Yaratılış 21:19 Yorum

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).

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.

And God was with the lad,.... To confirm his health, to provide for him the necessaries of life, to protect him from danger in the wilderness where he was, and to prosper and succeed him in temporal things; all which is owing to the providential goodness of God: and he grew; increased in bodily stature, and arrived to manhood; or, "he became great", in riches and in substance, as Ben Melech interprets it: and dwelt in the wilderness; of Beersheba, where he now was, or of Paran after mentioned, a fit place for a wild man to dwell in, as it was said he should be; and by this means the oracle was fulfilled, Gen 16:12, and became an archer; skilful in the use of the bow and arrow, both for hunting and slaying of wild beasts, on whose flesh he lived, and for lighting with men, against whom his hand would be: the Jewish writers (l) say he was born with a bow, and brought up with one, and that he shot an arrow at his brother Isaac, with an intention to kill him, while he was in Abraham's house; but it does not appear that he had any knowledge or use of the bow until he was in the wilderness and was grown up, by which he lived and defended himself; and so his posterity the Kedarenes, who sprung from his son Kedar, were famous for archery, Isa 21:17; and the Ituraeans, from Jetur, another of his sons, Gen 25:15, were remarkable for their bows, of which Virgil (m) speaks; and so the Arabians that live in the deserts and round about them, called Nabathees, from Nabaioth, another son of Ishmael, are now extraordinary marksmen for bows and arrows, and to sling darts which are made of cane (n): the Saracens got their living not by the plough, but chiefly by the bow, and were all of them warriors, and lived upon wild flesh, and as rapacious as kites (o); and now the troops of the governor of Mecca, whereabout Ishmael, by the Arabs, is supposed to live, which are only infantry, are called Al-Harrabah, that is, archers, or dart men (p). (l) Pirke, c. 30. Ammian. Marcellin. Hist. l. 14. (m) "Ithyraeos taxi curvantur in arcus". Georgic. l. 2. ver. 448. (n) Rauwolff's Travels, par. 2. ch. 4. p. 118. by Ray. (o) Ammian. Marcellin. l. 14. p. 8. Ed. Vales. (p) Sharif al Edrisi, apud Pocock. Specim. Arab. Hist. p. 122, 124.

After this, when already he had been abandoned as dead and had wept, the angel of the Lord is present with him “and opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well of living water.”How can these words be related to history? For when do we find that Hagar has closed eyes and they are later opened? Is not the spiritual and mystical meaning in these words clearer than light, that that people which is “according to the flesh” is abandoned and lies in hunger and thirst, suffering “not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a thirst for the word of God,” until the eyes of the synagogue are opened? This is what the apostle says is a “mystery”: that “blindness in part has happened in Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and then all Israel should be saved.” That therefore is the blindness in Hagar, who gave birth “according to the flesh,” who remains blind until “the veil of the letter be removed” by the angel of God and she sees the “living water.” For now the Jews lie around the well, but their eyes are closed, and they cannot drink from the well of the law and the prophets. But let us also beware, for frequently we also lie around the well “of living water,” that is, around the divine Scriptures, and err in them. We hold the books and we read them, but we do not touch upon the spiritual sense. And therefore there is need for tears and incessant prayer that the Lord may open our eyes, because even the eyes of those blind men who were sitting in Jericho would not have been opened unless they had cried out to the Lord. And what am I saying? That our eyes, which are already opened, might be opened? For Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. Our eyes therefore are opened, and the veil of the letter of the law is removed. But I fear that we ourselves may close them again in a deeper sleep while we are not watchful in the spiritual meaning. Nor are we disturbed so that we dispel sleep from our eyes and contemplate things which are spiritual, that we might not err with the carnal people set around the water itself.

