Глава 21

The time was approaching for Sarah to give birth; She gave birth to Isaac and suckled him with the breasts of old age. And after Isaac was circumcised and nursed, on the day “I ordered the institution,” which “Abraham made... on the same day Isaac was given away” (Gen. 21:8), Sarah saw Ishmael laughing. Noticing that Ismail was like his mother in everything, and therefore concluding that just as she insulted Sarah, so Ismail would laugh at Isaac, she thought: “If during my life Ismail does this to my son, then when I die, won’t he accept a part in my son’s inheritance, maybe even take two shares for himself, like the firstborn?” So Sarah became jealous of her son’s rights—she was jealous who did not care about her own rights when she gave Hagar to her husband without jealousy. And so that the son of the concubine would not snatch the inheritance from the son of the free woman, Sarah “said to Abraham, destroy this handmaid and her son” (Gen. 21:10). For it is not fair for the son of a bondwoman to receive an inheritance with the son of promise. It is also indecent for you to act contrary to God’s will in that for which you have a promise from God, and to make an heir of someone whom God did not make an heir. Abraham really wanted to make Ismail his heir, because he did not distinguish between his sons. And therefore it is written: “Cruel was this verb that appeared before Abraham about a son... And God spoke to Abraham... all the trees, if Sarah speaks to you, listen to her voice: for in Isaac your seed will be called. And I will make the son of the slave woman great in the tongue, even as he is your seed. And Abraham rose in the morning... and gave Hagar bread and water, and the lad, and let her go. Having gone astray into the desert... And the angel of God called Hagar from heaven, and said to her... for God had heard the voice of the youth... with them by your hand: for I will make him into a great tongue. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a reservoir of water... and she filled a bottle of water, and gave the child something to drink" (Gen. 21:11-14, 17-19). After this, Abimelech and his commander Phichol said to Abraham: since we know that God is with you, and He helps you in battles with the kings, and promised to give you the land of Canaan, we are afraid that by destroying the Canaanites, you will devastate the land of Abimelech. And so they rush to make a covenant with Abraham. “And they both made a covenant” (Gen. 21:27) with Abraham. You might be interested in: