Genesis 21:1-34

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁴  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ⁵  21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁶  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ⁷  21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ⁸ 

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ⁹  Everyone who hears about this ¹⁰  will laugh ¹¹  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ¹²  “Who would ¹³  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ¹⁴  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ¹⁵  21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹⁶  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ¹⁷  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ¹⁸  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ¹⁹  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ²⁰  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ²¹  all that Sarah is telling ²²  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ²³  21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²⁴  some food ²⁵  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²⁶  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁷  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁸  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ²⁹  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ³⁰  away; for she thought, ³¹  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ³²  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ³³ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ³⁴  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ³⁵  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ³⁶  the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ³⁷  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ³⁸  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ³⁹ 

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ⁴⁰  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁴¹  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁴²  Show me, and the land ⁴³  where you are staying, ⁴⁴  the same loyalty ⁴⁵  that I have shown you.” ⁴⁶ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ⁴⁷  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ⁴⁸  against Abimelech concerning a well ⁴⁹  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ⁵⁰  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ⁵¹  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ⁵²  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ⁵³  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ⁵⁴  that I dug this well.” ⁵⁵  21:31 That is why he named that place ⁵⁶  Beer Sheba, ⁵⁷  because the two of them swore ⁵⁸  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ⁵⁹  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ⁶⁰  to the land of the Philistines. ⁶¹  21:33 Abraham ⁶²  planted a tamarisk tree ⁶³  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ⁶⁴  the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ⁶⁵ 

Genesis 18:10-14

18:10 One of them ⁶⁶  said, “I will surely return ⁶⁷  to you when the season comes round again, ⁶⁸  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ⁶⁹  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ⁷⁰  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ⁷¹  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ⁷²  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ⁷³  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ⁷⁴  especially when my husband is old too?” ⁷⁵ 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ⁷⁶  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁷⁷  have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible ⁷⁸  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ⁷⁹ 

Genesis 21:2-3

21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁸⁰  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ⁸¹ 

Genesis 21:6

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ⁸²  Everyone who hears about this ⁸³  will laugh ⁸⁴  with me.”

Genesis 21:2

21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁸⁵  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

Genesis 4:16-17

4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, ⁸⁶  east of Eden.

The Beginning of Civilization

4:17 Cain had marital relations ⁸⁷  with his wife, and she became pregnant ⁸⁸  and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after ⁸⁹  his son Enoch.

Luke 1:13-20

1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, ⁹⁰  and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you ⁹¹  will name him John. ⁹²  1:14 Joy and gladness will come ⁹³  to you, and many will rejoice at ⁹⁴  his birth, ⁹⁵  1:15 for he will be great in the sight of ⁹⁶  the Lord. He ⁹⁷  must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. ⁹⁸  1:16 He ⁹⁹  will turn ¹⁰⁰  many of the people ¹⁰¹  of Israel to the Lord their God. 1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ¹⁰²  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ¹⁰³  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

1:18 Zechariah ¹⁰⁴  said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? ¹⁰⁵  For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” ¹⁰⁶  1:19 The ¹⁰⁷  angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands ¹⁰⁸  in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring ¹⁰⁹  you this good news. 1:20 And now, ¹¹⁰  because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, ¹¹¹  you will be silent, unable to speak, ¹¹²  until the day these things take place.”

Romans 9:6-9

9:6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, ¹¹³  9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ¹¹⁴  9:8 This means ¹¹⁵  it is not the children of the flesh ¹¹⁶  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ¹¹⁷  “About a year from now ¹¹⁸  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ¹¹⁹ 

Galatians 4:28-31

4:28 But you, ¹²⁰  brothers and sisters, ¹²¹  are children of the promise like Isaac. 4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ¹²²  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ¹²³  so it is now. 4:30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” ¹²⁴  of the free woman. 4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹²⁵  we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.

[21:1]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “spoken.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Or “she conceived.”

[21:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.

[21:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[21:4]  ¹¹ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

[21:5]  ¹³ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).

[21:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ¹⁷ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ¹⁸ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ²⁰ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.

[21:8]  ²² tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ²³ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ²⁶ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

[21:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[21:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.

[21:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ³⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ³⁷ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ³⁹ 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.”

[21:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ⁴¹ 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.

[21:15]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[21:16]  ⁴³ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ⁴⁶ 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.

[21:17]  ⁴⁶ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ⁴⁸ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[21:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ⁵² sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[21:22]  ⁵⁵ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:23]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ⁶⁰ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ⁶¹ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ⁶² tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ⁶³ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[21:24]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[21:25]  ⁶⁴ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

[21:25]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

[21:25]  ⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

[21:26]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and also.”

[21:27]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:29]  ⁷³ tn Heb “What are these?”

[21:30]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

[21:30]  ⁷⁷ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

[21:31]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ⁸⁰ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ⁸¹ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:32]  ⁸² tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ⁸³ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ⁸⁴ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[21:33]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ⁸⁶ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[21:34]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “many days.”

