sufficient to carry them to the next village or encampment; and water to supply them till they shall meet with the next well. What adds to the appearance of cruelty in this case is, that our translation seems to represent Ishmael as being a young child; and that Hagar was obliged to carry him, the bread, and the bottle of water on her back or shoulder at the same time. But that Ishmael could not be carried on his mother's shoulder will be sufficiently evident when his age is considered; Ishmael was born when Abraham was eighty-six years of age, Ge 16:16; Isaac was born when he was one hundred years of age, Ge 21:5; hence Ishmael was fourteen years old at the birth of Isaac. Add to this the age of Isaac when he was weaned, which, from Ge 21:8, (See Clarke on Ge 21:8) was probably three, and we shall find that Ishmael was at the time of his leaving Abraham not less than seventeen years old; an age which, in those primitive times, a young man was able to gain his livelihood, either by his bow in the wilderness, or by keeping flocks as Jacob did.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 17 Gen 21:14. Abraham rose up early in the morning…
Gen 21:14. Abraham rose up early in the morning — Immediately, it seems, after he had received orders in the night visions to do this: and took bread and a bottle of water — All necessary provision seems to be here included, of which it is probable they had sufficient to have served them till they had come to Hagar’s friends in Egypt, if they had not lost their way. Ishmael, it is thought, was more than sixteen years of age at this time, yet the provisions were put upon Hagar’s shoulders, as being more inured to labour, and the lad was committed to her care.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 17 Bread and water. This seems a very slender allowance…
Bread and water. This seems a very slender allowance to be given by a man of Abraham’s riches. But he might intend her to go only into the neighbourhood, where he would take care to provide for her. She lost herself in the wilderness, and thus fell into imminent danger of perishing. (Haydock) --- This divorce of Agar, and ejection of Ismael, prefigured the reprobation of the Jews.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 19 EXPULSION OF ISHMAEL. (Gen 21:14-21)
EXPULSION OF ISHMAEL. (Gen 21:14-21)
Abraham rose up early, &c.--early, that the wanderers might reach an asylum before noon. Bread includes all sorts of victuals--bottle, a leathern vessel, formed of the entire skin of a lamb or kid sewed up, with the legs for handles, usually carried over the shoulder. Ishmael was a lad of seventeen years, and it is quite customary for Arab chiefs to send out their sons at such an age to do for themselves: often with nothing but a few days' provisions in a bag.
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wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba--in the southern border of Palestine, but out of the common direction, a wide extending desert, where they lost their way.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–19 14. A bottle of water — A bottle made…
14. A bottle of water — A bottle made of skin. “The Arabs, and all that lead a wandering life, keep their water, milk, and other liquors in leathern bottles. These are made of goat-skins. When the animal is killed, they cut off its feet and its head, and they draw it in this manner out of the skin, without opening its belly. In Arabia they are tanned with acacia-bark and the hairy part left outside. If not tanned, a disagreeable taste is imparted to the water. They afterwards sew up the places where the legs were cut off, and the tail, and when it is filled they tie it about the neck.” — SMITH’S Dict. of Bible.
Wilderness of Beer-sheba — The name Beer-sheba is, perhaps, used here proleptically. See on Gen_21:31.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–19 14. a bottle of water] or, better, “a skin…
14. a bottle of water] or, better, “a skin of water.” LXX ἀσκός. The vessel for carrying water in the East is generally the skin of a goat. The recollection of this will explain passages like Mat_9:17. Its shape made it easy to carry or to hang up. Cf. Psa_119:83.
and the child] These words imply that Hagar carried the child, as well as the skin of water, upon her shoulder. So the LXX καὶ ἐπέθηκεν ἐπὶ τὸν ὦμον αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ παιδίον. Lat., avoiding the difficulty, “tradiditque puerum.”
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According to P (cf. Gen_16:16, Gen_21:5), Ishmael would be a boy of over fourteen years of age. According to E, Ishmael is still a child (cf. Gen_21:15-17).
the wilderness of Beer-sheba] i.e. the high plateau at the extreme south of Palestine. The country is hilly and bare.
