Genesis 21:1 - Exposition

And the Lord —Jehovah ; not because the verse is Jehovistic (Knobel, Bleek, et alii ) , but because the promise naturally falls to be implemented by him who gave it ( vide Genesis 18:10 )— visited —remembered with love (Onkelos), ἐπισκέψατο ( LXX .; cf. Genesis 1:24 ; Exodus 4:31 ; 1 Samuel 2:21 ; Isaiah 23:17 ); though it sometimes means to approach in judgment ( vide Exodus 20:5 ; Exodus 32:34 ). Alleged to be peculiar to the Jehovist (the term used by the Elohist being זָכַר : Genesis 8:1 ; Genesis 19:29 ; Genesis 30:20 ), the word occurs in Genesis 1:24 , which Tuch and Bleek ascribe to the Elohist— Sarah as he had said ( Genesis 17:21 ; Genesis 18:10 , Genesis 18:14 ),—God's word of promise being ever the rule of his performance (cf. Exodus 12:25 ; Luke 1:72 )— and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken— i.e. implemented his promise; the proof of which is next given (cf. Numbers 23:19 ; Hebrews 6:18 ).