Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
Parallel Translations
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Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
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Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
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Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast by thy hand; for I will make him a great nation.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 21:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 21:13 I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”
- Genesis 16:10 Yahweh’s angel said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, that they will not be counted for multitude.”
- Genesis 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
- 1 Chronicles 1:29-31 These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
- Genesis 25:12-18 Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up his spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 18. Arise lift up the lad. In order that…
18. Arise lift up the lad. In order that she might have more courage to bring up her son, God confirms to her what he had before often promised to Abraham. Indeed, nature itself prescribes to mothers what they owe to their children; but, as I have lately hinted, all the natural feelings of Hagar would have been destroyed, unless God had revived her, by inspiring new confidence, to address herself with fresh vigor to the fulfillment of her maternal office. With respect to the fountain or “well,” some think it suddenly sprung up. But since Moses says, that the eyes of Hagar were opened, and not that the earth was opened or dug up; I rather incline to the opinion, that, having been previously astonished with grief, she did not discern what was plainly before her eyes; but now, at length, after God has restored her vision, she begins to see it. And it is worthy of especial notice, that when God leaves us destitute of his superintendence, and takes away his grace from us, we are as much deprived of all the aids which are close at hand, as if they were removed to the greatest distance. Therefore we must ask, not only that he would bestow upon us such things as will be useful to us, but that he will also impart prudence to enable us to use them; otherwise, it will be our lot to faint, with closed eyes, in the midst of fountains.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold…
Gen 21:18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
Ver. 18. For I will make him a great nation.] A nation by himself, as he had promised to Abraham. This had not come to pass, had not she missed her way to Egypt, and wandered in this wilderness. God, by his providence, ordereth our disorders to his own glory. Divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur: Humana sapientia dum reluctatur, comprehenditur. {a}
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{a} Gregor.
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 i.e. Support or sustain thy languishing child with thy…
i.e. Support or sustain thy languishing child with thy hand; for I will bless him, and thy care shall not be in vain.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And God opened her eyes, and she saw a…
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water,.... Which she saw not before; not that she was really blind and had her eyes opened, or her sight restored, but they might be holden or restrained by the providence of God, that she should not see it before; or, through inattention and distraction of mind, might not observe it; or her eyes might be swelled with weeping and crying, that she saw it not; though it is not improbable that this well was not in being before, but was immediately produced by the power of God, who when he pleases can open mountains in the midst of the valleys, and make the wilderness a pool of water, Isa 41:18, the Jewish writers (k) say, it was created between the two evenings, that is, on the evening of the seventh day of the creation. Happy are those whose eyes are opened, by the Spirit and grace of God, to see the well of living water, the fountain and fulness of grace that is in Christ, where thirsty souls may come and drink and take their fill.
And she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad to drink; with which he was refreshed and recovered from his fainting, and was restored to health again.
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(k) 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.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Hold him in thine hand — Hebrews, make…
18. Hold him in thine hand — Hebrews, make fast thy hand in him. She must not cast him off, but go and take hold of his hand again, and take firm hold, confident that the old promise (Gen_16:10-12) will be kept.
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 18. a great nation] Cf. Gen_21:13 and Gen_16:10.
18. a great nation] Cf. Gen_21:13 and Gen_16:10.
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 (18) Hold him in thine hand.—Literally, strengthen thine hand…
(18) Hold him in thine hand.—Literally, strengthen thine hand in him, hold him firmly. As Jerome remarks, the boy thus going hand in hand with his mother must have been her companion in her journey, and not a burden upon her shoulder. We must add that the words do not refer to what she was to do immediately, but to the future. She was not simply to lead him to the water, but to be his brave and faithful protector, such as we learn that she really became.
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 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in…
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand. Literally, bind fast ray hand to him, i.e. give him thy support now, and take cars of him till he reaches manhood. Cf. God"s promise to Israel. (Isa_42:6) For I will make him (literally, to) a great nation (vide Ver. 13; and cf. Gen_16:10 Gen_17:20)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.