Beer-sheba the sanctuary of the south—the modern Bir-es-Seba. See, for the meaning of its name, Gen_21:29-34, Gen_26:33.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–19 (14) And the child.—Ishmael was now sixteen or seventeen…
(14) And the child.—Ishmael was now sixteen or seventeen years of age, but the word yeled used in this place has no reference to age, and in Gen_4:23 is even translated “young man.” It literally signifies one born, and is applied in Gen_42:22 to Joseph, when he was about Ishmael’s age. So the “children who mocked Elisha” (2Ki_2:23) were doubtless grown young men. In Gen_21:18, Ishmael is called “a lad;” shortly afterwards he was able to maintain himself and Hagar with his bow (Gen_21:20), and his mother took a wife for him from Egypt (Gen_21:21). The narrative, therefore, does not represent Ishmael as a small child, and the idea has probably arisen from the supposition that Abraham placed Ishmael, as well as the supply of food, on Hagar’s shoulder.
She departed, and wandered.—Her dismissal had come upon Hagar suddenly, and so she had no plan or purpose, but went hither and thither till the water in the skin was spent.
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The wilderness of Beer-sheba.—As yet this region had no name (see Gen_21:31). It lay about twenty Roman miles or more below Hebron, and was the most southerly part of Palestine, while beyond it lay the vast desert of Et-Tih, of which the wilderness of Beer-sheba formed a part. Gerar, which place Abraham had now evidently left, was situated upon the western side of Beer-sheba, but at no great distance from it. (Seo Gen_21:22; Gen_26:26.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–19 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, hastening…
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, hastening to put in force the Divine instructions (cf. Gen_19:27 Gen_22:8, Abraham; Gen_20:8, Abimelech; Gen_28:18, Jacob) and took bread, and a bottle of water, the bottle, from a root signifying to enclose (Furst); ajskon (LXX), was composed of skin, the material of which the earliest carrying vessels were constructed (cf. Jos_9:4, Jos_9:13; Jud_1:4:19; 1Sa_16:20; Mat_9:17) "The monuments of Egypt, the sculptures of Mesopotamia, and the relics of Herculaneum and Pompeii afford ample opportunities to learn the shape and use of every variety of bottles, often surprising us both by their elegance and costliness" (Kalisch)and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, the usual place for carrying such vessels among Oriental women. According to Herodotus (2. 35), Egyptian women carried burdens on their shoulders, Egyptian men upon their headsand the child, not placing the child, now a youth of over seventeen years, upon her shoulder (LXX, Schumann, Bohlen); but giving him, along with the bottle (Havernick, Kalisch, A Lapide, Ainsworth), or, as well as the bread (Keil, Murphy), to Hagar, not to be carried as a burden, but led as a companionand sent her away divorced her by the command of God (A Lapide); but as Hagar was never recognized by God as Abraham"s wife, her sending away was not a case of divorce (Wordsworth) and she departed (from Beersheba, whither Abraham had by this time removed, and where, in all probability, Isaac had been born), and wandered i.e. lost her way (cf. Gen_37:15) in the wilderness (the uncultivated waste between Palestine and Egypt) of Beersheba introduced here by anticipation, unless the incident in Vers. 22-33 had previously taken place (vide on Ver. 31).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 19 And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of…
Gen_21:14
And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba--
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The story of Hagar and Ishmael
I.
THE OUTCAST. AS Abraham is the father of all the faithful, so the Arab Ishmael is the father of all our outcasts. He was an impudent boy, who mocked his betters, and became a wild ass of a man, whose hand was against every man. Do not despise the poor outcast children of our cities. Respect them for their sorrows; take them into your pity; let them find a home in your heart. For are we not all outcasts, the children of Adam the outcast? And are we not the followers of Him who makes the outcasts of earth the inmates of heaven?
II. THE GOD OF THE OUTCAST. The highest kindness is to be personally interested in us, and to meet our wants. And God showed such kindness to Ishmael (Gen_21:17). God pities most those who most need pity; and so should you.
III. THE ANGEL OF THE OUTCAST. It is part of angels work to cheer and save the outcast. A church near Dijon contains a monument with a group of the Bible prophets and kings, each holding a scroll of mourning from his writings. But above is a circle of angels who look far sadder than the prophets whose words they read. They see more in the sorrows than the men below them see. The angels see the whole of the sins and sorrows of the young, and so rejoice more than we can do over the work of God among them. The orphans of society are cast upon the fatherhood of God, and He wishes them to be the children of our adoption.
IV. THE ALLEGORY OF THE OUTCAST. Look at that lad in the desert perishing of thirst, and a fountain at his side. Are you not a spiritual Ishmael to-day, a wanderer upon lifes highway, perishing of thirst at the side of the fountains of living water? Earth is a sandy desert, which holds nothing that can slake your souls thirst. But Jesus Christ has opened the fountain of life, and now it is at your very side. (J. Wells.)
The sorrows of the outcasts
I. THE EVILS THEY SUFFERED MUST BE CHARGED UPON THEMSELVES.
II. THEY WERE ALSO FULFILLING GODS PURPOSES CONCERNING HUMAN SALVATION,
III. YET THEY WERE NOT SHUT OUT FROM THE FAVOURS AND HELP OF PROVIDENCE.
1. His Providence interfered when they were at their worst extremity.
2. His Providence was administered with touches of human tenderness.
3. His Providence made use of natural means. (T. H. Leale.)
Hagar
A suggestive narrative, illustrating various Scriptures.
1. The way of transgressors is hard.
2. God is not far from every one of us.
3. God is no respecter of persons.
4. It echoes the words, Them that honour Me I will honour.
I. MANS EXTREMITY IS GODS OPPORTUNITY. The darkest hour proceeds the dawn. We are never beyond Divine help.
II. BANE AND BLESSING ARE OFTEN NEAR EACH OTHER. The antidotes of various poisons grow close beside them. Mercies are contiguous to miseries.
III. DIVINE HELP IS ALWAYS KIND AND APPROPRIATE. God not only provided water, but, as one suggests, in such a way as to meet every want of the two sufferers.
1. He gave Hagar something to do for her boy.
2. He reminded Hagar of His aid to others. A well showed that dwellers had been in the desert before her. Biography is a well telling of heavens blessing upon those who have preceded us.
3. He made a glorious promise to Hagar. (T. R. Stevenson.)
Hagar and Ishmael in distress
I. THAT HUMAN LIFE IS HIGHLY ESTIMATED IN HEAVEN.
1. It is not valued according to the locality in which it is placed.
2. It is not judged according to social standing.
3. It is not judged according to the human standard of usefulness.
II. THAT SUPERNATURAL POWER IS MANIFESTED, SUSTAINING AND SUPPORTING LIFE.
1. At times this power seems to come unexpectedly.
2. It is manifested when all earthly resources fail.
3. This supernatural power is generally exerted in, conjunction with human efforts. Hagar had to go to the well; the water did not come to her. (Homilist.)
Hagar in the wilderness
1. I learn from this Oriental scene, in the first place, what a sad thing it is when people do not know their place, and get too proud for their business. Hagar was an assistant in that household, but she wanted to rule there. She ridiculed and jeered until her son, Ishmael, got the same tricks. My friends, one-half of the trouble in the world today comes from the fact that people do not know their place; or, finding their place, will not stay in it.
2. Again: I find in this Oriental scene a lesson of sympathy with woman when she goes forth trudging in the desert. What a great change it was for this Hagar. There was the tent, and all the surroundings of Abrahams house, beautiful and luxurious no doubt. Now she is going out into the hot sands of the desert. O, what a change it was. And in our day, we often see the wheel of fortune turn. Here is a beautiful home. You cannot think of anything that can be added to it. Books to read. Pictures to look at. Dark night drops. Pillow hot. Pulses flutter. Eyes close. Widowhood. Hagar in the wilderness! May God have mercy upon woman in her toils, her struggles, her hardships, her desolation, and may the great heart of Divine sympathy enclose her for ever.
3. Again: I find in this Oriental scene, the fact that every mother leads forth tremendous destinies. You say: That isnt an unusual scene, a mother leading her child by the hand. Who is that she is leading? Ishmael, you say. Who is Ishmael? A great nation is to be founded; a nation so strong that it is to stand for thousands of years against all the armies of the world. Egypt and Assyria thunder against it; but in vain. Gaulus brings up his army; and his army is smitten. Alexander decides upon a campaign, brings up his hosts and dies. For a long while that nation monopolizes the learning of the world. It is the nation of the Arabs. Who founded it? Ishmael, the lad that Hagar led into the wilderness. She had no idea she was leading forth such destinies. Neither does any mother. A good many years ago, A christian mother sat teaching lessons of religion to her child; and he drank in those lessons. She never knew that Lamphier would come forth and establish the Fulton-street prayer-meeting, and by one meeting revolutionize the devotions of the whole earth, and thrill the eternities with his Christian influence. Lamphier said it was his mother who brought him to Jesus Christ. She never had an idea that she was leading forth such destinies. I tell you there are wilder deserts than Beer-sheba in many of the fashionable circles of this day. Dissipated parents leading dissipated children. Avaricious parents leading avaricious children.
