Genesis 21:9 - Exposition

And Sarah saw —at the feast already mentioned (Knobel, Keil); probably also on different occasions since the birth of Isaac— the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking . Παίζοντα μετὰ Ισαὰκ τοῦ υἰοῦ αὐτης ( LXX .), ludentem cum Isaaco filio sue (Vulgate), playing like a child (Aben Ezra, Knobel, Tuch, Ilgen), playing and dancing gracefully (Gesenius); but the stronger sense of the word, implying mockery, scoffing, irritating and deriding laughter (Kimchi, Vatablus, Grotius, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Murphy), besides being admissible (cf. Genesis 19:14 ; Genesis 26:8 ; Genesis 39:14 , Genesis 39:17 ; Exodus 32:6 ), seems involved in the Piel form of the participle מְצַחֵק (Kurtz), and is demanded by Galatians 4:29 . That Ishmael ridiculed the banquet on the occasion of Isaac's weaning (Malvenda), quarreled with him about the heirship (Fagins, Piseator), and perhaps made sport of him as a father of nations (Hengstenberg), though plausible conjectures, are not stated in the text. Ainsworth dates from this event the 400 years of Israel's oppression ( vide Genesis 15:13 ).