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In this chapter we have, I. Isaac, the child of promise born into Abraham's family (Gen 21:1-8). II. Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, cast out of it (Gen 21:9-21). III. Abraham's league with his neighbour Abimelech (Gen 21:22-32). IV. His devotion to his God (Gen 21:33).

The casting out of Ishmael is here considered of, and resolved on. I. Ishmael himself gave the occasion by some affronts he gave to Isaac his little brother, some think on the day that Abraham made the feast for joy that Isaac was safely weaned, which the Jews say was not till he was three years old, others say five. Sarah herself was an eye-witness of the abuse: she saw the son of the Egyptian mocking (Gen 21:9), mocking Isaac, no doubt, for it is said, with reference to this (Gal 4:29), that he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. Ishmael is here called the son of the Egyptian, because, as some think, the 400 years' affliction of the seed of Abraham by the Egyptians began now, and was to be dated hence, Gen 15:13. She saw him playing with Isaac, so the Septuagint, and, in play, mocking him. Ishmael was fourteen years older than Isaac; and, when children are together, the elder should be careful and tender of the younger: but it argued a very base and sordid disposition in Ishmael to be abusive to a child that was no way a match for him. Note, 1. God takes notice of what children say and do in their play, and will reckon with them if they say or do amiss, though their parents do not. 2. Mocking is a great sin, and very provoking to God. 3. There is a rooted remaining enmity in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman. The children of promise must expect to be mocked. This is persecution, which those that will live godly must count upon. 4. None are rejected and cast out from God but those who have first deserved it. Ishmael is continued in Abraham's family till he becomes a disturbance, grief, and scandal to it. II. Sarah made the motion: Cast out this bond-woman, Gen 21:10. This seems to be spoken in some heat, yet it is quoted (Gal 4:30) as if it had been spoken by a spirit of prophecy; and it is the sentence passed on all hypocrites and carnal people, though they have a place and a name in the visible church. All that are born after the flesh and not born again, that rest in the law and reject the gospel promise, shall certainly be cast out. It is made to point particularly at the rejection of the unbelieving Jews, who, though they were the seed of Abraham, yet, because they submitted not to the gospel covenant, were unchurched and disfranchised: and that which, above any thing, provoked God to cast them off was their mocking and persecuting the gospel church, God's Isaac, in its infancy, Th1 2:16, Note, There are many who are familiarly conversant with the children of God in this world, and yet shall not partake with them in the inheritance of sons. Ishmael might be Isaac's play-fellow and school-fellow, yet not his fellow-heir. III. Abraham was averse to it: The thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, Gen 21:11. 1. It grieved him that Ishmael had given such a provocation. Note, Children ought to consider that the more their parents love them the more they are grieved at their misconduct, and particularly at their quarrels among themselves. 2. It grieved him that Sarah insisted upon such a punishment. "Might it not suffice to correct him? would nothing less serve than to expel him?" Note, Even the needful extremities which must be used with wicked and incorrigible children are very grievous to tender parents, who cannot thus afflict willingly. IV. God determined it, Gen 21:12, Gen 21:13. We may well suppose Abraham to be greatly agitated about this matter, loth to displease Sarah, and yet loth to expel Ishmael; in this difficulty God tells him what his will is, and then he is satisfied. Note, A good man desires no more in doubtful cases than to know his duty, and what God would have him do; and, when he is clear in this, he is, or should be, easy. To make Abraham so, God sets this matter before him in a true light, and shows him, 1. That the casting out of Ishmael was necessary to the establishment of Isaac in the rights and privileges of the covenant: In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Both Christ and the church must descend from Abraham through the loins of Isaac; this is the entail of the promise upon Isaac, and is quoted by the apostle (Rom 9:7) to show that not all who come from Abraham's loins were the heirs of Abraham's covenant. Isaac, the promised son, must be the father of the promised seed; therefore, "Away with Ishmael, send him far enough, lest he corrupt the manners or attempt to invade the rights of Isaac." It will be his security to have his rival banished. The covenant seed of Abraham must be a peculiar people, a people by themselves, from the very first, distinguished, not mingled with those that were out of covenant; for this reason Ishmael must be separated. Abraham was called alone, and so must Isaac be. See Isa 51:2. It is probable that Sarah little thought of this (Joh 11:51), but God took what she said, and turned it into an oracle, as afterwards, Gen 27:10. 2. That the casting out of Ishmael should not be his ruin, Gen 21:13. He shall be a nation, because he is thy seed. We are not sure that it was his eternal ruin. It is presumption to say that all those who are left out of the external dispensation from all his mercies: those may be saved who are not thus honoured. However, we are sure it was not his temporal ruin. Though he was chased out of the church, he was not chased out of the world. I will make him a nation. Note, (1.) Nations are of God's making: he founds them, he forms them, he fixes them. (2.) Many are full of the blessings of God's providence that are strangers to the blessings of his covenant. (3.) The children of this world often fare the better, as to outward things, for their relation to the children of God.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 21 This chapter gives an account of the conception, birth, circumcision, and weaning of Isaac, Gen 21:1; of the mocking of Ishmael, and of the casting out of him and his mother from Abraham's house, at the request of Sarah, which, though grievous to Abraham, he complied with at the direction of God, Gen 21:9; of the provision Abraham made for their departure, and of the supply they met with in the wilderness from God, where Ishmael was brought up, and where he married, Gen 21:14; and of a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar, Gen 21:22; and of Abraham's planting a grove, and calling on the name of the Lord, Gen 21:33; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days, Gen 21:34.

Wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son,.... Hagar, Sarah's handmaid and bondservant, and her son Ishmael; by this it appears that Hagar was concerned in this affair, and set her son on to mock Isaac, at least she encouraged him in it, buoying: him up with his being the firstborn, and having a right to the inheritance; wherefore Sarah saw plainly that there would be no peace nor comfort for her and her son, unless Hagar and her son were turned out of doors, for which she moves Abraham; and this not merely in a passion, but by divine direction and influence, as is evident from God's approbation of it: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac; which he would seem to be, if continued, and would think himself so, and there would be continual bickerings about it; wherefore, to put it out of all doubt who was heir, she desires that he and his mother both might be cast out of the house, which would be a clear determination of this matter. Sarah may seem to take upon her too much, to be so peremptory, as to declare who should, and who should not be heir, which more properly belonged to Abraham, whom she called her lord, Gen 18:12; but what will sufficiently free her from any charge of this kind is the revelation of the divine will, and the promise of God that so it should be; namely, that the covenant God had so often renewed with Abraham should be established with Isaac, and not with Ishmael, Gen 17:19. Now what was the design of God, in guiding Sarah to make such a motion as this to Abraham, is taught us by the Apostle Paul, who makes these two women to be types and figures of the two covenants, and their sons of those that are under them, see Gal 4:22.

Sarah is angry because the son of the bondwoman plays with the son of the free woman, and she considers that play to be a disaster. She counsels Abraham and says, “Cast out the bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac.”I shall not now consider how these words ought to be understood. The apostle discussed them in this way, saying, “Tell me, you who have read the law, have you not heard the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman and the other by a free woman. But he indeed who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are allegorical.” What then? Is Isaac not “born according to the flesh”? Did Sarah not bear him? Is he not circumcised? In regard to this very incident, that he played with Ishmael, did he not play in the flesh? This indeed is what is astonishing in the apostle’s understanding, that he called things “allegorical” that are quite obviously done in the flesh. His purpose is that we might learn how to treat other passages, and especially these in which the historical narrative appears to reveal nothing worthy of the divine law. Ishmael, therefore, is born “according to the flesh,” the son of the bondwoman. But Isaac, who was “the son of the free woman,” is not born “according to the flesh” but “according to promise.” And the apostle says of these words that “Hagar engendered” a carnal people “unto bondage.” But Sarah, who was free, engendered a people which is not “according to the flesh” but has been called to freedom, by which “freedom Christ has made him free.” For Christ himself said, “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” But let us see what the apostle adds to these words as he expounds them: “But as then he,” Scripture says, “who was according to the flesh, persecuted him who was according to the spirit, so also it is now.” Notice how the apostle teaches us that in all things the flesh is opposed to the spirit, whether that carnal people is opposed to this spiritual people, or even among ourselves, if someone is still carnal, he is opposed to the spiritual. For even you, if you live “according to the flesh” and direct your life “according to the flesh,” are a son of Hagar and for this reason are opposed to these who live “according to the spirit.” Or even if we inquire in ourselves, we find that “the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary to one another,” and we find “a law in our members flighting against the law of our mind and leading us captive in the law of sin.” Do you see how great the battles of the flesh against the spirit are? There is yet also another battle more violent perhaps than all these. These who understand the law “according to the flesh” are opposed to and persecute these who perceive it “according to the spirit.” Why? Because “the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of the spirit of God. For it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand because it is spiritually discerned.”

