Genesis 21:17-21

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 21:14-21

Here is, I. The casting out of the bond-woman, and her son from the family of Abraham, Gen. 21:14. Abraham's obedience to the divine command in this matter was speedy?early in the morning, we may suppose immediately after he had, in the night's visions, received orders to do this. It was also submissive; it was contrary to his judgment, at least to his own inclination, to do it; yet as soon as he perceives that it is the mind of God he makes no objections, but silently does as he is bidden, as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:17

And God heard the voice of the lad ,.... By which it appears that he cried also; but whether it was in prayer to God, or through the distress and misery he was in, is not certain; and, be it which it will, his cries came up into the ears of the Lord, and he had compassion on him, and supplied his wants, and delivered him out of his miserable condition: and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven ; not a created angel, but the eternal one, the Son of God, the Angel of the covenant,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:18

Arise, lift up the lad ,.... She had set herself down at some distance, and now she is bid to rise up and go to the place where she had left her son, and raise aim up from the ground, on which he lay along: and hold him in thine hand : or take hold on him with thine hand, and hold him up with it, he being so weak that he could not sit up without being supported: for I will make him a great nation : which is a renewal of a promise before made both to her and to Abraham, Genesis 16:10... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:19

And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water ,.... Which she saw not before; not that she was really blind and had her eyes opened, or her sight restored, but they might be holden or restrained by the providence of God, that she should not see it before; or, through inattention and distraction of mind, might not observe it; or her eyes might be swelled with weeping and crying, that she saw it not; though it is not improbable that this well was not in being before, but was immediately... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:20

And God was with the lad ,.... To confirm his health, to provide for him the necessaries of life, to protect him from danger in the wilderness where he was, and to prosper and succeed him in temporal things; all which is owing to the providential goodness of God: and he grew ; increased in bodily stature, and arrived to manhood; or, "he became great", in riches and in substance, as Ben Melech interprets it: and dwelt in the wilderness ; of Beersheba, where he now was, or of Paran... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:21

And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran ,.... So called from Paran, a city in Arabia Petraea; it reached from the wilderness of Shur to Mount Sinai: the account Adrichomius F17 Theatrum Terrae, S. p. 116. gives of it is this; Paran or"Pharan is a wilderness, very large, desolate, impassable, and without water, containing, from Mount Sinai to Kadeshbarnea, a journey of eleven days; its land can neither be ploughed nor sown, is wholly dry, barren, and uncultivated; uninhabitable to men,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 21:19

God opened her eyes - These words appear to me to mean no more than that God directed her to a well, which probably was at no great distance from the place in which she then was; and therefore she is commanded, Genesis 21:18 , to support the lad, literally, to make her hand strong in his behalf - namely, that he might reach the well and quench his thirst. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 21:20

Became an archer - And by his skill in this art, under the continual superintendence of the Divine Providence, (for God was with the lad), he was undoubtedly enabled to procure a sufficient supply for his own wants and those of his parent. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 21:21

He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran - This is generally allowed to have been a part of the desert belonging to Arabia Petraea, in the vicinity of Mount Sinai; and this seems to be its uniform meaning in the sacred writings. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 21:17

Verse 17 17.God heard the voice of the lad. Moses had said before that Hagar wept: how is it then, that, disregarding her tears, God only hears the voice of the lad ? If we should say, that the mother did not deserve to receive a favorable answer to her prayers; her son, certainly, was in no degree more worthy. For, as to the supposition of some, that they both were brought to repentance by this chastisement, it is but an uncertain conjecture. I leave their repentance, of which I can see no... read more

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