4. I learn one more lesson from this Oriental scene, and that is, that every wilderness has a well in it. Hagar and Ishmael gave up to die. Hagars heart sank within her as she heard her child crying: Water! water! water! Ah, she says, my darling, there is no water. This is a desert. And then Gods angel said from the cloud: What aileth thee, Hagar? And she looked up and saw him pointing to a well of water, where she filled the bottle for the lad. Blessed be God that there is in every wilderness a well, if you only know how to find it--fountains for all these thirsty souls this morning. On that last day, on that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried: If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. All these other fountains you find are mere mirages of the desert. (Dr. Talmage.)
Ishmael, the bondwomans son
I. DRIVEN FROM HOME.
1. Ishmaels fault.
2. Sarahs anger.
3. Gods decree. His will is supreme over all human arrangements.
II. DISTRESSED IN THE WILDERNESS. Where is her pride now, her petulance, jealousy, anger?
III. DELIVERED BY GOD.
1. God heard the voice of the lad.
2. God opened her eyes.
3. God was with the lad.
Lessons:
1. God rules.
2. God pities.
3. God saves. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Hagar
I. THE EXPULSION.
1. Of whom? Hagar, the bondwoman, and Ishmael, Abrahams son. Type of those who are cast out spiritually. Bondslaves of sin, whom the truth has not made free (Gal_4:31; Joh_8:36).
2. By whom? Abraham; at Sarahs request, and by the Lords direction. With a human pity for Hagar, he yet obeyed God. The event eminently instructive to us. Servants of the law shall not, as such, divide with the free children the promises and blessings of the gospel; they are for the heirs of Christ, the Son who has made us free.
3. Wherefore? Because of the mocking of the son of the free woman. God will avenge his own elect. Mockers are cast out. Isaac mocked for his child-like attachment to his mother; and the seed of Abraham this day mocked for their attachment to Christ.
4. How? Kindly, pitifully. Food for the journey was given. The bond have their good things in this life. Even they are blessed so far.
5. Whither? Egypt, the house of bondage, their destination. The bond journey through a wilderness to a prison.
II. THE JOURNEY. Through the wilderness of Beer-sheba. Drear, desolate, lonely. The home where they might have been happy, behind; before them--Egypt. Ishmael, fainting and weary, likely to die. The motherssolicitude. Cannot bear to see him die. The death of the free, beautiful, attractive. Religious analogy. The world cannot bear to see its loved ones die. Tenderness of mothers.
III. THE INTERPOSITION.
1. God heard the lad. He hears our sighs and counts our tears. His compassions fail not.
2. The voice of the angel. Comforting, guiding. Exhorted to hope or duty.
3. The promise. The lad should not die. The only word that could comfort that mothers heart.
4. The well of water. Gracious provision for the bondwoman and her son.
5. The bondwoman and her son did not go down into Egypt. They remained in the wilderness; became the founders of a great nation. God would not have any perish.
Learn:
1. The sin and folly of despising Christ and his people.
2. The mercy of God to even such thoughtless sinners.
3. The strength of maternal affection, and duties of youth.
4. He maketh streams to flow in the desert. The river of life is not far from us; Whosoever will, let him come unto Me and drink.
V. We need Divine grace to open our eyes that we may see this stream. (J. C. Gray.)
Ishmael
The first feeling we have in reading the story of Hagar and Ishmael is that they were both most cruelly used. The next feeling is that surely we do not know the whole case. It must be only the outside that we see. Behind all this there must be something we do not fully understand. When the first flush of anger dies away I begin to wonder whether there may not be something behind which, when known, will explain everything, and add to this confused and riotous life of ours a solemnity and a grandeur supernatural! Through this incident, as through a door ajar, we may see a good deal of human life on what may be called its tragical side.
1. As a mere matter of fact there are events in human life which cannot but affect us with a sense of disorder in the government and administration of things, if, indeed, there be either government or administration. One is taken, another left. One moves upwards to wealth and honour, another is neither prosperous by day nor restful by night. You may take one of two views of this state of facts.
(a) Life is a scramble; the strong man wins; the weak man dies; luck is the only god, chance is the only law, death the only end. The disorder of human life mocks the order of material nature. Or thus:
(b) There must be a power mightier than mans, controlling and shaping things. Looking at human history in great breadths we see that even confusion itself is not lawless; it is a discord in the solemn music; it is an eccentricity in the astronomic movement; but it is caught up by the great laws, and wrought into the general harmony; above all, beyond all, there is a benign and holy power. Now from my point of view it requires less faith to believe this than to believe the other.
