Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
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Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
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And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
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And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport.
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Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Genesis 21:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 4:29 But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
- Genesis 16:15 Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
- Galatians 4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman.
- Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- 2 Chronicles 30:10 So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16 but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy.
- Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- Psalms 42:10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- Psalms 44:13-14 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us. You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
- Proverbs 20:11 Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.
- Lamentations 1:7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that were from the days of old; when her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and no one helped her. The adversaries saw her. They mocked at her desolations.
- Genesis 16:3-6 Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May Yahweh judge between me and you.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.
- 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.
- 2 Kings 2:23-24 He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldy!” He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in Yahweh’s name. Then two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths.
- Nehemiah 4:1-5 But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” “Hear, our God; for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
- Hebrews 11:36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
- Job 30:1 “But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I considered unworthy to put with my sheep dogs.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar. As…
9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar. As the verb to laugh has a twofold signification among the Latins, so also the Hebrews use, both in a good and evil sense, the verb from which the participle מצחק (metsachaik) is derived. That it was not a childish and innoxious laughter, appears from the indignation of Sarah. It was, therefore a malignant expression of scorn, by which the forward youth manifested his contempt for his infant brother. And it is to be observed, that the epithet which is here applied to Ishmael, and the name Isaac, are both derived from the same root. Isaac was, to his father and others, the occasion of holy and lawful laughter; whence also, the name was divinely imposed upon him. Ishmael turns the blessing of God, from which such joy flowed, into ridicule. Therefore, as an impious mocker, he stands opposed to his brother Isaac. Both (so to speak) are the sons of laughter: but in a very different sense. Isaac brought laughter with him from his mother’s womb, since he bore, — engraven upon him, — the certain token of God’s grace. He therefore so exhilarates his father’s house, that joy breaks forth in thanksgiving; but Ishmael, with canine and profane laughter, attempts to destroy that holy joy of faith. And there is no doubt that his manifest impiety against God, betrayed itself under this ridicule. He had reached an age at which he could not, by any means be ignorant of the promised favor, on account of which his father Abraham was transported with so great joy: and yet — proudly confident in himself — he insults, in the person of his brother, both God and his word, as well as the faith of Abraham. Wherefore it was not without cause that Sarah was so vehemently angry with him, that she commanded him to be driven into exile. For nothing is more grievous to a holy mind, than to see the grace of God exposed to ridicule. And this is the reason why Paul calls his laughter persecution; saying,
‘He who was after the flesh persecuted the spiritual seed.’ (Galatians 4:29.)
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Was it with sword or violence? Nay, but with the scorn of the virulent tongue, which does not injure the body, but pierces into the very soul. Moses might indeed have aggravated his crime by a multiplicity of words; but I think that he designedly spoke thus concisely, in order to render the petulance with which Ishmael ridicules the word of God the more detestable.
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 He derided God’s promise made to Isaac, which the…
He derided God’s promise made to Isaac, which the Apostle calleth persecution, Gal. 4:29.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar…
Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
Ver. 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar mocking.] At that mystical name Isaac, as a gaud, or laughingstock. At the feast also, made upon such a frivolous occasion. As who should say, What care I, though this ado be made now about Isaac’s weaning? I am the firstborn, and beloved of my father, who will not deny me the inheritance. This Sarah had soon spied, or overheard. Liberorum curiosi sunt parentes . The mother especially observeth the wrong done to the child. And besides, dislike soon spies a fault. A fault it was no doubt, and a great one too. Otherwise, the apostle would not have called it "persecution": {Gal 4:29} nor God have punished it with ejection. Machiavel, that scoffing atheist, rotted in the prison at Florence. Jeering Julian had his payment from Heaven. Sir Thomas Moor ( qui sceptice et scabiose de Luthero et Religione Reformata loquebatur) lost his head. Another lost his wits for mocking at James Abbs, martyr, as a madman; for that, having no money, he gave his apparel to the poor; some to one, some to another, as he went to the stake {a} "What is truth?" {Joh 18:38} said Pilate to our Saviour, in a scornful profane manner. Not long after which, he became his own deathsman. Apion scoffed at circumcision, and had an ulcer at the same time, and in the same place. {b} Surely, God is the avenger of all such: he calls it blasphemy in the second table, and shows his wrath from heaven against it, as that which proceeds from the very superfluity of malice (as herein Ishmael) and tends to murder. The Hebrew word here used signifies that he not only mocked Isaac, but also made others to mock him.
