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Genesis 21
The Voice
Genesis 21
The Voice
Once again Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands. Although God has promised to protect and prosper them, they choose half-truths and deception in order to stay in Abimelech’s favor. The results could have been disastrous; but God’s intervention stops Abimelech from violating Sarah’s marriage, and in the end obedience preserves them all. Abraham, it seems, is rewarded, not because of his deception but in spite of it. Since Abimelech does the right thing, God brings hope and healing to his family as well. Does good then result from evil? Not at all. The good comes from God’s action and everyone’s eventual obedience. What is clear through these narratives is that God has a plan, and He can manage any contingency in achieving His purpose. When God is on the move, even evil can be turned into good.
21 The Eternal One kept His promise, 2 and Sarah conceived and gave birth to Abraham’s son (in their advanced age) exactly as the Eternal had indicated. 3 Abraham named his child, who was born to Sarah, Isaac; 4 and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, just as God had told him to do. 5 Abraham was already one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
Sarah: 6 God has graced me with the gift of laughter! To be sure, everyone who hears my story will laugh with me.
7 Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse children? Yet I have given birth to his son at this late stage in his life!
8 Time went on, and Isaac grew and was weaned from his mother. Abraham prepared a special feast in Isaac’s honor, to celebrate the day he was weaned. 9 But a damper was put on the day when Sarah saw the son Hagar (the Egyptian girl) bore for Abraham laughing and teasing her son. 10 She became jealous and demanded of Abraham:
Sarah: Throw this slave woman and her son out right now! The son of this slave is not going to share the inheritance along with my son, Isaac, if I have anything to do with it![a]
11 Sarah’s demand was extremely distressing to Abraham, since Ishmael was also his son. 12 But God assured Abraham.
Eternal One: Don’t worry about the young man and your servant. Go along with whatever Sarah says, for through Isaac your covenant children will be named.[b] 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will take care of him. I will raise up a nation through him as well because he is also your son.
14 So Abraham got up early in the morning, took bread and a container of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them on her shoulder, gave her the child—his firstborn—and sent her away. She left and wandered in the wilderness near Beersheba. 15 When the water in the container was all gone, in desperation she left the child under the shade of one of the bushes. 16 Then she walked off and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away.
Hagar: I can’t bear to watch my child die.
Though Ishmael is about 16 years old at this time, she still considers him her child.
As she sat there, she cried loudly. 17 God heard the voice of young Ishmael, and a messenger of God called out to Hagar from heaven.
Messenger: Why are you so upset, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the voice of young Ishmael. 18 Come now, lift him up, and take him by the hand. I have plans to make a great nation from his descendants!
19 Then God opened Hagar’s eyes. She looked up from her grief and saw a well of water not far away. She went over to it, filled the container she carried with water, and gave the young man a drink. 20 God watched over him for the rest of his life. Ishmael grew up, lived in the wilderness, and became an expert archer. 21 So Ishmael went on to live out his life in the wilderness of Paran. When the time was right, his mother obtained a wife for him from her homeland Egypt.
22 Meanwhile, Abimelech, along with Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke confidentially to Abraham.
Now that Abraham’s people are so numerous and powerful, Abimelech wants to see whether Abraham will remain loyal to him.
Abimelech: God seems to bless everything you do. 23 So swear to me right now on the name of your God that you and your people will be honest with me and never try to deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Promise that you will always treat me and this land where you have resided as a foreigner with kindness and grace, as I have treated you.
Abraham: 24 I swear.
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a time when he wasn’t treated so kindly: a well of water Abraham’s men had dug had been seized by Abimelech’s servants.
Abimelech: 26 I don’t know who has done this. You didn’t tell me before; this is the first I have heard about it.
27 Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant-treaty together. 28 Abraham took seven female lambs from the flock and set them aside.
Abimelech (to Abraham): 29 Why have you set these seven female lambs apart from the others?
Abraham: 30 These seven female lambs I am presenting to you represent your personal and public acknowledgment that I am the one who dug this well, and that it belongs to me.
31 From then on, the place where the well was located was called Beersheba because it was there that the two of them swore this oath together. 32 After they had made the covenant-treaty at Beersheba, Abimelech, along with Phicol, the commander of his army, left and went back to the land which now belongs to the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba at the site, and he used it as yet another place to honor and call upon the name of the Eternal One, the Everlasting God.[c] 34 For many years Abraham lived in peace as a foreigner in what would become the land of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- 21:10 Galatians 4:30
- 21:12 Romans 9:7; Hebrews 11:18
- 21:33 Hebrew, El Olam
Genesis 21
New International Version
Genesis 21
New International Version
The Birth of Isaac
21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah(A) as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.(B) 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son(C) to Abraham in his old age,(D) at the very time God had promised him.(E) 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac[a](F) to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him,(G) as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old(H) when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter,(I) and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”(J)
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8 The child grew and was weaned,(K) and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham(L) was mocking,(M) 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman(N) and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”(O)
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.(P) 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned.(Q) 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation(R) also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar.(S) He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.(T)
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she[c] began to sob.(U)
17 God heard the boy crying,(V) and the angel of God(W) called to Hagar from heaven(X) and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid;(Y) God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.(Z)”
19 Then God opened her eyes(AA) and she saw a well of water.(AB) So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy(AC) as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran,(AD) his mother got a wife for him(AE) from Egypt.
The Treaty at Beersheba
22 At that time Abimelek(AF) and Phicol the commander of his forces(AG) said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.(AH) 23 Now swear(AI) to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants.(AJ) Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”(AK)
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.(AL) 26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.(AM) 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness(AN) that I dug this well.(AO)”
31 So that place was called Beersheba,[d](AP) because the two men swore an oath(AQ) there.
32 After the treaty(AR) had been made at Beersheba,(AS) Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces(AT) returned to the land of the Philistines.(AU) 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree(AV) in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord,(AW) the Eternal God.(AX) 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines(AY) for a long time.
Footnotes
- Genesis 21:3 Isaac means he laughs.
- Genesis 21:12 Or seed
- Genesis 21:16 Hebrew; Septuagint the child
- Genesis 21:31 Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath.
The Voice (VOICE)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.