“He opened her eyes,” the text goes on, not because she couldn’t see before this but because even with her eyes open nothing was of any help to her before the visitation from on high. Hence, since his intention was to give evidence of care on his part, it says, “He opened her eyes,” that is, he made clear to her in her ignorance, he activated her mind, he showed her the way to find the place flowing with springs of water. “She saw a well of running water,” the text goes on, “and she went and filled the bag, and gave the boy to drink.” In her neediness the Lord granted her means, and when she found herself so much at a loss and lacking all hope of survival, he gave evidence in her case of his characteristic generosity by consoling her and at the same time exercising care for the child.In like manner, whenever God wishes, even if we are utterly alone, even if we are in desperate trouble, even if we have no hope of survival, we need no other assistance, since God’s grace is all we require. You see, if we win favor from him, no one will get the better of us, but rather we will prevail against anyone. “God was with the boy,” the text goes on; “he grew up and lived in the desert.” In similar fashion, whenever we have God on our side, even if we are utterly alone, we will live more securely than those who dwell in the cities. After all, the grace of God is the greatest security and the most impregnable fortification.

Mindful of this, let us, I beseech you, shun the harm of this passion and with all our might exterminate it from our own souls. This, after all, is more deadly than all other passions and undermines our very salvation, being in fact the invention of the wicked demon. Hence a certain sage also said, “Through the devil’s envy death entered the world.” What is meant by “through the devil’s envy death entered the world”?You see, since this wicked beast saw that the first-formed human being was created immortal, by his characteristic wickedness he led him on to disobedience of the command and in that way caused him to bring on himself the penalty of death. So envy caused deception, deception caused disobedience, and disobedience caused death. Hence the text says, “Through the devil’s envy death entered the world.” Do you see the extent of the harm caused by this passion? It made the one given the privilege of immortality undergo death. The enemy of our salvation, however, introduced the envy characteristic of himself and caused the first-formed human being, immortal though he was, to come under sentence of death, whereas the caring and loving Lord by his own death once again bestowed upon us immortality, and so we found greater benefits than we had lost. The former took us out of paradise; the latter led us into heaven. The former caused us to be condemned to death; the latter bestowed upon us immortality. The former deprived us of the delights of paradise; the latter prepared for us the kingdom of heaven. Do you see the inventiveness of your Lord in that he directed against the devil’s head his own weapons of malice against our salvation? In fact, not only did he regale us with greater benefits, but also he made him subject to us in the words “Behold, I have given you power to walk over snakes and scorpions.” Accordingly, keeping all this in mind, let us banish envy from our own souls and win favor from God. This, after all, is our invincible weapon; this, our greatest resource. Hence Ishmael too, young though he was and in utter isolation and neediness, suddenly grew in strength and developed into a great nation since, the text says, “God was with the child.” … Let us therefore, I beseech you, despise this present life, long for the future life, esteem favor from God above all other things, and, through an excellent way of living, lay up for ourselves great confidence, so that we may be able to pass this present life without distress and attain those future blessings, thanks to the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.

Abraham took it very hard when Hagar fled from him, though he had sent her off at God’s command. Similarly it was a great cause of sorrow to the holy apostles and evangelists when Israel fell. However, they were separated from them, not at all willingly but because of God’s will and out of love for Christ. For this reason the divine Paul writes, “My sorrow is great, and I have continuous pain in my heart, for I would wish that I myself could be separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, who are from the same race as I according to the flesh; they are Israelites.” So, when the mother of the Jews was sent away, she wandered for a long time in the wilderness, and there was some danger of her being wholly destroyed. But if she should begin to weep (like Hagar) in time and cry out to God, she will be shown mercy abundantly. For God will open the eyes of their understanding, and they too will see the fountain of living water, that is, Christ. And believing they too will rejoice, and having been washed they will be made clean, according to the saying of the prophet.

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.

God opened her eyes - These words appear to me to mean no more than that God directed her to a well, which probably was at no great distance from the place in which she then was; and therefore she is commanded, Gen 21:18, to support the lad, literally, to make her hand strong in his behalf - namely, that he might reach the well and quench his thirst.

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].

God opened her eyes--Had she forgotten the promise (Gen 16:11)? Whether she looked to God or not, He regarded her and directed her to a fountain close beside her, but probably hid amid brushwood, by the waters of which her almost expiring son was revived.

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.