Genesis 21:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 21:14 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
2. Genesis 21:14 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
3. Genesis 21:14 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
4. Genesis 21:14 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
5. Genesis 21:14 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
6. Genesis 21:15 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
7. Genesis 21:16 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about 100 yards (90 meters).
8. Genesis 21:16 tn Heb “said.”
9. Genesis 21:16 tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל, ʾal) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.
10. Genesis 21:16 tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.