Genesis 21:15

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 21:15

And the water was spent in the bottle ,.... It was all drank up by them, being thirsty, having wandered about some time in a wilderness, where they could not replenish their bottle: the Jewish writers say F5 Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 30.) Targ. Jon. in loc. that when Hagar came into the wilderness, she began to wander after the idols of the house of Pharaoh her father, and immediately the water ceased from the bottle, or was drank up by Ishmael, being seized with a burning fever: ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 21:15

And she cast the child - הילד את ותשלך vattashlech eth haiyeled , and she sent the lad under one of the shrubs, viz., to screen him from the intensity of the heat. Here Ishmael appears to be utterly helpless, and this circumstance seems farther to confirm the opinion that he was now in a state of infancy; but the preceding observations do this supposition entirely away, and his present helplessness will be easily accounted for on this ground: Young persons can bear much less fatigue... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 21:8-21

The separation of the bondwoman's so, from the promised seed. It was necessary that this should take place for the accomplishment of the Divine plan. Human conduct is employed, as in so many other cases, as the instrument or occasion. There was mockery or unbelief in Ishmael. It was not personal merely, but a mockery of Jehovah and of his Church. Sarah saw it. The mother's keen affections were sharpened to detect the scorn of her joy. Abraham and Sarah were both severely tried. Their lack... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 21:15

And the water was spent in (literally, from ) the bottle ,—so that the wanderers became exhausted, and were in danger of fainting through thirst— and she cast the child —a translation which certainly conveys an erroneous impression, first of Ishmael, who was not an infant, but a grown lad ( vide supra , Genesis 21:14 ), and secondly of Ishmael's mother, whom it represents as acting with violence, if not with inhumanity; whereas the sense probably is that, having, as long as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 21:15-21

Hagar and Ishmael, or the fortunes of the outcasts. I. THE LONELY WANDERERS . 1. Banished from home . Hitherto the household of Abraham had been to Hagar and her boy such a pleasant and doubtless much-prized abode; henceforth their connection with the patriarch's encampment was to be completely severed. So God in his mysterious providence and in many different ways frequently bereaves men of the shelter and society of home. 2. Separated from the Church . Practically the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 21:1-34

- The Birth of Isaac7. מלל mı̂lēl “speak,” an ancient and therefore solemn and poetical word.14. חמת chêmet “bottle,” akin to חמה chāmâh, “surround, enclose,” and הוּם chûm “black. באר שׁבע beêr-sheba‛, Beer-sheba‘, “well of seven.”22. פיכל pı̂ykol, Pikhol, “mouth or spokesman of all.”23. נין nı̂yn “offspring, kin;” related: “sprout, flourish.” נכד neked “progeny,” perhaps “acquaintance,” cognate with נגד ngd, “be before” (the eyes) and נקד nqd, “mark.”33. אשׁל 'êshel “grove;” ἄρουρα... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:1-21

Birth of Isaac (21:1-21)When Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as commanded. In this way he demonstrated that Isaac was heir to God’s covenant promises (21:1-7; cf. 17:9-14).Ishmael made fun of the covenant family, as Sarah had feared. Being the son of a slave-girl, Ishmael had the right to inherit some of Abraham’s wealth, but he could surrender this right in exchange for the freedom of himself and his mother. Sarah, determined that her son should be the sole heir, tried to persuade... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 21:14-16

"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and gave her the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not look upon the death of the child. And she sat over against him,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 21:15

15. the water was spent, &c.—Ishmael sank exhausted from fatigue and thirst—his mother laid his head under one of the bushes to smell the damp while she herself, unable to witness his distress, sat down at a little distance in hopeless sorrow. read more

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