Bible Study Genesis Verse By Verse

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 20:13 . . So when God made me wander from my father's house, I said to
her: Let this be the kindness that you shall do me-- whatever place we come to,
say there of me: He is my brother.

Right about here Abimelech probably began scratching his head and wondered what
kind of crazy religion Abraham practiced anyway. And he probably wondered what
in the world God ever saw in this man to go to such lengths to protect him. A liar is
not a good influence for God. It disgraces Him, and makes His religion look stupid
to outsiders.

● Gen 20:14-15 . . Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves,
and gave them to Abraham; and he restored his wife Sarah to him. And Abimelech
said: Here, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.

In other words: I don't care where you go as long as it's a great ways off from me!

Abimelech didn't owe Abraham a single penny for anything. And God didn't order
him to make restitution. He isn't trying to gain Abraham's good will by these gifts.
With friends like Abraham; who needs enemies? But rather; he was showing God
his intentions to mean well by Abraham; in spite of Abraham's foul deed.

● Gen 20:16 . . And to Sarah he said: I herewith give your brother a thousand
pieces of silver; this will serve you as vindication before all who are with you, and
you are cleared before everyone.

Abimelech is really too kind. By the money, he told everyone that it was just a
misunderstanding. In paying a fine to Abraham, he is publicly apologizing for taking
the man's wife home with him; and Sarah's honor was protected because it is
saying that she wasn't promiscuous like some woman I could name who have an
itch to sleep with men in power.

● Gen 20:17-18 . . Abraham then prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and
his wife and his slave girls, so that they bore children; for the Lord had closed fast
every womb of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

Abraham's ultimate chagrin was having to pray for the very people whose lives he
almost ruined with his scheme.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 21:1 . . God took note of Sarah as He had promised, and God did for Sarah
as He had spoken.

Because God's word is sometimes slow and long in coming to pass, people are often
inclined to scoff at what it says and lose confidence in His testimony. The Word told
Noah that a flood was coming. Well . . it was many years before it arrived and by
the time it came, only Noah and his family were prepared for it.

God also promised a Messiah. But so many years have gone by since, that many
now believe one will never come. God also promised He will personally round up the
people of Israel and lead many of them back to their own land, and restore their
covenanted boundaries, where they will become the center of world power and the
seat of religious instruction. Some, giving up on that possibility, have suggested
that today's troubled Israeli occupation is the fulfillment of that promise.

Abraham came into Canaan when he was seventy-five, and Sarah sixty-five. That
was twenty five years before this section. He is now one-hundred, and she ninety.
Women that age cannot produce children. So no one can ever give credit to those
two for engendering Isaac. Although Isaac was conceived and born in the natural
way, he was not a natural child. The credit must be given to a miracle. The people
of Israel exist today only because El Shaddai willed them into existence.

● Gen 21:2a . . Sarah conceived

That's not all that happened. The author said back in Gen 18:11 that Sarah's
periods had stopped. So sometime prior to Isaac's conception, her periods came
back. I wish I could have seen the look of shocked excitement and incredible joy in
their faces when she showed Abraham the blood. He may have been grossed out a
little, but I can guarantee you he was extremely thrilled because it meant Sarah's
plumbing was back up to speed and fully functioning.

● Gen 21:2b-3 . . and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the set time of
which God had spoken. Abraham gave his newborn son, whom Sarah had borne
him, the name of Isaac.

This is now the second son of Abraham for whom God chose the name. The first
was Ishmael. That's quite an honor. It may not set well for many parents though. I
think most of us would rather pick names for our own children ourselves; but
Abraham is pretty good at obedience for the most part. God said the boy's name
would be Isaac and that's what Abraham named him. Isaac, by the way, is the only
one of the three patriarchs whose name God does not change later in their life.

Naming a boy is very significant. The man who does the naming is legally declaring
the boy to be his own son even if he isn't the biological father. (cf. Matt 1:21 and
Matt 1:25)

● Gen 21:4 . . And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised
him, as God had commanded him.

Circumcision wasn't Abraham's idea. It was his response to El Shaddai's earlier
mandate in Gen 17:10-14.

● Gen 21:5 . . Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born
to him.

Ishmael would have been fourteen (Gen 16:16) and Sarah ninety, since she and
her husband were ten years difference in age. (Gen 17:17)

● Gen 21:6 . . Sarah said: God has brought me cheer; everyone who hears will
laugh with me.

Sarah's words are a double entendre. Isaac's name in Hebrew means laughter; so
God not only gave her a bundle of joy, but cheer for her soul too.

● Gen 21:7 . . And she added: Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would
suckle children! Yet I have borne a son in his old age.

Well nobody in their right mind would have. Sarah was just too old. And actually,
Abraham was too old too.

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he
was about an hundred years old" (Rom 4:19)

"And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore."
(Heb 11:11-12)
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 21:8 . .The child grew up and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast
on the day that Isaac was weaned.

The age of weaning varied in ancient times; usually in the neighborhood of 2 to 5
years. Bible weaning implies a whole lot more than just putting a child on a bottle.
It means they can speak and understand a language, feed themselves, brush their
teeth, clothe themselves, and potty alone. In other words, you could pack them a
bag and send them off to live with your aunt. (e.g. 1Sam 1:22-2:11). Samuel was
at least three years old when his mom packed him off to live with the high priest.
(2Chr 31:16)

So Isaac was very likely around the same age as Samuel when Abraham and Sarah
threw a weaning party for him. It was a day of good celebration and they were very
proud of their little boy. He was past a major milestone and well along his way to
independent manhood.

Weaning isn't always a joyous occasion for some families. It can be a time passed
over in deep sorrow for the parents of handicapped kids. Abraham and Sarah were
very fortunate that their boy wasn't afflicted with Down's syndrome, Autism, or a
neurodegenerative disease like Tay-Sachs.

● Gen 21:9 . . Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham
playing.

At this point, Ishmael was around 17 or 18 years old. (cf. Gen 16:16, Gen 21:5,
Gen 21:8)

It's hard to tell what kind of sport Ishmael was involved in. Some feel that he, the
firstborn son, was picking on Isaac the younger sibling; and that's probably true
because Gal 4:29 suggests that Ishmael was a bit of a bully. Others feel he was
mocking the weaning party. But actually, nobody knows for sure. Maybe he was
just swinging on an old tire in the backyard, and while Sarah was absently mindedly
looking over there, a scheme spawned in her head.

Not only was Ishmael Abraham's son, but, by law, he was Sarah's boy too. (Gen
16:1-2). But Sarah rejected Ishmael and never was much of a mom to him. So Ms.
Hagar went through all that for nothing. On top of that, she was still a slave; and
had no husband. She was, in reality, a single mom saddled with a child that she
never really wanted in the first place.

All of this created a home life that had become intolerable for everyone involved.
Hagar gloated over Sarah's barrenness. Sarah, in turn, blamed Abraham for
Hagar's attitude, and Ishmael, according to Gal 4:29, harassed Isaac. Abraham
loved Ishmael and was no doubt soft on Hagar. Plus, to make matters even worse;
there were some very serious legal complications.

Ishmael's position in the home was quite an advantage. As Abraham's firstborn son,
he had a right to a double portion of his father's estate. (cf. Gen 48:22)

NOTE: The reason Joseph inherited a double portion is because Jacob transferred
the right of the firstborn to him after Reuben messed around with one of his
father's servant-wives. (Gen 49:3-4, 1Chr 5:1)

● Gen 21:10-11 . . Sarah said to Abraham: Cast out that slave-woman and her son,
for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac. The
matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his own.

NOTE: By the customs of that day, Ishmael was Sarah's son too; though not by
blood. (Gen 16:2)

How does a good and decent man like Abraham disown his own flesh and blood? If
Ishmael were a gang-banger, a drug addict, an Islamic terrorist, or a career
criminal it would be different. But he was really a pretty good kid and Abraham
totally loved him. Being the lad's biological father, I'm sure Abraham felt very
responsible for Ishmael's welfare. He and Ishmael had been a team together for
seventeen or eighteen years. Abraham couldn't just up and dissolve a bond like
that as if giving away old clothes to Good Will.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 21:12 . . But God said to Abraham: Don't be distressed over the boy or your
slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that
offspring shall be continued for you.

The lad would always and forever be one of Abraham's biological sons; that couldn't
be undone with any more ease than recalling the ring of a bell. However; in the
case of slave mothers; there was a way to break Ishmael's legal ties to Abraham;
and the way was actually quite to Hagar's advantage.

The common law of Abraham's day (e.g. the Code of Hammurabi and the laws of
Lipit-Ishtar) stipulated that if a slave-owner disowned his child's in-slavery
biological mother; then the mother and the child would lose any and all claims to a
paternal property settlement with the slave-owner.

The catch is: Abraham couldn't just send Hagar packing, nor sell her. In order to
strip Ishmael of his legal right to an inheritance, Abraham had to emancipate his
mother; which he did.

● Gen 21:13 . . As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too,
for he is your seed.

Abraham certainly must have been worried what would become of Ishmael; so God
reassured him his eldest would be just fine.

I think it's significant that God didn't refer to either Hagar or to Ishmael by name,
probably because the emphasis here is upon Divine purpose instead of upon people.

● Gen 21:14a . . Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water,
and gave them to Hagar.

The Hebrew word for "bread" here includes all foods; for man or beast. So Abraham
didn't necessarily send the poor woman out on her own with a ration of bread and
water like some sort of hardened criminal, but very likely provisioned Hagar and his
son Ishmael with enough camper-grade food stuffs to keep them going for a while.

NOTE: Bread back in those days was very nutritious. It was all made from heirloom,
organic grains; even leavened bread was organic. It was made with naturally
soured dough rather than cultured yeast.

But it's puzzling why Abraham didn't provide them with an escort; at least until
they reached the safety of a village or a town. That suggests to me that Abraham
fully believed God's promise to "make a nation of him" which implies that God
Himself would look out for them from here on in.

● Gen 21:14b . . He placed them over her shoulder, and together with the child,
sent her away.

The phrase "sent her away" is from a versatile Hebrew word that can be used of
divorce as well as for the emancipation of slaves.

In other words: Hagar wasn't banished as is commonly assumed; no, she was set
free; and it's very important to nail that down in our thinking because if Abraham
had merely banished Hagar, then her son Ishmael would have retained his status
as Abraham's eldest son.

Thus in the eyes of the laws of that day-- and apparently in God's eyes too -
Ishmael and Abraham were no longer kin; which of course improved Isaac's status
from that of the junior sibling to that of not only Abraham's eldest son, but also his
only son.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
I believe it's important to emphasize that Hagar and Ishmael weren't cut loose
because they were no longer worthy to live in Abraham's camp any more. No. It
was only as a measure to expedite God's future plans for Isaac. Even if Sarah
hadn't proposed the idea of emancipating Hagar, I suspect that God would have
eventually required it so anyway.

● Gen 21:14d . . And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

The wilderness of Beer-sheba is about 50 miles south of Hebron.

The Hebrew word for "wandered about" basically means to vacillate; defined by
Webster's as: to waver in mind, will, or feeling; viz: to hesitate in choice of opinions
or courses. (cf. Jas 1:8)

As often as Hagar traveled up and down the land of Palestine with Abraham over
the years, she no doubt knew her way around; so she's not blundering through the
woods like a lost hiker.

At this point, Hagar is thoroughly rattled and doesn't really know what to do next or
even how she and Ishmael are going to survive in a land where no State and/or
Federal programs for unemployed single mothers existed. And to top it off; she's a
freed slave who now has to make all her own decisions and fend for her child and
for herself on her own rather than simply comply with the demands of a master
who provided for all her daily necessities.

Slavery has its pluses and minuses; and it's not always to a slave's benefit to give
them their walking papers. There's a provision in the covenant that Moses' people
agreed upon with God allowing for indentured slaves to remain so permanently if
they wish. (Ex 21:2-6, Lev 24:22)

Many of the slaves that were liberated after the American Civil War found
themselves in the throes of instant poverty: unable to either read or to write, with
no place to live, and zero prospects for gainful employment. I'm not saying slavery
is a good thing. I'm only saying that, all things considered, it might be the better
option for some people.

I met guys in the Army who re-enlisted for the security of a steady paycheck, free
meals, free health care, paid vacations, and rent-free/mortgage-free
accommodations. They had to relinquish a degree of their freedom for those
benefits, but in their minds, it wasn't a bad trade-off.

NOTE: Neither the new testament or the old condemn nor condone slavery; the
Bible's focus is primarily upon the treatment of slaves rather than their
predicament. The new testament's epistles also have things to say about a slave's
work ethic.

Activists and politicians decry slavery as immoral and/or evil. Well; they didn't get
that from the Bible; it's their own personal feelings about it; which reminds us that
men have been making up their own rules about right and wrong almost from the
very beginning. (Gen 3:22)

● Gen 21:15-16 . .When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under
one of the bushes, and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she
thought: Let me not look on as the child dies. And sitting thus afar, she burst into
tears.

The Hebrew word for "child" basically means a male person of any age between
early boyhood and maturity; viz: boys and/or youths.

Ishmael was hardly what modern Americans might call a child. He was near to
eighteen years old at this time; if he was circumcised at fourteen and Isaac was
weaned at three. (cf. Gen 16:16, Gen 21:5, Gen 21:8)

One can only guess at the grief in Hagar's heart. Her life had come down to this: a
lonely, impoverished, homeless death out in the middle of nowhere. In her distress
Hagar had forgotten about her friend 'Ataah 'Eel R'iy the god who sees people and
knows their troubles. And she had forgotten all the predictions He made back in
Gen 16:10-12 concerning Ishmael's future. There is just no way her son can be
allowed to die at this time.

When God's people lose confidence in His statements, they usually always get
themselves into trouble. If only Hagar had trusted God, she wouldn't have
despaired regarding Ishmael's life. He was perfectly safe. Don't you see? He had to
live so God could keep His promise to multiply him; and so he could become a wild
burro of a man, and so he could live near the people of Israel like God predicted. So
even if Hagar had perished all alone in the wilderness, Ishmael would have gone on
to survive without his mother because his divine guardian would have seen to it.
_

 

[Beetow]

.
● Gen 21:17a . . God heard the cry of the boy,

I don't think Ishmael, at near eighteen, was bawling his eyes out like a little girl.
The Hebrew word basically means a voice, a noise, or a sound. It's very first use in
the Bible is at Gen 3:8 where The Lord was heard moving about in the garden of
Eden.

Ishmael's "cry" was likely a plea for help; i.e. prayer; which wouldn't be surprising
seeing as how Abraham was highly recommended as his own family's rabbi. (Gen
18:21)

NOTE: God had promised Hagar and Abraham that He would multiply Ishmael (Gen
16:10, Gen 17:20). So, prayer or no prayer, God cannot allow Ishmael to die
before the lad generates a posterity.

● Gen 21:17b-18 . . and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to
her: What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy
where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great
nation of him.

* An angel of God-- a.k.a. the angel of The Lord -- isn't always a celestial creature.
Any manifestation of God counts as His angel, e.g. fires, earthquakes, winds voices,
smoke, trumpets, and human forms; which helps explain this rather curious
encounter wherein the angel of God not only spoke for God, but also as God.

Now we're back on personal terms; and the angel speaks to Hagar by name rather
than by her previous status as a slave; which would be inappropriate at this point
because she's been emancipated.

● Gen 21:19 . .Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went
and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink.

I bet the water was right there all the time but Hagar was so exhausted and
distraught that she hadn't seen it. Everybody gets that way once in a while.
Sometimes the answer to our problem is right under our noses but oftentimes can't
see it because we're just too upset and/or distracted at the time.

● Gen 21:20a . . God was with the boy and he grew up;

I don't know why so many Christians and Jews have such a low opinion of Ishmael.
How many of his detractors are able to boast that God was with any of them as
they grew up?

● Gen 21:20b . . he dwelt in the wilderness and became a bowman.

Archery must have become a traditional skill in Ishmael's family. One of his male
progeny, Kedar, produced a clan of bowmen who used their skills not only in
hunting, but also in warfare. (Isa 21:16-17)

● Gen 21:21a . . He lived in the wilderness of Paran;

The Wilderness of Paran encompassed a pretty big area. It's south of the Negev, on
the Sinai peninsula, roughly between Elat on the east and the Suez canal on the
west.

To look at that region today you'd wonder why it appealed to Mr. Ishmael; but
apparently it was a whole lot more pleasant in his day 3,900 years ago; which
wouldn't surprise me since the Sahara itself was at one time verdant, pluvial, and
inhabited.

● Gen 21:21b . . and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A girl from Egypt was apparently a better choice than the girls of Canaan; from
among whom Abraham would later not want a wife for his son Isaac (Gen 24:3-4).
But Egypt was Hagar's homeland (Gen 16:1) so she would likely relate to an
Egyptian daughter-in-law much better than most any other.
_