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Gen.21:1. And the Lord looked upon Sarah as he said; and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. Obviously, the writer of everyday life notes here the fulfillment of the divine promise to visit Sarah, given exactly a year ago (Gen. 18:14); therefore, by the visitation of God he means the very birth of Isaac; There are analogies to this in other places in the Bible (1 Samuel 2:21). In the same way, the verb “create” more clearly indicates the extraordinary and miraculous nature of the birth of Isaac from the dead womb of ninety-year-old Sarah (Gal. 4:28). Gen.21:2. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time about which God spoke to him; A remark by the biblical narrator restoring the connection of events (Gen. 17:21, 18:10). Gen.21:3–4. And Abraham called the name of the son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac; And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son on the eighth day, as God commanded him. In both of these actions, Abraham demonstrated his complete obedience to God and his willingness to do His holy will (Gen. 17:12, 19). Based on this, one can also think that from that time on, the practice was established of naming a newborn male baby on the eighth day - on the day of his circumcision, which served as a symbol of his inclusion in the society of the chosen people (Luke 1:59, 2:21; Acts 7:8). Gen.21:5. Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. Due to the extreme importance of this event, the writer of everyday life indicates its date. Gen.21:6. And Sarah said, God made me laugh; whoever hears about me will laugh. Here again the Slavic Bible gives a more successful translation: “The Lord make me laugh: whoever hears it will rejoice with me.” This translation would be even better and more accurate if the word “laughter” were replaced by a more suitable synonym – “joy”. In this form, Sarah’s exclamation becomes completely natural and understandable and is very close to similar exclamations of the righteous Elizabeth and the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1:25, 41–42, 58). Gen.21:7. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle the children? for in his old age I gave birth to a son. This is the reason for the high joy that Sarah is unable to contain and which pours out in her in a series of enthusiastic exclamations. Gen.21:8. The child has grown up and is weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac [his son] was weaned. Breastfeeding in the ancient East continued for a very long time, reaching, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, up to five years and usually lasting at least three, as can be seen from various places of Holy Scripture (1 Sam. 1:22; 2 Mac. 7:27). Jewish rabbis and the Koran still order not to finish it before two years. The end of this period was celebrated with a solemn family feast, in which the culprit himself could already take some part. Gen.21:9. And Sarah saw that the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, was mocking [her son, Isaac], LXX, the Vulgate and our Slavic Bible have a slight discrepancy here: “having seen Sarah the son of Hagar... playing with Isaac her son.” The reason for this difference is the unequal translation of the main word of this entire phrase, namely the Hebrew verb mezachek, which, coming from the same root as the name “Isaac,” allows for various translations: laugh, rejoice, play, be merry. That this laughter was not always innocent, but sometimes contained a hint of irony or mockery, this is clear from the example of Lot's sons-in-law (Gen. 19:14). Of the many ancient and new explanations of how to understand this rather vague designation of Ishmael’s behavior regarding Isaac, we note two: one belonging to the Apostle Paul and indicating that the older brother persecuted or persecuted the younger (Gal. 4:28-31), the other based on an analysis of the root meaning of the word “laughed” (metzahek - Isaac, Isaac), which sees here a peculiar play on words that has that meaning, that Ishmael was playing Isaac, i.e. behaved not like the son of a slave, but like the son of a mistress and the future full-fledged owner, subjugating Isaac and exerting a bad influence on the development and education of his character. Gen.21:10. And she said to Abraham, Cast out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not inherit with my son Isaac. The contemptuous and proud behavior of Hagar and Ishmael in relation to Sarah and Isaac, perhaps, was especially strongly expressed in some outburst at the above-mentioned family feast (Gen. 21:8) and prompted Sarah to take more decisive measures against this. Guided in her decision by a special divine inspiration (see further v. 12), she imperiously demands from Abraham that he remove this slave and her son, motivating her demand with the argument that in vain Hagar and Ishmael cherish dreams of the birthright and inheritance - they have nothing of the kind and will not receive anything, since all this belongs to their only legitimate heir, the son of promise - Isaac. Gen. 21:11–12. And this seemed very unpleasant to Abraham for the sake of his son [Ishmael]. But God said to Abraham: Do not be upset for the sake of the boy and your handmaid; in everything that Sarah tells you, obey her voice, Probably, Abraham, having heard such a decisive request from Sarah, was not only upset, as the biblical text says, but also wondered whether to fulfill it, in view of the previously given divine blessing to Ishmael (Gen. 17:20). Therefore, God now certifies the legal justice of Sarah’s request. For in Isaac your seed will be called; “The children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are recognized as the seed” (Rom. 9:8), as the Apostle Paul explains this idea. From here it is clear that both the first descendant in the flesh and the only one in the spirit will be the one that comes from the God-given son - Isaac. In this whole story, the Apostle Paul sees a prototype of two Testaments - the Old, which he likens to Hagar, and the New, which he likens to Isaac (Gal. 4:25-31). Just as Hagar and Ishmael once, although they preceded Isaac by carnal birth, had to give up their rights to him, so the Old Testament, with the advent of the New, like a shadow before the sun, had to give up its place to him. Gen.21:13. and from the son of the maid I will make a [great] nation, for he is thy seed. Comforting Abraham in this separation, which was still difficult for him, God assures him that with this new command He does not at all cancel His earlier promise regarding Ishmael (Gen. 17:20). Gen.21:14. Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, placing it on her shoulders, and to the lad, and sent her away. Having now received a special revelation from God, Abraham hastens to fulfill it. As for the picture of Hagar’s equipment itself, it is full of artistic realism and is in perfect agreement with ancient Eastern customs, since we know them from ancient Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian monuments, as well as from the testimony of Herodotus. She went and got lost in the wilderness of Beersheba; As the first time (Gen. 16:6), Hagar now, obviously, set off on her way to her home country - Egypt; but soon she lost her way and got lost near the place that was later called Bathsheba (Gen. 21:31) and which lay 12 miles southwest of Hebron. Gen.21:15. and there was no more water in the skin, and she left the boy under a certain bush Lack of water is the most severe hardship for a traveler in the hot desert, and therefore it is easy to imagine the horror of Hagar, who found herself in a similar situation with Ishmael. The latter, although at that time he was from 17 to 19 years old (Gen. 17:25, 18:14), but, as he was not accustomed to any hardships in the house of rich Abraham, quickly and sharply felt a painful thirst, so that he was no longer able to continue his path and was laid by his compassionate mother in the pitiful shade of a thorny steppe bush. Gen.21:16. and she went and sat down at a distance, one bow shot away. For she said: I don’t want to see the boy die. And she sat [at a distance] opposite [him], and lifted up a cry and wept; Exhausted from thirst, young Ishmael suffered greatly and his mother, deprived of any opportunity to help him in any way, decided to better leave so as not to see this soul-rending suffering. Moving away from him to the distance of an arrow fired from a bow, Hagar began to pour out her hopeless grief in a strong cry. An Angel Appears to Her in the Desert Gen.21:17. and the Angel of God from heaven called to Hagar and said to her: What is the matter with you, Hagar? don't be afraid; In a moment of such complete despair, Hagar suddenly hears a voice encouraging her, which came from heaven from the Angel of God. According to the majority of interpreters, this Angel of God, called in the original “Maleach-Elohim,” is one and the same person with Maleah-Jehovah, i.e. and the Angel of Jehovah, by whom, as we saw above, we most closely understand the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, or the Son of God (cf. Gen. 16:9, etc.). God heard the voice of the boy from where he is; God heard the innocent suffering of the boy and sends him deliverance, or, as they also think, God heard the boy’s prayer addressed to Him and fulfills his request. Gen.21:18. Arise, lift up the lad and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation. The first half of this phrase serves as an excellent addition to the picture of Hagar's journey with Ishmael (proves that she led him by the hand, and did not carry him on her shoulders, as some erroneously concluded on the basis of v. 14), and the second gives the best consolation to the mother for the fate of her son (Gen. 21:13, 16:10, 17:20). Gen.21:19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of [living] water, and she went and filled a bottle with water and gave the boy a drink. God opened Hagar's eyes; those. drew her attention to something that she had not previously noticed (Gen. 3:5-7; 2 Kings 6:17, 20; Luke 24:16, 31) either