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{a} Act. and Mon., fol. 1904.
{b} Josephus.
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 Signifying either by words or gestures his contempt of…
Signifying either by words or gestures his contempt of Isaac, and his derision of all that magnificence then showed towards his younger brother. And this carriage proceeding from a most envious and malicious disposition, and being a sufficient indication of further mischief intended to him, if ever he should have opportunity, it is no wonder it is called persecution, Gal 4:29, although the Hebrew word may be rendered beating him, as it is used 2Sa 2:14.
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 The casting out of Ishmael is here considered of,…
The casting out of Ishmael is here considered of, and resolved on.
I. Ishmael himself gave the occasion by some affronts he gave to Isaac his little brother, some think on the day that Abraham made the feast for joy that Isaac was safely weaned, which the Jews say was not till he was three years old, others say five. Sarah herself was an eye-witness of the abuse: she saw the son of the Egyptian mocking (Gen 21:9), mocking Isaac, no doubt, for it is said, with reference to this (Gal 4:29), that he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. Ishmael is here called the son of the Egyptian, because, as some think, the 400 years' affliction of the seed of Abraham by the Egyptians began now, and was to be dated hence, Gen 15:13. She saw him playing with Isaac, so the Septuagint, and, in play, mocking him. Ishmael was fourteen years older than Isaac; and, when children are together, the elder should be careful and tender of the younger: but it argued a very base and sordid disposition in Ishmael to be abusive to a child that was no way a match for him. Note, 1. God takes notice of what children say and do in their play, and will reckon with them if they say or do amiss, though their parents do not. 2. Mocking is a great sin, and very provoking to God. 3. There is a rooted remaining enmity in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman. The children of promise must expect to be mocked. This is persecution, which those that will live godly must count upon. 4. None are rejected and cast out from God but those who have first deserved it. Ishmael is continued in Abraham's family till he becomes a disturbance, grief, and scandal to it.
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II. Sarah made the motion: Cast out this bond-woman, Gen 21:10. This seems to be spoken in some heat, yet it is quoted (Gal 4:30) as if it had been spoken by a spirit of prophecy; and it is the sentence passed on all hypocrites and carnal people, though they have a place and a name in the visible church. All that are born after the flesh and not born again, that rest in the law and reject the gospel promise, shall certainly be cast out. It is made to point particularly at the rejection of the unbelieving Jews, who, though they were the seed of Abraham, yet, because they submitted not to the gospel covenant, were unchurched and disfranchised: and that which, above any thing, provoked God to cast them off was their mocking and persecuting the gospel church, God's Isaac, in its infancy, Th1 2:16, Note, There are many who are familiarly conversant with the children of God in this world, and yet shall not partake with them in the inheritance of sons. Ishmael might be Isaac's play-fellow and school-fellow, yet not his fellow-heir.
III. Abraham was averse to it: The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, Gen 21:11. 1. It grieved him that Ishmael had given such a provocation. Note, Children ought to consider that the more their parents love them the more they are grieved at their misconduct, and particularly at their quarrels among themselves. 2. It grieved him that Sarah insisted upon such a punishment. "Might it not suffice to correct him? would nothing less serve than to expel him?" Note, Even the needful extremities which must be used with wicked and incorrigible children are very grievous to tender parents, who cannot thus afflict willingly.
