Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac. I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.” 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.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 14 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 On vv9, 12, 13, 14 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 On vv9–14 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 On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 14 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 On vv9, 14 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 On vv9–14 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 On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 14 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 On vv9, 10, 12, 14 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 On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 14 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 On vv9, 11, 14 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 On vv9, 10, 12, 13, 14 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 On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 14 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 On vv9–14 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 On vv9–14 (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 On vv9–14 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.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v9 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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 12, 14 she said to Abraham
she said to Abraham
"Sarah said to Abraham"
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Drive out
"send away" or "get rid of"
this slave woman and her son
This refers to Hagar and Ishmael. Sarah probably did not refer to them by name because she was angry with them.
with my son, with Isaac
"with my son Isaac"
This thing was very grievous to Abraham
"Abraham was very unhappy about what Sarah said"
because of his son
"because it was about his son." It is implied that this means his son, Ishmael. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Abraham
cast out
servant
heir
Isaac
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 vv10, 11, 14 21:10 Earlier, Sarah mistreated Hagar and pressured her to…
21:10 Earlier, Sarah mistreated Hagar and pressured her to flee (16:6); when Hagar’s son mistreated Isaac, Sarah demanded that that slave woman and her son leave.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.