Genesis 21:1-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 21:1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).
2. Genesis 21:1 tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3. Genesis 21:1 tn Heb “spoken.”
4. Genesis 21:2 tn Or “she conceived.”
5. Genesis 21:3 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.