Spiritually, therefore, all indeed who come to the recognition of God through faith can be called sons of Abraham; but among these some cling to God on the basis of love, others on the basis of dread and fear of future judgment. Whence also the apostle John says, “He who fears is not perfected in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” He therefore who “is perfected in love” is born of Abraham and is “a son of the free woman.” But he who keeps the commandments, not in perfect love but in dread of future torment and in fear of punishments is, indeed, also himself a son of Abraham. He too receives gifts, that is, the reward of his work (because even “he who shall give a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, shall not lose his reward”). Nevertheless he is inferior to that person who is perfected, not in slavish fear but in the freedom of love.The apostle also shows something similar when he says, “As long indeed as the heir is a child, he differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; but he is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father.” He is “a child,” therefore, who is nourished “with milk” and “is unskillful in the word of justice”; nor is he able to receive the “solid food” of the divine wisdom and knowledge of the law. He cannot “compare spiritual things with spiritual.” He cannot yet say, “But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.” He “differs,” therefore, “nothing from a servant.” But if “leaving the word of the first principles of Christ,” he be borne to perfection and “seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, not the things that are on the earth” and “look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen,” nor in the divine Scriptures follow “the letter which kills” but “the spirit which quickens,” from those things he will doubtless be one who does not receive “the spirit of bondage again in fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father.”

Then the time came for Isaac to be born, and milk flowed in the breasts of the old woman. On the day of the great feast that Abraham prepared when he circumcised and weaned Isaac, Sarah noticed Ishmael playing. But Sarah also saw how much Ishmael shared the characteristics of his mother, for just as Sarah was despised in the eyes of Hagar, so too did Ishmael mock her son, and she thought, “If he acts thus to my son while I am still alive, perhaps [Abraham] will make him coheir with my son when I die and even give him two parts according to [the laws of] the firstborn.”

See, I ask you, dearly beloved, in this instance once again Sarah not tolerating the brashness of Ishmael and unable to put up equably with the maidservant’s son being reared with Isaac. So just as she previously wished to check Hagar’s arrogance and in her extreme irritation had her sent packing, so in this case too she wanted to nip Ishmael’s forwardness in the bud. Not bearing to see the son born of grace and of the very gift of God being reared along with that of the Egyptian maidservant, she said to Abraham, “Send away the maidservant and her son: surely the son of the maidservant will not share the inheritance with my son?” Since she realized that she herself was in fact in extreme old age, and she saw the patriarch was well on (after all, they were both advanced in years), she was afraid that in the event of their sudden passing Ishmael would, on the score of his being born of an association of the patriarch, endeavor to thrust himself into his father’s inheritance and become a sharer of it with Isaac. Hence she said, “Send away from here the maidservant and her son.” Let her learn at this stage, she is saying, that the son of the maidservant has nothing in common with my son, Isaac. It is, in fact, not fair that the slave’s son should be reared with that of the mistress, my son.

(Chapter 21, Verse 9) And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, playing. What follows, with his son Isaac, is not present in the Hebrew. Therefore, this is interpreted in two ways by the Hebrews: either that she made idols out of play, according to what is written elsewhere: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus 32:6); or that she claimed the rights of the firstborn against Isaac, as if he were older, through play and jest. Indeed, Sara, upon hearing this, could not bear it; and this is confirmed by her own words, saying: Cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

And when Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing, she said to Abraham: "Expel this slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." Some manuscripts have: "The son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with her son Isaac," which does not appear in the Hebrew; but whether he was playing with Isaac or in the presence of Isaac, Sarah did not want the son of the slave woman to be a playmate to her son; she did not want him, whom the old woman had received in promise, to be unworthy of the promises and heavenly blessing by the ignoble examples or associations of a bastard; therefore the Apostle did not hesitate to call this play persecution. For one persecutes his brother not only by pursuing him with swords, hatred, or insults, but also by trying to divert him from the rectitude of his purity with playful or silly conversations; hence also the Psalmist says: "The wicked have told me fables, but not as your law, O Lord; all your commandments are truth; the wicked have persecuted me, help me" (Psalm 118:85). And he himself, because he loved the law of the Lord and the commandments of truth, tolerated the storytellers as persecutors; and therefore he implored divine help to overcome them; the Apostle, moreover, clearly shows what each of Abraham's sons typically demonstrates, writing to the Galatians: "It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman; but the one by the slave woman was born according to the flesh; the one by the free woman through the promise, which things are spoken allegorically. For these are the two testaments; one indeed from Mount Sinai giving birth to bondage, which is Hagar. For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, which corresponds to the present Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children; but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:22). When he says that the son of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but the son of the free woman through the promise, he openly implies that the former was born by natural custom; the latter was given by the promise signifying grace. For Ishmael was born as men are born through the usual natural sexual intercourse; therefore it is said according to the flesh; not that these are not the blessings of God, but where it was necessary to signify the gift of God, because grace is given to men undeservedly by God's generosity; it was fitting to give a son in a way that was not owed to the workings of nature. Therefore, Isaac was not born to Abraham according to the flesh, but from the promise, not because he was not produced by flesh, but because he was received from utter despair, and unless the promising God had been present, an old man would not have dared to hope for any offspring from the old wife's womb. The Apostle, explaining this law, adds: "Now we, brothers, are children of the promise like Isaac; but as then the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now" (Galatians 4:28); he does not condemn the Old Testament as contrary to the New, lest he confirms by his authority the mad doctrine of the Manichees, God forbid; for the apostles and evangelists would not be preferred in any way over Moses and the prophets who composed the Old Testament, of whose shared grace of spirit and faith he says elsewhere: "But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written: 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore we also speak" (2 Corinthians 4:13); but he surely reproves those who understand the spiritual law carnally, who seek temporal benefits and a temporal kingdom from the Lord by observing the law, not eternal goods in heaven; he blames those who trust that the letter of the law without assisting grace is sufficient for salvation, which is characteristic of the Jews, about whom he also says: "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:13); he rejects them and concludes that they are persecutors of the faithful, who, with the Gospel shining, and the grace of the New Testament clearly revealed by the Incarnation of the Lord throughout the world, nonetheless contend that circumcision, sacrifices, and legal ceremonies are necessary for those baptized in Christ; against whom his intention especially watched as he wrote this, as the well-considered text of this entire Epistle openly teaches, finally as he attaches to the words we have set out. But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman." So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman, with the freedom by which Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you (Gal. 4:30). By these words, it is clearly shown that it is not the Scriptures nor the writers of the Old Testament that are to be cast out of the boundaries of the Church as if they were the slave woman and her son; but it is the carnal observance of that same Testament, after the grace and freedom of the Gospel has shone forth through Christ, that he says will cease, and faithfully fulfilled by the heirs of the New Testament in a spiritual sense. For this is how it is to be understood what the Lord says in the Gospel: "For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot, not one tittle, will pass from the law until all things are accomplished" (Matt. 5:18); which means that the things which the law and the prophets clearly speak of concerning the faith of the truth, or works of justice, and purification of heart, in order to see God, should always be accepted literally; but whatever was commanded to be observed carnally by a carnal people, such as circumcision itself, the offering of sacrifices, the daily cleaning from persistent leprosy, not only of men but also of houses and clothing, and countless such things, these should have been observed literally until the times of the Lord's Incarnation. But from the time when the Lord, rising from the dead, opened the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures, and to discern clearly the mysteries of prophecy in their full light, though these should be read in the Church on account of the authority of the prophecy, they should be observed spiritually and not carnally because of the clarity of grace; although the early Church in Jerusalem also observed many of the ceremonies of the law according to the letter, even among those who from the Gentiles were called to the faith and who were Judaizing, until the Church had spread far and wide throughout the world, and began to have priests and teachers from the Gentiles, who had no concern for Jewish observances but only delighted in listening to the apostolic and evangelical decrees with Christian simplicity; to this ecclesiastical disposition most beautifully corresponds the figure of the children of Abraham; for before Isaac was born, Abraham and Sarah rejoiced over Ishmael as their only son, as one who had not yet shown any pride or levity in mind or behavior, because before the Lord's Incarnation and the revelation of grace, even the spirituals rejoiced in the law, as the people kept that same law with sincere heart devotion according to the letter. And rightly so; for the same people did not resist grace, nor did they prefer the law to the Gospel; but faithfully followed the precepts of justice they had received. But after Isaac was born and not yet weaned, the love for Ishmael began to wane, as the parents rejoiced over the birth of Isaac, their mutual son, although they did not entertain any thoughts of expelling Ishmael and his mother yet, because, when the grace of the Gospel was already revealed, and the apostles were preaching Christ, the Church of believers rejoiced, the teachers themselves rejoiced over the promise of the kingdom of God bestowed upon them, but they did not immediately strive to reject the observance of circumcision and the sacrifices of the law as superfluous. For they knew that these were constituted by God, and could not reject them as harmful suddenly, especially since the infant Church was still tender and almost like an infant being nourished among such customs. But after Isaac was weaned, Sarah saw the son of the slave woman mocking, and decided that he must be cast out with his mother, because after the Church of the Gentiles grew strong in the faith of Christ, some came from Judea, carnal in mind, as if truly sons of the slave woman, not yet made free in the spirit of grace for Christ, teaching the brothers and saying: "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1), which was more mocking and vanity than the truth of the Gospel; indeed, it was a significant persecution to want to reduce those who were already enjoying the gift of revealed light back into the shadows of figurative representations; hence, the grace-filled mother promptly decided through the council of the apostles that this doctrine with its advocates was to be cast out.

Isaac is born according to the promise, Gen 21:1-3; and is circumcised when eight days old, Gen 21:4. Abraham's age, and Sarah's exultation at the birth of their son, Gen 21:5-7. Isaac is weaned, Gen 21:8. Ishmael mocking on the occasion, Sarah requires that both he and his mother Hagar shall be dismissed, Gen 21:9, Gen 21:10. Abraham, distressed on the account, is ordered by the Lord to comply, Gen 21:11, Gen 21:12. The promise renewed to Ishmael, Gen 21:13. Abraham dismisses Hagar and her son, who go to the wilderness of Beer-sheba, Gen 21:14. They are greatly distressed for want of water, Gen 21:15, Gen 21:16. An angel of God appears to and relieves them, Gen 21:17-19. Ishmael prospers and is married, Gen 21:20, Gen 21:21. Abimelech, and Phichol his chief captain, make a covenant with Abraham, and surrender the well of Beersheba for seven ewe lambs, Gen 21:22-32. Abraham plants a grove, and invokes the name of the everlasting God, Gen 21:33.

Mocking - What was implied in this mocking is not known. St. Paul, Gal 4:29, calls it persecuting; but it is likely he meant no more than some species of ridicule used by Ishmael on the occasion, and probably with respect to the age of Sarah at Isaac's birth, and her previous barrenness. Jonathan ben Uzziel and the Jerusalem Targum represent Ishmael as performing some idolatrous rite on the occasion, and that this had given the offense to Sarah. Conjectures are as useless as they are endless. Whatever it was, it became the occasion of the expulsion of himself and mother. Several authors are of opinion that the Egyptian bondage of four hundred years, mentioned Gen 15:13, commenced with this persecution of the righteous seed by the son of an Egyptian woman.

BIRTH OF ISAAC. (Gen 21:1-13) the Lord visited Sarah--The language of the historian seems designedly chosen to magnify the power of God as well as His faithfulness to His promise. It was God's grace that brought about that event, as well as the raising of spiritual children to Abraham, of which the birth of this son was typical [CALVIN].

Sarah saw the son of Hagar . . . mocking--Ishmael was aware of the great change in his prospects, and under the impulse of irritated or resentful feelings, in which he was probably joined by his mother, treated the young heir with derision and probably some violence (Gal 4:29).

Birth of Isaac. - Jehovah did for Sarah what God had promised in Gen 17:6 (cf. Gen 18:14): she conceived, and at the time appointed bore a son to Abraham, when he was 100 years old. Abraham gave it the name of Jizchak (or Isaac), and circumcised it on the eighth day. The name for the promised son had been selected by God, in connection with Abraham's laughing (Gen 17:17 and Gen 17:19), to indicate the nature of his birth and existence. For as his laughing sprang from the contrast between the idea and the reality; so through a miracle of grace the birth of Isaac gave effect to this contrast between the promise of God and the pledge of its fulfilment on the one hand, and the incapacity of Abraham for begetting children, and of Sarah for bearing them, on the other; and through this name, Isaac was designated as the fruit of omnipotent grace working against and above the forces of nature. Sarah also, who had previously laughed with unbelief at the divine promise (Gen 18:12), found a reason in the now accomplished birth of the promised son for laughing with joyous amazement; so that she exclaimed, with evident allusion to his name, "A laughing hath God prepared for me; every one who hears it will laugh to me" (i.e., will rejoice with me, in amazement at the blessing of God which has come upon me even in my old age), and gave a fitting expression to the joy of her heart, in this inspired tristich (Gen 21:7): "Who would have said unto Abraham: Sarah is giving suck; for I have born a son to his old age." מלּל is the poetic word for דּבּר, and מי before the perfect has the sense of - whoever has said, which we should express as a subjunctive; cf. Kg2 20:9; Psa 11:3, etc.