XXI. BIRTH OF ISAAC, AND REJECTION OF ISHMAEL. (1) AND THE LORD (JEHOVAH) VISITED SARAH AS HE HAD SAID. — See Genesis 17:19, where it is Elohim who gives the promise. So here in Genesis 21:2 the name Elohim is interchanged with Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM CALLED THE NAME OF HIS SON. — Attention has been called to the fact that we have here two things contrary to subsequent usage: for, first, the father names the child, and not the mother; and, secondly, he names him at his birth, instead of waiting until his circumcision. It might be enough t... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD HATH MADE ME TO LAUGH. — Sarah’s laugh was one of mingled emotions. Joy was uppermost in her mind, but women do not laugh for joy at the birth of a child. Doubtless she called to mind the feelings with which she listened to the announcement of her bearing a son, made by those whom she then regar... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHILD GREW, AND WAS WEANED. — According to tradition, Isaac was two years old when weaned. Three years is the age mentioned in 2 Chronicles 31:16 2Ma 7:27; and Samuel was old enough at his weaning to be left at the tabernacle with Eli (1 Samuel 1:24). In Persia and India it is still the custom t... [ Continue Reading ]
MOCKING. — The verb used here is the same as that rendered _to laugh_ in Genesis 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 co... [ Continue Reading ]
BONDWOMAN. — Heb., _ammâh._ This word is rightly translated _handmaid_ in Galatians 4:22, &c., Revised Version. It is rendered _maid_ in Genesis 30:3, and in the plural, _maidservants,_ in Genesis 20:17, where, as we have seen, it means Abimelech’s inferior wives. So also in 1 Samuel 25:41, Abigail... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THING WAS VERY GRIEVOUS IN ABRAHAM’S SIGHT. — Heb., _the word_ (or matter) _was evil exceedingly in Abraham’s eyes._ It was not merely painful to him because of his natural affection for Ishmael (Genesis 17:18), but he also thought the proposal unjust.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ISAAC SHALL THY SEED BE CALLED — Heb., _in_ _Isaac there shall be called to thee a seed:_ that is, the seed that shall especially be accounted thine, and which, as such, shall inherit the promises, will be that sprung from Isaac.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN. — Heb., _of the handmaid._ Hagar is never acknowledged as Abraham’s wife, though her child, as Abraham’s son, receives a noble promise for the father’s sake.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CHILD. — Ishmael was now sixteen or seventeen years of age, but the word _yeled_ used in this place has no reference to age, and in Genesis 4:23 is even translated “young man.” It literally signifies _one born,_ and is applied in Genesis 42:22 to Joseph, when he was about Ishmael’s age. So t... [ Continue Reading ]
SHE CAST THE CHILD UNDER ONE OF THE SHRUBS. — The act was one of despair. Ishmael, though seventeen years of age, had not yet come to his strength, and at a time when human life was so prolonged that forty was the usual age for marriage, was probably not as capable of bearing fatigue as a young man... [ Continue Reading ]
LET ME NOT SEE THE DEATH OF THE CHILD. — The whole story is most touching. Day after day the mother, with her child, had wandered in the wilderness, using the water in the skin sparingly, ever hoping to come to some spring, but with too little knowledge of the locality to guide her steps wisely. At... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ANGEL OF GOD. — In Genesis 16:7 it was “the angel of Jehovah” which appeared unto Hagar; here it is the angel of Elohim. It is impossible not to be struck with this exact use of the names of Deity. Hagar was then still a member of Abraham’s family; here she is so no longer; and it is Elohim, and... [ Continue Reading ]
HOLD HIM IN THINE HAND. — Literally, _strengthen thine hand in him,_ hold him firmly. As Jerome remarks, the boy thus going hand in hand with his mother must have been her companion in her journey, and not a burden upon her shoulder. We must add that the words do not refer to what she was to do imme... [ Continue Reading ]
A WELL OF WATER. — Not a cistern, but a spring of living water. The mirage in the desert so wearies the traveller, that at last he turns in despair from what may be more truthful signs. But after her outburst of grief, Hagar would grow more calm, and, encouraged by the angel’s voice, she renews her... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GREW. — Literally, _became great,_ that is, grew to manhood. AND DWELT IN THE WILDERNESS. — He sought no refuge in Egypt, where so large a Semitic population was gathering, nor in any Canaanite town, but took to the wandering life in the desert, such as is still usual with the Arabs. AN ARCHER.... [ Continue Reading ]
A WIFE OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT. — However natural this might be on Hagar’s part, it would never theless strengthen the heathen element in Ishmael and his descendants. We find, nevertheless, that he was subsequently on friendly terms with Isaac (Genesis 25:9; Genesis 28:8). For Paran, see Genesis 14... [ Continue Reading ]
ABIMELECH’S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM. (22) ABIMELECH AND PHICHOL. — Abimelech, that is _Father-King,_ was the title not only of the king of Gerar, but of the kings of the Philistines generally (Genesis 26:1; 1 Samuel 21:10, marg.; Psalms 34, tit.). In like manner Phichol, _mouth of all,_ seems to have... [ Continue Reading ]
NOR WITH MY SON, NOR WITH MY SON’S SON. — The words are not those commonly used for son and grandson, but a Hebrew phrase signifying _my kith and kin._ They might be translated, “nor with mine offshoot nor mine offspring.” The words occur again in the same proverbial way in Job 18:19; Isaiah 14:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOT NOT. — This explains the reason of Abimelech’s visit. The king’s herdsmen had robbed Abraham of a well, a species of property jealously defended in the East because of its great value, and Abraham in some way had made his displeasure felt. Abimelech, ever friendly towards Abraham, by whose nob... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN EWE LAMBS. — The word in Hebrew for _swearing_ is a passive verb, literally signifying “to be sevened,” that is, done or confirmed by seven. In this ancient narrative we see a covenant actually thus made binding. Seven ewe lambs are picked out and placed by themselves, and by accepting these A... [ Continue Reading ]
BEER-SHEBA. — That is, _the well of seven,_ but with a covert allusion to the seven lambs having been used for the ratification of an oath. Robinson found the exact site in the Wady-es-Seba, with its name still preserved as Bir-es-Seba. There are there two wells of solid construction, the first twel... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAHAM PLANTED A GROVE IN BEER-SHEBA. — Heb., _a tamarisk tree._ Under a noble tree of this kind, which grows to a great size in hot countries, Saul held his court at Gibeah, and under another his bones were laid at Jabesh (1 Samuel 22:6; 1 Samuel 31:13). AND CALLED THERE ON THE NAME OF THE LOR... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE PHILISTINES’ LAND — In Genesis 21:32 Abimelech on returning to Gerar is said to have gone back “into the land of the Philistines!’ But Beer-sheba also in a general way belonged to his dominions, and Abraham dwelt there in peace by reason of the treaty which existed between him and the Philist... [ Continue Reading ]