IV. God determined it, Gen 21:12, Gen 21:13. We may well suppose Abraham to be greatly agitated about this matter, loth to displease Sarah, and yet loth to expel Ishmael; in this difficulty God tells him what his will is, and then he is satisfied. Note, A good man desires no more in doubtful cases than to know his duty, and what God would have him do; and, when he is clear in this, he is, or should be, easy. To make Abraham so, God sets this matter before him in a true light, and shows him, 1. That the casting out of Ishmael was necessary to the establishment of Isaac in the rights and privileges of the covenant: In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Both Christ and the church must descend from Abraham through the loins of Isaac; this is the entail of the promise upon Isaac, and is quoted by the apostle (Rom 9:7) to show that not all who come from Abraham's loins were the heirs of Abraham's covenant. Isaac, the promised son, must be the father of the promised seed; therefore, "Away with Ishmael, send him far enough, lest he corrupt the manners or attempt to invade the rights of Isaac." It will be his security to have his rival banished. The covenant seed of Abraham must be a peculiar people, a people by themselves, from the very first, distinguished, not mingled with those that were out of covenant; for this reason Ishmael must be separated. Abraham was called alone, and so must Isaac be. See Isa 51:2. It is probable that Sarah little thought of this (Joh 11:51), but God took what she said, and turned it into an oracle, as afterwards, Gen 27:10. 2. That the casting out of Ishmael should not be his ruin, Gen 21:13. He shall be a nation, because he is thy seed. We are not sure that it was his eternal ruin. It is presumption to say that all those who are left out of the external dispensation from all his mercies: those may be saved who are not thus honoured. However, we are sure it was not his temporal ruin. Though he was chased out of the church, he was not chased out of the world. I will make him a nation. Note, (1.) Nations are of God's making: he founds them, he forms them, he fixes them. (2.) Many are full of the blessings of God's providence that are strangers to the blessings of his covenant. (3.) The children of this world often fare the better, as to outward things, for their relation to the children of God.
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 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this bondwoman…
Wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son,.... Hagar, Sarah's handmaid and bondservant, and her son Ishmael; by this it appears that Hagar was concerned in this affair, and set her son on to mock Isaac, at least she encouraged him in it, buoying: him up with his being the firstborn, and having a right to the inheritance; wherefore Sarah saw plainly that there would be no peace nor comfort for her and her son, unless Hagar and her son were turned out of doors, for which she moves Abraham; and this not merely in a passion, but by divine direction and influence, as is evident from God's approbation of it:
for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac; which he would seem to be, if continued, and would think himself so, and there would be continual bickerings about it; wherefore, to put it out of all doubt who was heir, she desires that he and his mother both might be cast out of the house, which would be a clear determination of this matter. Sarah may seem to take upon her too much, to be so peremptory, as to declare who should, and who should not be heir, which more properly belonged to Abraham, whom she called her lord, Gen 18:12; but what will sufficiently free her from any charge of this kind is the revelation of the divine will, and the promise of God that so it should be; namely, that the covenant God had so often renewed with Abraham should be established with Isaac, and not with Ishmael, Gen 17:19. Now what was the design of God, in guiding Sarah to make such a motion as this to Abraham, is taught us by the Apostle Paul, who makes these two women to be types and figures of the two covenants, and their sons of those that are under them, see Gal 4:22.
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 Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian mocking -…
Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian mocking - Mocking Isaac no doubt, for it is sad, with reference to this, Gal. iv, 29, that he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the spirit. Ishmael is here called the son of the Egyptian, because (as some think) the four hundred years affliction of the seed of Abraham by the Egyptians began now, and was to be dated from hence.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Mocking.] What was implied in this mocking…
Verse 9. Mocking.] What was implied in this mocking is not known. St. Paul, Ga 4:29, calls it persecuting; but it is likely he meant no more than some species of ridicule used by Ishmael on the occasion, and probably with respect to the age of Sarah at Isaac's birth, and her previous barrenness. Jonathan ben Uzziel and the Jerusalem Targum represent Ishmael as performing some idolatrous rite on the occasion, and that this had given the offence to Sarah. Conjectures are as useless as they are endless. Whatever it was, it became the occasion of the expulsion of himself and mother. Several authors are of opinion that the Egyptian bondage of four hundred years, mentioned Ge 15:13, commenced with this persecution of the righteous seed by the son of an Egyptian woman.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 21:9. Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian,…
Gen 21:9. Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian, mocking — Mocking Isaac, no doubt, for it is said, with reference to this, Gal 4:29, that “he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the spirit.”
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 Playing, or persecuting, as St. Paul explains it, Galatians…
Playing, or persecuting, as St. Paul explains it, Galatians iv. 29. The play tended to pervert the morals of the young Isaac, whether we understand this term metsachak, as implying idolatry, or obscene actions, or fighting; in all which senses it is used in Scripture. See Exodus xxxii. 6; Genesis xxvi. 8; 2 Kings ii. 14.) (Menochius) --- Ismael was 13 years older than Isaac; and took occasion, perhaps, from the feast, and other signs of preference given by his parents to the latter, to hate and persecute him, which Sara soon perceiving, was forced to have recourse to the expedient apparently so harsh, of driving Ismael and his mother from the house, that they might have an establishment of their own, and not disturb Isaac in the inheritance after the death of Abraham. (Haydock) --- In this she was guided by a divine light; (Menochius) and not by any female antipathy, ver. 12. Many of the actions of worldlings, which at first sight may appear innocent, have a natural and fatal tendency to pervert the morals of the just; and therefore, we must keep as much as possible at a distance from their society. --- With Isaac her son. Hebrew has simply mocking, without mentioning what. But the sequel shews the true meaning; and this addition was found in some Bibles in the days of St. Jerome, as he testifies, and is expressed in the Septuagint. (Haydock) --- Ismael was a figure of the synagogue, which persecuted the Church of Christ in her birth. (Du Hamel)
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 Sarah saw the son of Hagar . . .…
Sarah saw the son of Hagar . . . mocking--Ishmael was aware of the great change in his prospects, and under the impulse of irritated or resentful feelings, in which he was probably joined by his mother, treated the young heir with derision and probably some violence (Gal 4:29).
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 EXPULSION OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL, Gen_21:9-21.
EXPULSION OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL, Gen_21:9-21.
9. Sarah saw — With a mother’s careful eye.
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Mocking — Some suppose he mocked at the feast held at Isaac’s weaning, and made derision of the contrast between the weak child and the great hopes entertained concerning him. But the Piel form of this word appears everywhere to carry with it the associations of some carnal and lascivious indulgence. Sarah saw Ishmael (מצחק) committing some lewd act, perhaps of self-pollution, and the sight filled her with an indignation and contempt towards him, which led her to insist on banishing from her household both him and his mother. She would not have her Isaac contaminated by such an associate. So, too, the word, as used in Gen_19:14, denotes that Lot’s son-in-law, to whom all things were impure, could not comprehend Lot’s words of warning, but regarded him as one of the lewd fellows who were out at night indulging in the common practices of Sodom. In Gen_26:8, it evidently means some carnal intercourse between Isaac and Rebekah, such as was proper only between husband and wife, and the same thought is equally noticeable in the language of Potiphar’s wife in Gen_39:14-17, and the lewd play of the Israelites at the feast of the golden calf. Exo_32:6. And we may well believe that the sport which Samson was brought out to make before the merry and perhaps half-drunken Philistines (Jdg_16:25) was some naked exposure and obscene abuse. These are all the places in which the Piel form of צחק occurs, and there is, therefore, no need of giving it a different sense in any one of these passages.
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 9. mocking] Better, as R.V. marg., playing. The original…
9. mocking] Better, as R.V. marg., playing. The original is the same verb, in the intensive mood, which is rendered “laugh,” e.g. in Gen_21:6. There is no need to introduce the meaning of “mockery,” which would require an object. The verb used absolutely, and rendered, as in the marg., gives a suitable sense. The LXX and Latin so render it, adding words of explanation: παίζοντα μετὰ Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς, ludentem cum Isaac filio suo, as if Sarah, watching Ishmael playing with her own child, had been seized with a sudden fit of passionate jealousy. Ishmael was the elder, but he was the son of her handmaid; and in Sarah’s eyes it was unfitting that Ishmael should even play with or near her own child.
The Rabbinic interpretations of this word were productive of strange speculations. St Paul refers to one of them, which understood the word to denote “teasing” and “persecution”; hence Gal_4:29. Other more fantastic attempts at exegesis connected this verse with Ishmael’s sins of idolatry, of impurity, and even of attempts to take his brother’s life.
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 (9) Mocking.—The verb used here is the same as…
(9) Mocking.—The verb used here is the same as that rendered to laugh in Gen_21:6, but in an intensive conjugation. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not said, but we may dismiss all those interpretations which charge him with abominable wickedness; for had he been guilty of any such criminal conduct, the sending him away would not have been so “very grievous in Abraham’s sight” (Gen_21:11). On the other hand, we may feel sure that Sarah was not without good reason for her conduct; for St. Paul bears witness that Ishmael persecuted Isaac (Gal_4:29). The LXX. and Vulg. translate playing, sporting, and Gesenius thinks that he was “dancing gracefully; “but if this were all, Sarah’s jealousy would have been most unjust. When, however, we consider that Ishmael had been for fourteen years the heir, and that he now fell back into an inferior position, we cannot be surprised if at this banquet in his rival’s honour he gave way to spiteful feelings, and by word and gesture derided and ridiculed him. Hagar too had probably never regarded Sarah with much affection since her forced return, and now that her son was disinherited, her bitterness would grow more intense. These jealousies are the inevitable results of polygamy; and wherever it exists, the father’s life is made wretched by the intrigues of the women for their children.
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 And Sarah saw at the feast already mentioned (Knobel,…
CHAPTER 21:9-14
And Sarah saw at the feast already mentioned (Knobel, Keil); probably also on different occasions since the birth of Isaacthe son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Paizonta meta Isaak tou uijou aujthv (LXX), ludentem cum Isaaco filio sue (Vulgate), playing like a child (Aben Ezra, Knobel, Tuch, Ilgen), playing and dancing gracefully (Gesenius); but the stronger sense of the word, implying mockery, scoffing, irritating and deriding laughter (Kimchi, Vatablus, Grotius, Calvin, Rosenm Keil, Kalisch, "Speaker"s Commentary," Murphy), besides being admissible (cf. Gen_19:14 Gen_26:8 Gen_39:14, Gen_39:17; Exo_32:6) seems involved in the Piel form of the participle qjexm (Kurtz), and is demanded by Gal_4:29. That Ishmael ridiculed the banquet on the occasion of Isaac"s weaning (Malvenda) quarreled with him about the heirship (Fagins, Piseator), and perhaps made sport of him as a father of nations (Hengstenberg), though plausible conjectures, are not stated in the text. Ainsworth dates from this event the 400 years of Israel"s oppression. (vide Gen_15:13)
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Vers. 9-14.
The expulsion of Ishmael.
I THE CAUSE.
1. The persecution of Isaac. "Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian mocking." That this was no mere sportive pleasantry may be inferred from the deep feeling it aroused in Sarah, the summary chastisement it brought on Ishmael, and the" severe language in which it is characterized by Paul. The emphasis laid by Sarah on the heirship suggests the probability that Ishmael"s offence partook of the nature of wicked, irritating laughter at the position and prospects of Sarah"s son, springing partly from envy and partly from unbelief.
2. The apprehension of Sarah. That Sarah was actuated by personal dislike of Hagar"s boy, or inspired solely by maternal jealousy, is a gratuitous assumption. It is more satisfactory to ascribe her seemingly harsh counsel to the clearness with which she recognized that Isaac alone was the Heaven-appointed heir, and that nothing must be allowed to either damage his position or endanger his prospects.
3. The commandment of God. Considering the patriarch"s former experience of "hearkening to Sarah," his acquiescence in her counsel on this occasion would in all probability have been problematical,.had not God interposed to recommend its adoption. It would both secure the happiness of Isaac and remove temptation from the path of Ishmael; while it would serve to educate the patriarch himself for the coming sacrifice on Mount Moriah. To facilitate the patriarch"s compliance with the Divine injunction, the promise of future greatness to Ishmael is renewed, and in the end Hagar and her boy are dismissed.
II THE MANNER.
