Genesis 21:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”

NIV: and she said to Abraham, 'Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.'

NASB: Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!'

CSB: So she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac! "

NLT: So she turned to Abraham and demanded, 'Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!'

KJV: Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

NKJV: Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”

On the day of a great feast to celebrate Isaac's being weaned, Sarah suddenly became very angry. The previous verse tells us that she saw Ishmael, now maybe 16, laughing or perhaps mocking. Whatever he was doing apparently triggered her anger over something she was likely already deeply concerned about. This is not surprising, since Sarah has already demonstrated anger and hurt feelings towards Hagar and Ishmael in the past (Genesis 16:4–6). Of course, Sarah is partly responsible for their place in her life, since she was the one who encouraged Abraham to conceive a child with Hagar (Genesis 16:1–2).

Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn son by Sarah's Egyptian slave girl Hagar, and Abraham clearly loved the boy. Sarah's concerns are not entirely unreasonable. Would Ishmael somehow become Abraham's heir? Would his presence in their family keep Sarah's son Isaac from receiving all that was due to him? Sarah decided she could not allow this, even if she was partly responsible for it in the first place.

Apparently in a fury, she demands that Abraham cast out both the slave woman and her son. She refuses even to say their names. She simply declares her objection in direct, impersonal terms: "The son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."

Abraham will not take this well.

Genesis 21:8–21 describes the painful departure of Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham's life. Now that Isaac is born, Sarah furiously demands that Abraham cast them out. He is greatly displeased, but is told by God that Ishmael will be protected and blessed. So Abraham obeys the Lord and sends them into the wilderness. God steps in and saves the mother and child. He renews his promise to make Ishmael a great nation in his own right. Ishmael grows up in the wilderness, eventually marrying an Egyptian woman.

The Lord did as He had promised. Sarah, now 90 years old, gives birth to Isaac, the long-awaited child. Her joy sours, though, over a fear that Isaac might have to share an inheritance with Ishmael. In obedience to the Lord, who promises to safeguard Ishmael, Abraham sends him and his mother, Hagar, into the wilderness. God rescues them and renews His promise to make Ishmael a great nation in his own right. Meanwhile, Abimelech, king of Gerar, approaches Abraham to make a permanent treaty between them and their descendants. The agreement includes Abraham's possession of a well, at a place which will become known as Beersheba.

In the prior chapter, Abraham managed to get Sarah back from Abimelech, following his own deception and God's intervention. Here, Abraham and Sarah finally conceive a natural child. Isaac, the long-awaited child of the promise, is born. In obedience to God, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away. Abimelech approaches Abraham to make a treaty, giving Abraham a permanent home in a place that becomes known as Beersheba. In the following chapter, God will test Abraham's faith and obedience, in one of Scripture's ultimate examples of trust.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.