“You are now 1 pregnant
and are about to give birth 2 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 3
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 4
25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 5 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 6
1 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
2 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
3 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
4 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
5 tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”
6 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.