Genesis 21
21
1And the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) visited Sarah [Princess] as he had said, and the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate) did unto Sarah [Princess] as he had spoken.
2For Sarah [Princess] conceived, and bore Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] a son in his old age, at the set time of which God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] had spoken to him.
3And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah [Princess] bore to him, Yitz’chak [Laughter].
4And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] circumcised his son Yitz’chak [Laughter] being eight days old, as God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] had commanded him.
5And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] was an hundred years old, when his son Yitz’chak [Laughter] was born unto him.
6And Sarah [Princess] said, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has made me to laugh, [so that] all that hear will laugh with me.
7And she said, Who would have said unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], that Sarah [Princess] should have given children suck? for I have born [him] a son in his old age.
8And the child grew, and was weaned: and Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] made a great feast the [same] day that Yitz’chak [Laughter] was weaned.
9And Sarah [Princess] saw the son of Hagar (Flight) the Mitzrayimot (People of the Black Land), which she had born unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], mocking.
10For what reason she said unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, [even] with Yitz’chak [Laughter].
11And the thing was very grievous in Avraham’s [exalted father/Fly They Will] sight because of his son.
12And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] said unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], Let it not be grievous in youri sight because of the boy, and because of youri bondwoman; in all that Sarah [Princess] has said unto youi, hearken unto her voice; for in Yitz’chak [Laughter] shall youri seed be called.
13And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he [is] youri seed.
14And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] 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 Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath).
15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16And she went, and sat her down over against [him] a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against [him], and lifted up her voice, and wept.
17And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] called to Hagar (Flight) out of heaven, and said unto her, What ails youi, Hagar (Flight)? fear not; for God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] has heard the voice of the boy where he [is].
18Arise, lift up the boy, and hold him in youri hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink.
20And God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] was with the boy; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pa’ran [place of caverns] (place of caves): and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Mitzrayim [Egypt].
22And it came to pass at that time, that Avi-melekh (my father is king) and Pikhol (mouth of all) the chief captain of his host spoke unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], saying, God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered]is with youi in all that youi do.
23Now therefore swear unto me here by God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] that youi will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: [but] according to the kindness that I have done unto youi, youi shall do unto me, and to the land wherein youi have detained (held).
24And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] said, I will swear.
25And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] reproved Avi-melekh (my father is king) because of a well of water, which Avi-melekh’s (my father is king) servants had violently taken away.
26And Avi-melekh (my father is king) said, I do not know who has done this thing: neither did youi tell me, neither yet heard I [of it], but to day.
27And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Avi-melekh (my father is king); and both of them made a covenant.
28And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29And Avi-melekh (my father is king) said unto Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will], What [mean] these seven ewe lambs which youi hast set by themselves?
30And he said, For [these] seven ewe lambs shall youi take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have dug this well.
31For what reason he called that place Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath); because there they swore both of them.
32In the following manner they made a covenant at Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath): then Avi-melekh (my father is king) rose up, and Pikhol (mouth of all) the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the P’lishtim (wanderers).
33And [Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will]] planted a grove in Be’er-Sheva (well of the sevenfold oath), and called there on the name of the Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate), the everlasting God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered].
34And Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] detained (held) in the P’lishtim’ (wanderers) land many days.
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Genesis 21
21
Birth of Isaac.#The long-awaited birth of Isaac parallels the birth of Ishmael in chap. 16, precipitating a rivalry and expulsion as in that chapter. Though this chapter is unified, the focus of vv. 1–7 is exclusively on Sarah and Isaac, and the focus of vv. 8–21 is exclusively on Hagar and Ishmael. The promise of a son to the barren Sarah and elderly Abraham has been central to the previous chapters and now that promise comes true with the birth of Isaac. The other great promise, that of land, will be resolved, at least in an anticipatory way, in Abraham’s purchase of the cave at Machpelah in chap. 23. The parallel births of the two boys has influenced the Lucan birth narratives of John the Baptist and Jesus (Lk 1–2). 1The Lord took note of Sarah as he had said he would; the Lord did for her as he had promised.#Gn 17:19; 18:10. 2Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had stated.#Gal 4:23; Heb 11:11. 3Abraham gave the name Isaac to this son of his whom Sarah bore him.#Mt 1:2; Lk 3:34. 4When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.#Gn 17:10–14; Acts 7:8. 5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6Sarah then said, “God has given me cause to laugh,#Laugh: for the third time (cf. 17:17 and 18:12) there is laughter, playing on the similarity in Hebrew between the pronunciation of the name Isaac and words associated with laughter. and all who hear of it will laugh with me.#Gn 17:17. 7Who would ever have told Abraham,” she added, “that Sarah would nurse children! Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great banquet on the day of the child’s weaning.
9Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham playing with her son Isaac; 10so she demanded of Abraham: “Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!”#Jgs 11:2; Gal 4:30. 11Abraham was greatly distressed because it concerned a son of his.#A son of his: Abraham is the father of both boys, but Sarah is the mother only of Isaac. Abraham is very concerned that Ishmael have a sufficient inheritance. 12But God said to Abraham: Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Obey Sarah, no matter what she asks of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants will bear your name.#Rom 9:7; Heb 11:18. 13As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also,#I will make a nation of him also: Ishmael’s descendants are named in 25:12–18. since he too is your offspring.
14Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back,#Placing the child on her back: a reading based on an emendation of the traditional Hebrew text. In the traditional Hebrew text, Abraham put the bread and the waterskin on Hagar’s back, while her son apparently walked beside her. In this way the traditional Hebrew text harmonizes the data of the Priestly source, in which Ishmael would have been at least fourteen years old when Isaac was born; compare 16:16 with 21:5; cf. 17:25. But in the present Elohist (?) story, Ishmael is obviously a little boy, not much older than Isaac; cf. vv. 15, 18. he sent her away. As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba, 15the water in the skin was used up. So she put the child down under one of the bushes, 16and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away; for she said to herself, “I cannot watch the child die.” As she sat opposite him, she wept aloud. 17God heard the boy’s voice, and God’s angel called to Hagar from heaven: “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not fear; God has heard the boy’s voice in this plight of his.#Gn 16:7. 18Get up, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make of him a great nation.” 19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink.
20God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert bowman. 21He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
The Covenant at Beer-sheba. 22#Of the two related promises of progeny and land, that of progeny has been fulfilled in the previous chapter. Now the claim on the land begins to be solidified by Abimelech’s recognition of Abraham’s claim on the well at Beer-sheba; it will be furthered by Abraham’s purchase of the cave at Machpelah in chap. 23. Two levels of editing are visible in the story: (1) vv. 22–24, 27, 32, the general covenant with Abimelech; (2) vv. 25–26, 28–30, 31, Abraham’s claim on the well. Both versions play on the root of the Hebrew word sheba‘, which means “seven” and “swear,” and the place name Beer-sheba. At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham: “God is with you in everything you do. 23So now, swear to me by God at this place#This place: Beer-sheba (v. 31). Abimelech had come from Gerar (20:2), about thirty miles west of Beer-sheba. that you will not deal falsely with me or with my progeny and posterity, but will act as loyally toward me and the land in which you reside as I have acted toward you.” 24Abraham replied, “I so swear.”
25Abraham, however, reproached Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized by force. 26“I have no idea who did that,” Abimelech replied. “In fact, you never told me about it, nor did I ever hear of it until now.”
27Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech and the two made a covenant. 28Abraham also set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock, 29and Abimelech asked him, “What is the purpose of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30Abraham answered, “The seven ewe lambs you shall accept from me that you may be my witness that I dug this well.” 31This is why the place is called Beer-sheba; the two of them took an oath there. 32When they had thus made the covenant in Beer-sheba, Abimelech, along with Phicol, the commander of his army, left to return to the land of the Philistines.#Philistines: one of the Sea Peoples, who migrated from Mycenaean Greece around 1200 B.C. and settled on the coastland of Canaan, becoming a principal rival of Israel. Non-biblical texts do not use the term “Philistine” before ca. 1200 B.C.; it is probable that this usage and those in chap. 26 are anachronistic, perhaps applying a later ethnic term for an earlier, less-known one.
33Abraham planted a tamarisk at Beer-sheba, and there he invoked by name the Lord, God the Eternal.#God the Eternal: in Hebrew, ’el ‘olam, perhaps the name of the deity of the pre-Israelite sanctuary at Beer-sheba, but used by Abraham as a title of God; cf. Is 40:28. 34Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
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