2. As a further matter of fact in human life, there are cases marked by utter despair, for which it seems utterly impossible that any deliverance can ever arise. Hagars is a case in point. Her water was spent. The hot sun was beating on her head. Ishmael was faint with weakness. No human friend answered the appealing voice. Some of us may have been in the same circumstances as to their effect upon the soul. When you were left a widow with six children--no fortune, the water gone, the children crying for bread, the officer at the door, you wished to die; you were subdued by a great fear. But I ask you, in Gods house, if there were not made to you sudden revelations, or given to you unexpected promises that brought light to the weary and hopeless heart? How did friends appear, how were doors opened, how did the boys get a little schooling and get their first chance in life? Are you the person now to turn round and say that it all came by chance, or will you not rather exclaim, This is the Lords doing; I was brought low and He helped me? And what men God trains in the wilderness 1 It would seem as if great destinies often had rough beginnings!
3. You will bear me witness, as a further matter of fact, that life is full of surprises and improbabilities, and that the proverb, Mans extremity is Gods opportunity, is supported by innumerable instances. God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She expected to die, and lo! she never was so sure of life. These surprises not only save life from monotony; they keep us, if rightly valued, lowly, expectant, dependent. They operate in two contrary ways--lifting up man, and casting him down.
4. As a matter of fact, the men who seem to be the most prosperous have trials of a heavy and most disciplinary kind. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The expulsive power of love to Christ
Love to Christ will not suffer the near neighbourhood of anything in its bosom that is derogatory to Christ; either it will reduce or abandon it, be it pleasure, profit, or whatever else. Abraham, who loved Hagar and Ishmael in their due place, when the one began to jostle with her mistress, and the other to jeer and mock at Isaac, he puts them both out of doors; love to Christ will not suffer thee to side with anything against Christ, but take His part with Him against any that oppose Him. (H. G. Salter.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v14 Gen_21:14. Abraham rose up early in the morning.] Hence…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_21:14. Abraham rose up early in the morning.] Hence the Divine command was given to him in the night. Bread. Used as a general term for provisions. Bottle of water. The leathern bottle of the East, made of the whole skin of an animal. In this case, probably, a kid-skin, as Hagar could not well have carried a goat-skin. And the child. To be connected with “gave” in the previous clause. He gave it (bread), and the child, to Hagar. The LXX. and Targ. of Onk. convey the meaning, that he placed the child on her shoulder. But this is absurd, for Ishmael would now be quite sixteen years old. He was led by the hand (Gen_21:18). The child. More properly a boy, or a lad. Boys often married at that age in the East. The wilderness. Not desert, but open commons—land not profitable for cultivation, but affording pasture. Beersheba. So named by anticipation (Gen_21:31).
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Gen_21:15. Cast the child.] The Heb. word generally conveys the idea of forcible projection, but in this case it is to be understood of a gentle laying down, or suffering to repose (Psa_55:22). Language is used as if he was a mere child, and truly in his exhausted condition he was as such, at this time.
Gen_21:16. As it were a bow-shot.] “This is a common figure of speech in their ancient writings, ‘the distance of an arrow;” ‘so far as the arrow flies.’ The common way of measuring a short distance is to say ‘It is a call off—i.e., so far as a man’s voice can reach” (Roberts’ Scripture Illustrations).
Gen_21:17. And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar. Elohim in both places. “The angel of Elohim, not Jehovah; because Ishmael, since the Divinely ordained removal from the house of Abraham, passes from under the protection of the Covenant God to that of the leading and providence of God, the Ruler of all nations.” (Keil.)
Gen_21:18. Hold him in thine hand.] Heb. “Strengthen thine hand upon him,” i.e., assist and support him.
Gen_21:20. And he became an archer.] “He grew an archer, or multiplied into a tribe of archers.” (Murphy.) The descendants of Ishmael were distinguished for their skill in the use of the bow. (Is.21:17.)
Gen_21:21. The wilderness of Paran.] The great desert, now called El Tih, running from the southern border of Palestine down to the northern part of the Sinaitic peninsula. He adopted the habits of a wilderness man, according to the prophecy. (Gen_16:16.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_21:14-21
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL IN THE WILDERNESS: THE SORROWS OF THE OUTCASTS
We have here the sad picture of two persons forcibly driven from their home to wander through the desert. They are cast out upon the world, subject to unknown chances. Here is a pitiable scene of human misery, and yet it is bounded by Divine mercy and compassion. Both the severity and the goodness of God are manifest.
