Genesis 21:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.

NIV: When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.

NASB: When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

CSB: When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes

NLT: When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush.

KJV: And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

NKJV: And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.

In the previous verse, Abraham sent away Hagar, his slave wife, and Ishmael, his firstborn son. He was obeying the Lord's instruction to do as his wife Sarah had demanded. God's instruction for Abraham to follow Sarah's wishes came with a reassurance that Ishmael would be blessed (Genesis 21:13). This was not Abraham abandoning his son to certain death, or to poverty. Still, it feels harsh to us to see a father send his son away like this.

We're told the pair wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Abraham had given them bread and a skin of water. If the skin was a goat skin, as was apparently common, it could have held about 3 gallons, or 15 liters, of water. That wouldn't last two people very long in the desert, and now it was gone.

The pair were likely quite dehydrated. From a human perspective, they probably felt they had little hope of survival. Hagar found some bushes and put Ishmael under one of them in the shade. Ishmael was likely about 16 years old.

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.

Accessed 5/3/2024 5:40:45 AM