Genesis 21

Genesis 21:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 21 At last, the son that God had promised was born to Sarah and Abraham. Both parents were very joyful at the birth of their child. Everybody had thought that Sarah was too old to have a baby. So they were especially happy when her son was born. Abraham named his son Isaac. Isaac means ‘laughter’. But Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, was not glad. Until Isaac was born, Ishmael was Abraham’s only son. Ishmael had become a young man. And Ishmael thought that, after Abraham’s death, he (Ishmael) would lead Abraham’s family.

The birth of Isaac changed everything for Ishmael. Ishmael was merely the son of a slave. He knew that he would never be as important as Isaac. So, Ishmael was cruel to Isaac. Abraham had to send Ishmael away. God told Abraham that he (God) would make Ishmael successful. But Abraham must look after Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s special son. Isaac was the son that God promised to Abraham.

Abraham made another *covenant (agreement) at this time. This was a peace agreement with the leaders of the people called *Philistines. Abraham lived in their country for a long time. He made his home there. And in that place, he prayed to God. Abraham’s sons, 21:1-21 v1 The *Lord visited Sarah, as he had said. He carried out his promise to Sarah. v2 So Sarah became *pregnant. And she had a baby son for Abraham. This son was born at the exact time that God had promised such a long time before.

v3 Abraham called his new son Isaac. Isaac had been born to Sarah for Abraham. v4 When Isaac was 8 days old, Abraham *circumcised him. It was what God had ordered Abraham to do. v5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born for him.

v6 Then Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh. Everyone that hears it will laugh with me.’ v7 She also said, ‘Nobody could have told Abraham that Sarah would feed sons from her breast. But although Abraham is old, I have had his baby son.’

v8 The baby grew and Sarah began to give solid food to him. So Abraham organised a big *feast on the day when Isaac stopped drinking milk from his mother. v9 Sarah saw Abraham’s other son. Hagar the *Egyptian had given birth to that son for Abraham. That other son was laughing at Isaac. v10 So Sarah said to Abraham, ‘Send away this woman that is a slave. And send away her son too. That son of a female slave shall not *inherit with my son, Isaac.’

v11 Because of Sarah’s words, Abraham was very cross and he was unhappy for his son (Ishmael). v12 But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be unhappy about the boy and your female slave. Your *descendants that I choose will come by means of Isaac. So do what Sarah says. v13 However, I will also make the son of your female slave into a nation. I will do that because he is your son too.’

v14 So, early in the morning, Abraham gave bread to Hagar. And he gave to her a bottle that someone had made out of skin. The bottle had water in it. He put those onto her shoulder and he sent her off with the child. She left. And she wandered in the desert near Beersheba.

v15 When they had drunk all the water from the bottle, she put her son under one of the bushes there. v16 She went and she sat down by herself. She did not want to see her child die. So she sat a little distance away, about as far as an *arrow goes. She sat there and she began to cry loudly.

v17 But God heard the boy’s voice. So the *angel of God called from heaven. The *angel called to Hagar and he said this to her: ‘You need not be upset, Hagar. Do not be afraid, because God has heard the boy’s voice. He has heard the boy there where he is. v18 Go and get the boy up. Hold him firmly with your hand. I will make him into a great nation.’

v19 Then God showed to her a well with water. She had not seen the well before. So she went. And she took the bottle that someone had made out of skin. She filled it with water and she gave a drink to the boy.

v20 So God was with the boy. The boy grew up and he lived in the desert. He became skilful with a bow and *arrows. v21 He lived in the desert called Paran, and his mother chose an *Egyptian wife for him.

Verses 1-7 At last, when Abraham was very old, his special son was born. Abraham had to wait for a long time until this son was born. But God always does the things that he promises to do. We can always trust God.

Verse 1 Sarah probably did not see God. The writer means that God allowed her to become *pregnant. Isaac’s birth happened when Abraham and Sarah were very old. So it was a very wonderful thing, because it would have been impossible without God’s action. The writer emphasises how wonderful it was. (Look also at verses 2, 5 and 7.)

Verse 2 In Genesis 18:14, God told Abraham when the son would be born. So, Isaac’s birth happened at the time that God promised.

Verse 3 The father usually named a new baby. In that way, he showed that he accepted the baby into his family.

Verses 4-5 Abraham obeyed God’s command in Genesis 17:12.

Verse 6 The name ‘Isaac’ means ‘laughter’.

Verse 8 Isaac may have been nearly three years old at that time.

Verse 9 Ishmael was not still the most important son. He insulted Isaac because he (Ishmael) was jealous of Isaac’s importance in the family.

Verse 10 Sarah did not want trouble between Ishmael and Isaac. She realised that these troubles might become more serious. Isaac would become the head (leader) of the family when Abraham died. Sarah did not want Ishmael to oppose Isaac’s right to lead the family. Paul discusses this situation in Galatians 4:30. He explains that Isaac was born because of God’s promise. So, Isaac was born by the power of the Holy Spirit. But Ishmael was born in the natural way. Christians too should live by the power of the Holy Spirit. But other people live in an ordinary way. So, Christians should not be surprised if other people oppose them. And Christians should not copy the behaviour of people who are not Christians.

Verses 11-13 We can see that Abraham loved Ishmael. Ishmael was a son of Abraham. But Ishmael was not the son that God had chosen. However, God looked after Hagar and Ishmael.

Verse 14 Even when Abraham was sad, he was always willing to obey God immediately. And Abraham was confident about Ishmael because of God’s promise in verse 13.

Abraham tried to provide for Hagar and Ishmael. He gave them food and water. But Abraham was living near Beersheba. And Beersheba is near to the desert. Hagar and Ishmael were not used to life in the desert.

Verses 15-16 The desert is hot, and very dry. Hagar had a similar experience in Genesis 16:6-10. Ishmael had not yet been born then. Ishmael was now a youth. But he still became weak before Hagar did. Hagar was sure that he would die. She thought that the situation was hopeless.

Verses 17-18 Hagar did not need to feel hopeless. God had already made a promise about Ishmael’s future (Genesis 16:10; 17:20 and 21:13). But God heard Ishmael’s cry for help. And the *angel repeated God’s promise to Hagar.

Verse 19 For the second time, God provided water in the desert for Hagar.

Verses 20-21 Ishmael continued to live in the desert. It seems that he learned to live there. Ishmael married and he had 12 sons. Like Ishmael himself, Ishmael’s *descendants also lived in the desert. And they became a great nation, as God had promised (Genesis 25:13-18). Abraham and Abimelech make a *covenant, 21:22-34 v22 Then Abimelech and Phicol (the head of Abimelech’s army) said this to Abraham: ‘God is with you. He is present in everything that you do. v23 So promise this very seriously to me here in God’s name. Promise that you will not cheat me or my family or *descendants. I have been kind to you. So promise very seriously that you will be kind to me. And promise very seriously that you will be loyal to this country where you are living.’

v24 So Abraham replied, ‘I promise it very seriously.’

v25 But Abimelech’s servants had seized a well that contained water. That well belonged to Abraham, so Abraham complained to Abimelech. v26 Abimelech replied, ‘I do not know who did this. You did not tell me. Until today, I had not heard about it.’

v27 Then Abraham took sheep and *cattle and he gave them to Abimelech. He and Abimelech made a *covenant together. v28 Abraham then put aside by themselves 7 female *lambs from the *flock. v29 Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘Why have you put these 7 female *lambs by themselves?’

v30 So Abraham replied, ‘Please take these 7 female *lambs. It will show that I dug this well.’

v31 Abimelech and Abraham declared an *oath to each other there and Abraham called the place Beersheba.

v32 So Abimelech and Abraham had made a *covenant at Beersheba. After that Abimelech and Phicol, the head of Abimelech’s army, stood up. And they went back to that country where the *Philistines lived. v33 Abraham planted a tamarisk (a kind of tree) in Beersheba. And he prayed to the *Lord, the God who is always the same. v34 Abraham stayed in that country where the *Philistines lived. He stayed there for a long time.

Verses 22-24 People knew very well that God was *blessing Abraham. Abraham had become a very wealthy man. He had many servants, and they looked after many animals. Abimelech and Phicol did not want to fight Abraham and his servants. So they asked for a peace agreement. And Abraham was pleased to agree with them. He also wanted peace.

Verses 25-26 Wells are very important in hot countries, where there is not much rain. Abraham and Abimelech wanted to deal with this matter. They did not want any arguments to damage their agreement.

Verses 27-28 Abraham gave gifts to Abimelech because Abimelech was the king. He was the king of that country where Abraham was living. Abraham could not prove that he dug the well. So he gave Abimelech a special gift for the well. This was a type of legal agreement in ancient times.

Abraham needed to make clear that he owned the well. So then he could get the water that he needed.

Verse 31 In the *Hebrew name ‘Beersheba’, the word ‘sheba’ means both ‘seven’ and ‘*oath’. ‘Beer’ means ‘well’.

Verse 32 This was a *covenant between two people. Usually, when two people made a *covenant, they often used the same words. For example, they promised to be ‘kind and loyal’. (Look at verse 23.)

Verse 33 Abraham planted a tree. He intended to live there. Then he would be able to see the tree and he could look after it. He chose that place as a place for prayer. As he prayed, he trusted God more. In chapter 22 we shall see how much Abraham had learned to trust God.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

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