because she was in an upset state, or because the well itself was somehow closed from clogging it with desert sands. Gen.21:20. And God was with the boy; This expression, often found in the Bible, indicates the special providential activity of God aimed at achieving His promises (Gen. 28:15, 39:2–3, etc.). and he grew up and began to live in the desert, and became an archer. An indication of the wild and warlike character of the ancestor of the future Bedouins and together with the fulfillment of the divine prediction about this (Gen. 16:10–12). Gen.21:21. He lived in the desert of Paran; This was the name of the mountainous region that separated Edom from Egypt and received its name from the many caves located in it (Gen. 14:6; Num. 13:4; Deut. 1:1; 1 Sam. 25:1). The modern name of this desert is El-Ti. and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. Here is one typical example of how high the authority of parental authority in the marriage issue stood in biblical antiquity (cf. Gen. 27:46). Abraham and Abimelech enter into an alliance near Bathsheba Gen.21:22. And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech with [Ahuzath the bride-master and] Phichol his captain, None of the texts here except the LXX and Slavic have the name of Ahuzath the bride-guide; but it occurs in another similar case (Gen. 26:26). But the epithet νυμφάγωγος, "bride guide", applied to Ahuzath appears to be a mistranslation of the Hebrew term "mersa", meaning "friend, confidant, advisor standing at one side" (1 Kings 4:5; 1 Chronicles 27:33). Apparently Abimelech, entering into an important alliance with Abraham, took with him for this purpose two of his most important dignitaries. He said to Abraham: God is with you in everything you do; A belief formed on the basis of the incident of Sarah (ch. 20), the miraculous birth of Isaac, and the general well-being of Abraham. Also remarkable here is Abimelech's confession of faith in Elohim, the true God of the universe. Gen.21:23. and now swear to me here by God, The verb “to swear”, in Hebrew schaba, shaba, comes from the numeral sheba - “seven” and thereby indicates, on the one hand, the sacred nature of this number, on the other, either the presence of seven victims (Gen. 21:28), or the presence of seven witnesses at the conclusion of the oath agreement. that you will not offend me, nor my son, nor my grandson; and as I have dealt well with you, so you will also deal with me and the land in which you are staying. The Slavic text has a minor variant: “do not offend me, below my seed, below my name,” the meaning of which is the same as the previous expression, i.e. an indication of surname or offspring (Job 18:19; Isaiah 14:22). Gen.21:24. And Abraham said: I swear. Abraham solemnly promised to fulfill this request; but in time we see that the land of the Philistines is given as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel (Josh. 13:1-2); in all likelihood, by this time the independent existence of the kingdom of Gerar had already ceased, so that the agreement lost all meaning. Gen. 21:25–26. And Abraham reproached Abimelech for the well of water, which Abimelech's servants had taken away. Abimelech said [to him], “I don’t know who did this, and you didn’t tell me; I had never even heard of it until now. A dispute over a watering hole was one of the main reasons for displeasure and enmity between the nomadic, pastoral tribes of ancient Syria and Palestine (Gen. 26:20, 13:8; Ex. 2:16–17), and often it was waged only between slaves, without the knowledge of their masters (Gen. 13:7). Gen. 21:30. [Abraham] said, Take these seven lambs out of my hand, that they may be a testimony to me that I have dug this well. “We have before us a curious monument of the strengthening of treaties while writing did not yet exist. Words spoken even in front of witnesses are not considered sufficient; passed on from mouth to mouth, and even passed on to another generation, their meaning can be distorted. It is necessary to strengthen the agreement with an action that would remain in memory” (Vlastov). Gen.21:31. That's why he called this place: Bathsheba, because here they both swore Or, in Hebrew: “Beer Sheba,” which means “well of oath,” or well of seven (see note to v. 23). He was located 12 miles south of Hebron, on Wadi es-Seba and was deeply revered (Gen. 26:33; Judges 20:1; 2 Kings 24:7; 2 Kings 23:8). Gen.21:33. And [Abraham] planted a grove near Beersheba and called on there the name of the Lord, the Eternal God This planting of Abraham is understood differently: the Slavic translation, following the LXX, reads “niva”, the Vulgate – nemus, others – oak, or oak grove; but most scholars see here an indication of the local plant “tamarisk” from a species of shrubs, which, with its evergreen appearance, best symbolized the idea of ​​divine eternity, which Abraham professes here. Gen.21:34. And Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines as a stranger for many days. That is as a temporary owner, or tenant, and not a full owner (Acts 7:5). You might be interested in: