Genesis 21 · WEB
The Birth of Isaac and the Sending Away of Hagar
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Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.
2Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me."
7She said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."
8The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
10Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son Isaac."
11The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son.
12God said to Abraham, "Don't let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.
13I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your son."
14Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs.
16She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, "Don't let me see the death of the child." She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
17God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand; for I will make him a great nation."
19God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
22At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do.
23Now therefore, swear to me here by God that you won't deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner."
24Abraham said, "I will swear."
25Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
26Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this thing. You didn't tell me, and I didn't hear of it until today."
27Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant.
28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29Abimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?"
30He said, "You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well."
31Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there they both swore an oath.
32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.
34Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.
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Summary
God fulfills his promise and Sarah bears Isaac. Sarah's laughter of disbelief becomes laughter of joy. When Ishmael mocks Isaac at the weaning feast, Sarah demands Hagar and Ishmael be sent away, and God confirms Sarah's request. Abraham sends them away, and when Hagar despairs in the wilderness, God hears Ishmael's cry and provides water, promising to make him a great nation. Abraham then makes a covenant with Abimelech at Beersheba and plants a tree as an act of worship to "Yahweh, the Everlasting God."
Themes
- The faithfulness of God to fulfill his promises in his own time
- Joy as the fruit of waiting on God's promises
- God's compassion for the outcast and abandoned
- The covenant line narrowing through Isaac
- Worship as a response to settled habitation in God's promises
Key verses
- Gen 21:1-2 — “Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken. Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age.”
- Gen 21:17 — “God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, 'What troubles you, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.'”
- Gen 21:6 — “Sarah said, 'God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.'”
Context & background
The name Isaac (Yitzhaq) means "he laughs" — first in Abraham's laugh of disbelief (17:17), then Sarah's laugh of doubt (18:12), and now Sarah's laugh of joy (21:6). The entire story turns laughter from doubt to delight. Sarah's demand to expel Hagar and Ishmael echoes painfully, yet God confirms it — showing that he can work his purposes even through human conflict and difficulty. The name Beersheba means "well of the oath" or "well of seven," memorializing both the covenant and the seven lambs. Abraham's title for God here — "El Olam," Yahweh the Everlasting God — is a new divine name, emphasizing God's permanence.
Cross-references
- Galatians 4:28-30 — Paul quotes the expulsion of Ishmael as an allegory of freedom in Christ
- Hebrews 11:11 — Sarah received ability to conceive because she considered God faithful
- John 8:35 — the son remains forever, the slave does not — echoing Isaac and Ishmael's contrast
- Luke 1:37 — "nothing will be impossible with God" echoes Gen 21's miraculous birth
- Romans 9:7-9 — the promise runs through Isaac, the child of promise