Discovery BoxGenesis 21:1-34
Context21:1 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 25:29-31
Context25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 66 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed 67 me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called 68 Edom.) 69
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First 70 sell me your birthright.”
Numbers 18:14
Context18:14 “Everything devoted 71 in Israel will be yours.
Psalms 101:2-7
Context101:2 I will walk in 72 the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. 73
101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. 74
I hate doing evil; 75
I will have no part of it. 76
101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; 77
I will not permit 78 evil.
101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. 79
101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, 80
and allow them to live with me. 81
Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. 82
101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. 83
Liars will not be welcome in my presence. 84
[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
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “and the
[21:2] 4 tn Or “she conceived.”
[21:3] 5 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] 6 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.
[21:4] 7 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the
[21:5] 8 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] 9 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
[21:6] 10 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:6] 11 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] 13 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
[21:8] 15 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] 17 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] 18 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] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
[21:12] 21 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] 22 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
[21:12] 23 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] 24 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
[21:14] 25 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[21:14] 26 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] 27 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
[21:14] 28 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] 29 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] 30 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
[21:16] 32 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] 33 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] 34 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
[21:17] 35 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 36 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 37 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] 38 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] 39 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 40 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 41 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 42 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 43 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 44 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 46 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] 47 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] 48 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] 49 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 50 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:27] 52 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 53 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 54 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 55 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] 56 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] 57 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] 58 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 59 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 60 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 61 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] 62 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 63 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] 64 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
[21:34] 65 tn Heb “many days.”
[25:29] 66 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[25:30] 67 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
[25:30] 68 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
[25:30] 69 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
[18:14] 71 tn The “ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem) in Hebrew describes that which is exclusively the
[101:2] 72 tn Heb “take notice of.”
[101:2] 73 tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”
[101:3] 74 tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”
[101:3] 75 tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew
[101:3] 76 tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”
[101:4] 77 tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).
[101:4] 78 tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.
[101:5] 79 tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”
[101:6] 80 tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”
[101:6] 81 tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”
[101:6] 82 tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”
[101:7] 83 tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”
[101:7] 84 tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”