I. The evils they suffered must be charged upon themselves. Their fate seems hard in the extreme. They are suddenly dismissed from that household in which they had lived so long, and sent into the wilderness, but scantily provided for against the dangers and privations of that condition. Yet they could only charge their misfortunes upon themselves. There was discipline, but also punishment, in their sufferings. They gave grave offence to those whom they were bound to honour and respect, and to whom they owed their position and material comforts. By deriding Isaac, and opposing his claims, they showed a want of faith in God, and submission to His great designs. They offended the religious as well as the human feeling of the parents of the child of promise. Their conduct arose from an anti-spiritual disposition. They had the feeling and spirit of persecutors. Had they submitted to God’s known will with meekness and resignation, they might have continued to enjoy the privileges and honours of Abraham’s household.
II. They were also fulfilling God’s purposes concerning human salvation. There is another aspect of their expulsion which must be noted. It was necessary that the family of Ishmael should be separated from that of Isaac. It pleased God—as He often does in the course of His Providence—to work out this design through human perversity and sin. These wanderers were punished for their carnality and wilfulness, but at the same time Providence was using them to prepare the way of the Lord. God had willed it that human salvation should come through one line, and that line must be kept clear and distinct. This was evident from what God had already said to Abraham (Gen_21:12), who would never have taken such harsh measures if he had not been impelled to it by a clear sense of duty. This act went sore against his feelings, but he was obeying a Divine voice. Thus, while nations and individuals have suffered for their sins, God has, through these sufferings, been all the time accomplishing some further purpose of His will.
III. Yet they were not shut out from the favours and help of Providence. They had grievously sinned, and brought these evils upon them. They were cast out of the family of Abraham, and driven into the wilderness by a Divine decree. But they had not thereby wandered beyond the circle of God’s general Providence. God had not willed it that they should take the highest place in His favour, but they were still His creatures and the sheep of His hand. He made them what they were, and they had a claim upon His protection and regard. The mercy of God is not hindered by human transgression, nor limited by His purposes concerning the destiny of nations in history. He who distributes the favours of His Providence according to His purpose and will to families and nations, has uttered no harsh decree against individuals to shut them out from salvation. God came to the help of these poor wanderers.
1. His Providence interfered when they were at their worst extremity. The water was all spent in the bottle. They were weary, and suffering from the pangs of thirst. The poor mother had laid her child down to die, and in her agony of grief had turned her face away, not able to bear the sight (Gen_21:15-16). In this extremity “the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven” (Gen_21:17). So it has ever been in human history. When man has exhausted all his resources, then God appears and brings help.
2. His Providence was administered with touches of human tenderness. There is something most tenderly human in the conduct of the mother in her sad extremity (Gen_21:16). But in this we have the dim shadow of the Divine tenderness. In the words, “What aileth thee, Hagar?” we recognise a voice of compassion human in its strain. Such is the kindness of God in the aspect which it assumes towards man. But that kindness is greater than all our human notions and forms of tenderness; yea, it is better than life. In the Incarnation this human element in the love of God receives a complete expression. The manifestation of God in Christ was a new publication of the fact and doctrine of that Providence which cares tenderly for individuals, and does not lose itself in the vagueness of a universal regard.
3. His Providence made use of natural means. “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water” (Gen_21:19). The well of water was already there, though in her distress she saw it not. Providence gave her the power to use natural resources. No unnecessary miracle is wrought. Such is the method of God’s ordinary Providence towards mankind. He who knows and controls the thoughts of all men imparts directing ideas, and teaches men rightly to employ the resources already given. That Power which gives us to see what was before hidden, and rightly to employ it, helps us most effectually.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_21:14. His “rising early in the morning” in this and similar instances, is a striking proof of the readiness and alacrity with which he made haste to obey the heavenly mandate. To part with his own son was, no doubt, like rending away his own bowels; but being accustomed to obedience, he controls the paternal affection which he could not extinguish. And here is, unquestionably, one of the severest trials of faith and piety, when we are called to subject to the will of God those primary instincts of our nature which are in themselves neither sinful nor harmful. But the children of Abraham are to prepare themselves for such ordeals.—(Bush).
The conduct of Abraham, in this instance, seems cruel and unkind. But it must be noted—
1. That he acted according to the Divine command. His duty was clearly announced, but the performance of it was painful to his feelings.
2. Hagar, by this act, obtained her freedom.
3. The mother and son were not hereby excluded from the Covenant. Ishmael had been circumcised, and had the Covenant promises. Nor were they excluded from intercourse with Abraham’s house (ch. Gen_25:9).
