# Genesis 21 đź“–: The Birth of Isaac
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### The Birth of Isaac
[[#Verse 01.]] The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.Â
[[#Verse 02.]] So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.Â
[[#Verse 03.]] Abraham named his son—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do.Â
[[#Verse 05.]]Â (Now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)
[[#Verse 06.]] Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”Â
[[#Verse 07.]] She went on to say, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
[[#Verse 08.]] The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian—the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham—mocking.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] So she said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
[[#Verse 11.]] Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.Â
[[#Verse 13.]] But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
[[#Verse 14.]] Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba.Â
[[#Verse 15.]] When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs.Â
[[#Verse 16.]] Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot, away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.
[[#Verse 17.]] But God heard the boy’s voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying.Â
[[#Verse 18.]] Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”Â
[[#Verse 19.]] Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
[[#Verse 20.]]Â God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
[[#Verse 22.]] At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] Now swear to me right here in God’s name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you.”
[[#Verse 24.]] Abraham said, “I swear to do this.”Â
[[#Verse 25.]] But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.Â
[[#Verse 26.]] “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
[[#Verse 27.]]Â Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty.Â
[[#Verse 28.]]Â Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves.
[[#Verse 29.]] Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”Â
[[#Verse 30.]] He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well.”Â
[[#Verse 31.]] That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
[[#Verse 32.]] So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba; then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the Philistines.
[[#Verse 33.]] Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, the eternal God.Â
[[#Verse 34.]]Â So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
###### Verse 32.
###### Verse 33.
###### Verse 34.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born (21:5).
2. Isaac's name means "he laughs."
3. Children were often weaned around age two or three, and it was celebrated with a feast (21:8).
4. Paul quotes 21:10 in Galatians 4:30.
5. Beersheba means "well of the seven" or "well of the oath" (21:31).
6. Abraham gave seven ewe lambs as a witness that he dug the well (21:30).
7. Beersheba became Israel's southern border city, as in the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba."
8. Ishmael grew up in the wilderness of Paran and became an archer (21:20-21).
9. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree (21:33), a hardy tree that gives shade in the desert.
10. "The eternal God" (*El Olam*) is a new name for God introduced here (21:33).
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the child of promise born by God's power. Isaac was born at the set time God promised (21:2), and in the fullness of time God sent His Son (Galatians 4:4).
## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Sarah said God made her laugh (21:6). How has God turned your doubt into joy?
2. God heard the boy Ishmael crying (21:17). What does this teach about God's care for people outside the main story?
3. Abraham called on the name of the eternal God (21:33). How does God's eternal nature comfort you?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verses 1-2: The Lord does for Sarah just what He promised.
- đź“– verse 17: God hears the boy's voice.
- đź“– verse 33: Abraham calls on the name of the Lord, the eternal God.
## đź”— Related Passages
- đź”— [[Galatians 04#Verse 04.|Galatians 4:4-7]] - God sent His Son at the right time.
- đź”— [[Galatians 04#Verse 21.|Galatians 4:21-31]] - The children of promise.
- đź”— [[Hebrews 11#Verse 11.|Hebrews 11:11-12]] - Sarah received power to conceive by faith.
- đź”— [[Romans 09#Verse 07.|Romans 9:7-9]] - Through Isaac your offspring will be named.
- đź”— [[Isaiah 40#Verse 28.|Isaiah 40:28]] - The everlasting God does not grow weary.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Genesis 21- SOAP|The Lord Keeps His Word]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes