Genesis 21:9-10

21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ²  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ³  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

Genesis 35:29

35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ⁴  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ⁵  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

[21:9]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[35:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Isaac expired and died and he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.

[35:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “old and full of years.”