4. In this early age it was not a difficult thing to find a livelihood in the course of such a journey. Food could be obtained without injury to anyone. Accordingly we find that Ishmael chose to dwell in the wilderness, where he became an archer. The subsequent history shows that Hagar was able to provide for herself and her son.
The expulsion of Ishmael was a warning for Israel, so far as it constantly relied upon its natural sonship from Abraham.—Lange.
Gen_21:15-16.—Ishmael was now, no doubt, thoroughly humbled as well as wearied, and therefore passive under his mother’s guidance. She led him to a sheltering bush, and caused him to lie down in its shade, resigning herself to despair.—(Murphy).
All creature-comforts will fade and fail us, as the brook Cherith dried up whilst the prophet was drinking of it; as those pools about Jerusalem, that might be dried up, with the tramplings of horse and horsemen (2Ki_19:24). But they that drink of Christ’s water shall never thirst; for it shall be in them (as the widow’s oil, or Aaron’s ointment) “a well of water springing up to eternal life” (Joh_4:14).—(Trapp).
Gen_21:17. We do not read that the lad uttered a distinct voice, calling to heaven for help. But his suffering and perishing condition had a “voice” which God heard and answered.
This was the Angel Jehovah, who appeared to Hagar on a former occasion, (Gen_16:7). God chooses the time when we are in affliction to visit us, and to repeat His mercies.
“Where he is.” The Providence of God observes where we are, and the trouble which lies all around us.
Weeping hath a voice. (Psa_6:8.) And as music upon the water sounds farther and more harmoniously than upon the land, so prayers joined with tears. These, if they proceed from faith, are showers quenching the devil’s cannon-shot; a second baptism of the soul, wherein it is rinsed anew, nay, perfectly cured; as the lame were healed in the troubled waters. Our Saviour raised the young man of Nain, though none sought to him, merely because he was the only son of his mother, a widow, the stay of her life, and staff of her old age.—(Trapp.)
Gen_21:18. Ishmael was to form a nation by himself, and it was therefore necessary that he should leave the family of Abraham. His wandering in the wilderness was the means by which God wrought out His purpose concerning this man. Such is the course of Providence in human affairs. The evils that happen to men are made to work out the designs of God.
The fortunes of a great nation were at this moment depending upon a weak and perishing lad. Thus, from small and insignificant beginnings (as they appear to us), God works His way to the accomplishment of the great things of human history.
Gen_21:19. Was not the well there before? And might not the afflicted mother have had recourse to it? Was it her blinding tears that hindered her from seeing it? or the apathy of her soul that made her too listless to be on the look-out for it? Is there no trace in all this of unwarrantable impatience and despondency? Ah! she may have been like too many, who, amid life’s trials—and the disappointment, perhaps, of their own sinful and carnal hopes—are ready to lay them down and die for want, when there is a well within their reach—the well of which “whosoever drinketh shall never thirst again!” This poor exile forgot how near she was still to Abraham, who would not surely be unmindful of her—how nearer still she was to Abraham’s God, who, even if Abraham’s gift of food and water fail, can open her heavy eyes and show her a copious well of water in the wilderness.—(Candlish.)
Her eyes were opened, and she saw a well of water. Thus God helps us by simple means. Our souls are blessed and nourished, not by the creation of new facts and truths, but by opening our eyes to see those already given. Thus it was with the disciples, “And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.” (Luk_24:31.) Jesus opened the understanding of His disciples that they might understand the Scriptures. Truths were hidden there which they saw not. (Luk_24:45.)
It is possible for men to perish, though full and sufficient help lies all around them, unless God’s grace gives them power to discern and use it.
In the most doleful desert of life God can discover to our soul a well of consolation.
It is unnecessary to determine how far this opening of the eyes was miraculous. It may refer to the cheering of her mind and the sharpening of her attention. In Scripture the natural and supernatural are not always set over against each other as with us. All events are alike ascribed to an ever-watchful Providence, whether they flow from the ordinary laws of nature or some higher law of the Divine will.—(Murphy.)
Gen_21:20-21. God does not forsake men and nations because they are outside of His family, the Church.
He became not only an adept at the use of the bow in hunting, but also employing this as his principal weapon on those occasions, when, according to the prediction, “his hand began to be against every man,” etc. (Gen_16:12). The term unquestionably denotes warlike character and practices. It is but another mode of saying that he began to be distinguished for lawless predatory habits, as his descendants have always been. His expulsion from his father’s house, and the way of life into which it forced him, would naturally tend to increase any inherent ferocity of temper he may have possessed, and to form and fix that character which was given of him by the angel before he was born. God brings His predictions to pass, not always, nor generally, by miraculous means, but by the operation and concurrence of natural causes. It would seem that he gradually brought himself to bear, and finally to prefer that way of living which had at first been obtruded upon him by the strong hand of necessity; and thus the prophecy entered upon its incipient fulfilment.—(Bush.)
