Discovery BoxGenesis 21:17-34
Context21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 1 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 2 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 3 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. 4 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. 5 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 6
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 7 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 8 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 9 Show me, and the land 10 where you are staying, 11 the same loyalty 12 that I have shown you.” 13
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 14 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 15 against Abimelech concerning a well 16 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 17 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 18 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. 19 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 20 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 21 that I dug this well.” 22 21:31 That is why he named that place 23 Beer Sheba, 24 because the two of them swore 25 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 26 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 27 to the land of the Philistines. 28 21:33 Abraham 29 planted a tamarisk tree 30 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 31 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 32
[21:17] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 3 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 4 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] 5 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] 6 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 7 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 8 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 9 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 10 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 11 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 13 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] 14 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] 15 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] 16 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 17 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:27] 19 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 20 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 21 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 22 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] 23 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] 24 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] 25 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 26 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 27 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 28 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] 29 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 30 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] 31 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