[18:10]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (one of the three men introduced in v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some English translations have specified the referent as the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV) based on vv. 1, 13, but the Hebrew text merely has “he said” at this point, referring to one of the three visitors. Aside from the introductory statement in v. 1, the incident is narrated from Abraham’s point of view, and the suspense is built up for the reader as Abraham’s elaborate banquet preparations in the preceding verses suggest he suspects these are important guests. But not until the promise of a son later in this verse does it become clear who is speaking. In v. 13 the Hebrew text explicitly mentions the Lord.

[18:10]  ⁹² tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic, using the infinitive absolute with the imperfect tense.

[18:10]  ⁹³ tn Heb “as/when the time lives” or “revives,” possibly referring to the springtime.

[18:10]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “and there will be (הִנֵּה, hinneh) a son for Sarah.”

[18:10]  ⁹⁵ tn This is the first of two disjunctive parenthetical clauses preparing the reader for Sarah’s response (see v. 12).

[18:11]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[18:11]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”

[18:12]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[18:12]  ⁹⁸ tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.

[18:12]  ⁹⁹ tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:13]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the Lord’s amazement: “Why on earth did Sarah laugh?”

[18:13]  ¹⁰¹ tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”

[18:14]  ¹⁰³ tn The Hebrew verb פָּלָא (pala’) means “to be wonderful, to be extraordinary, to be surpassing, to be amazing.”

[18:14]  ¹⁰⁴ sn Sarah will have a son. The passage brings God’s promise into clear focus. As long as it was a promise for the future, it really could be believed without much involvement. But now, when it seemed so impossible from the human standpoint, when the Lord fixed an exact date for the birth of the child, the promise became rather overwhelming to Abraham and Sarah. But then this was the Lord of creation, the one they had come to trust. The point of these narratives is that the creation of Abraham’s offspring, which eventually became Israel, is no less a miraculous work of creation than the creation of the world itself.

[21:2]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Or “she conceived.”

[21:3]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.

[21:6]  ¹¹² tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ¹¹³ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ¹¹⁴ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:2]  ¹¹⁵ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:16]  ¹¹⁸ sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).

[4:17]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:17]  ¹²² tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:17]  ¹²³ tn Heb “according to the name of.”

[1:13]  ¹²⁴ tn The passive means that the prayer was heard by God.

[1:13]  ¹²⁵ tn Grk “a son, and you”; καί (kai) has not been translated. Instead a semicolon is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:13]  ¹²⁶ tn Grk “you will call his name John.” The future tense here functions like a command (see ExSyn 569-70). This same construction occurs in v. 31.

[1:14]  ¹²⁷ tn Grk “This will be joy and gladness.”

[1:14]  ¹²⁸ tn Or “because of.”

[1:14]  ¹²⁹ tn “At his birth” is more precise as the grammatical subject (1:58), though “at his coming” is a possible force, since it is his mission, as the following verses note, that will really bring joy.

[1:15]  ¹³⁰ tn Grk “before.”

[1:15]  ¹³¹ tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

[1:15]  ¹³² tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.

[1:16]  ¹³³ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:16]  ¹³⁴ sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

[1:16]  ¹³⁵ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

[1:17]  ¹³⁶ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ¹³⁷ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[1:18]  ¹³⁹ tn Grk “And Zechariah.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:18]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Grk “How will I know this?”

[1:18]  ¹⁴¹ tn Grk “is advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

[1:19]  ¹⁴² tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:19]  ¹⁴³ tn Grk “the one who is standing before God.”

[1:19]  ¹⁴⁴ tn Grk “to announce these things of good news to you.”

[1:20]  ¹⁴⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:20]  ¹⁴⁶ sn The predicted fulfillment in the expression my words, which will be fulfilled in their time takes place in Luke 1:63-66.

[1:20]  ¹⁴⁷ sn Silent, unable to speak. Actually Zechariah was deaf and mute as 1:61-63 indicates, since others had to use gestures to communicate with him.

[9:6]  ¹⁴⁸ tn Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”

[9:7]  ¹⁵¹ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

[9:8]  ¹⁵⁴ tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

[9:8]  ¹⁵⁵ tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

[9:9]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

[9:9]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.

[9:9]  ¹⁵⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.

[4:28]  ¹⁶⁰ tc Most mss (א A C D² Ψ 062 Ï lat sy bo) read “we” here, while “you” is found in Ì⁴⁶ B D* F G 0261^vid 0278 33 1739 al sa. It is more likely that a copyist, noticing the first person pronouns in vv. 26 and 31, changed a second person pronoun here to first person for consistency.

[4:28]  ¹⁶¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[4:29]  ¹⁶³ tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.

[4:29]  ¹⁶⁴ tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”

[4:30]  ¹⁶⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.

[4:31]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.