Gen_21:21. Here it is shown that he took up his abode in the wilderness, and led the life of a roving hunter, and adopted the habits of a wilderness man—a “wild man” (Gen_16:16), till at length he and his tribe became a bandit band. That he married a wife out of Egypt is here stated, to prepare us for a sketch of his descendants (Gen_25:12-18), the Bedouin Arabs. This also completed the estrangement of Ishmael’s line from that of Isaac, as Egypt was the land of his mother’s birth and of heathen superstition. That the mother chose his wife was according to the established usage of Eastern nations for the parent to make the choice of a husband, or a wife, for the children.—(Jacobus.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v17 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
angel
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v15 Ishmael’s Life Saved
Ishmael’s Life Saved
v. 15. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. Apparently Hagar lost her way, or some miscalculation interfered, for the water in the skin was exhausted before she reached a spring. The ensuing suffering soon became so great that the boy was unable to support himself. For a while his mother supported him, drawing him along and half carrying him, in the hope of finding water. But at last she was obliged to let him sink down, her mother-love, however, selecting a shady place under a bush.
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v. 16. And she went and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow-shot; 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. Here are further traits of a mother’s undying love. She would not abandon the lad entirely, even if she might have gotten help; she could not bear to see him suffer and probably die before her eyes of thirst. So she sat down at a distance equal to that usually taken by bowmen shooting at a target, and wept out loud in full abandonment to her grief.
v. 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 Isaiah
v. 18. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. In this great extremity Ishmael forgot all his mocking and turned to the prayers which he had learned in his father’s house. In answer to this prayer the Angel of God in the specific sense, the Son of God, who had appeared to her once before, Gen 16:9-13, bade her not to fear, but to arise, to lift up her son, and to support him, since he was not to die, but to live, and to become the ancestor of a great people.
v. 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. Help had been so near at hand, but Hagar, in her own exhausted condition, had not noticed the spring which welled forth at a small distance. Now she filled the skin which she carried and refreshed her son, thus saving his life.
v. 20. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
v. 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. Ishmael grew up as a true son of the desert, living in the great wilderness which extends on the southern boundary of Canaan from Egypt to Arabia. The blessing of God rested upon him. He became very skilful with the bow and married an Egyptian woman whom his mother selected for him. This fact, unfortunately, strengthened the heathen element in the Ishmaelites and probably caused their abandoning of the true God in a very short time.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 17, 19 took bread
took bread
Possible meanings are 1) this refers to food in general or 2) this refers to bread specifically. (See: Synecdoche)
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a skin of water
"a bag of water." The water container was made out of animal skin.
When the water in the waterskin was gone
"When the water bag was empty" or "When they had drank all of the water"
about the distance of a bowshot away
This refers to the distance that a person could shoot an arrow with a bow. This is about 100 meters.
Let me not look upon the death of the child
The abstract noun "death" can be stated as "die." AT: "I do not want to watch the boy die" (See: Abstract Nouns)
she lifted up her voice and wept
Here "voice" stands for the sound of her crying. To "life up her voice" means to cry loudly. AT: "she cried out loudly and wept" or "she wept loudly" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
translationWords
Abraham
bread
Hagar
desert
Beersheba
bow and arrow
voice
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16 21:14-21 God again rescued Hagar in the wilderness and…
21:14-21 God again rescued Hagar in the wilderness and guaranteed her future (cp. 16:7-14). This passage is similar to ch 16, but the differences are great. Here, Hagar and Ishmael are rescued, but there is no commemorative naming. God’s earlier promise to Hagar is reiterated, but this time Hagar is not told to return to Sarah. The repeated motifs on the two occasions confirm God’s sovereign plan for Hagar and Ishmael. As Joseph later told Pharaoh, a twofold event demonstrated God’s confirmation (41:32). God did not abandon Hagar and Ishmael but met them in their despair (cp. 16:7), provided sustenance for them, and promised again that Ishmael would found a great nation (21:13; cp. 16:11-12). Paul uses this event in his letter to the Galatians to illustrate how God’s people must relinquish all that threatens the fulfillment of God’s promise (Gal 4:21-31).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.