1. With pain to himself. "The thing was very grievous in Abraham"s sight because of his son." Parental affection must have urged him to retain his first-born son. Conjugal love must have interceded for her who had been to him as a wife. Self-interest may have represented the advisability of still clinging to Ishmael for the fulfillment of the promise, in case the line of Isaac should fail. Yet grace and faith triumphed. "All things are possible to him that believeth.
2. With tenderness towards the outcasts. Making provision for their immediate necessities, and either then or afterwards adding gifts, (Gen_25:6) he sends them away, doubtless with many prayers and tears. Nature and grace both enjoin tenderness in dealing with those whom God in his providence calls to suffer.
3. With submission to the will of God. The moment the mind of God was ascertained, internal controversy ceased and determined. The patriarch was never irresolute in following when God led. Obedience is the first duty of faith.
III THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE.
1. Ishmael and Isaac representatives of Abraham"s natural descendants and Abraham"s spiritual posterity; Israel after the flesh and Israel after the spirit; souls in legal bondage and souls enjoying spiritual freedom.
2. Ishmaels mockery of Isaac foreshadowed the persecuting spirit of the unbelieving Jews, who adhered to the system of Moses, towards the disciples of the New Testament faith, who sought salvation through Christ; hence also the antagonism of the sinful principle in man to the renewed life of grace.
1. Ishmaels separation from Isaac prefigured the ultimate removal of unbelievers from believers, of the world from the Church, of those in a state of nature or of legal bondage from those who are children of the promise and of the heavenly Jerusalem. Learn
1. The wickedness and danger of mocking at sacred persons and things.
2. The superior spiritual insight not infrequently exhibited by woman.
3. The necessity of trying all human opinions by God"s revealed will.
4. The care God takes to guide sincere souls as to the path of duty.
5. The proper function of faith, which is to hear and obey.
6. The impossibility of any compromise existing between the world and the Church.
7. The final casting out of the wicked from the congregation of the righteous.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Hagar and Ishmael Cast Forth
Hagar and Ishmael Cast Forth
v. 9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. It was a jeering laughter, a sneer, which Ishmael affected, perhaps as early as the festival of weaning. Unbelief, jealousy, and pride were aroused in Ishmael by the fact that Isaac was plainly the heir of the household. The mimicking, mocking, ridiculing on the part of Ishmael against Isaac could not long remain hidden from Sarah.
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v. 10. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. This was not a matter of petty jealousy, but was spoken in agreement with the promise of the Lord. Till now Hagar had been suffered in the house of Abraham, but Sarah’s demand was that the slave be driven forth, that Abraham renounce all connection with her and her son.
v. 11. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. His personal affection for his own flesh and blood, and the fact that God had given him special promises concerning Ishmael, Gen 17:18-20, caused him to hesitate about taking such a step.
v. 12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. It was God who decided the matter, and in Sarah’s favor. Abraham was to set aside personal feelings and considerations, both as to Ishmael and as to Hagar, and heed the voice of his wife. For Isaac was to be the bearer of the Messianic promise; through his lineage the blessing of the Lord was to come upon the nations, in the person of the Messiah. Cf Rom 9:7-8; Heb 11:18. The words of Sarah have a special spiritual meaning, as St. Paul shows, Gal 4:29: "As then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. " Those that are spiritual-minded, the children of God, are derided and persecuted by the carnal-minded, by the children of the world. The will of the Lord is that His children should separate themselves in all spiritual matters from the children of the world, and avoid all the pitfalls which are placed for the unwary feet of such as seek the friendship of His enemies.
v. 13. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation because he is thy seed. For Abraham’s sake even the slave’s son should receive a large share of this world’s blessings.
v. 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. Abraham, as usual, lost no time in performing his duty, unpleasant as it was. Early the next morning he gave Hagar a supply of bread and a skin filled with water, and thereupon called Ishmael, then a lad of almost seventeen years. When these two had been dismissed, they wandered forth toward the southwest, probably with the intention of reaching the main caravan route toward Egypt. Thus the separation, which had to come sooner or later, had been effected.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.