the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. … “God has made laughter for me;” - Gen 21:1-7
The Lord fulfills the covenant that He swore to Abraham in Genesis 17: “God said, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him,’” (Gen 17:19). When Sarah says, “God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me,” (Gen 21:6), we should remember when Sarah laughs at what the angels of the Lord had said before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Gen 18:9-15). This is why their son is named Isaac. The Hebrew word yitshaq (יִצְחָק), according to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, “is identical with the name ‘Isaac’ (Gen 17:19). Sarah has the same reaction to the news of his birth in 18:12,” (ICSB, p. 80). “The name means ‘he laughs’, recalling how Abraham and Sarah burst into laughter when God promised them a child in their elderly years (17:17; 18:12),” (ICSB, p. 83).
Abraham also had Isaac circumcised on the eighth day, again, according to the covenant made in Genesis 17. Sarah continues to be amazed: “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age,” (Gen 21:7). She is in disbelief but also recognizes that this is a gift from the Lord because “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children?” (Gen 21:7).
playing with her son Isaac - Gen 21:8-10
After Isaac was weaned, “At about age three (2 Mac 7:27)” (ICSB, p. 83), Sarah sees Ishmael, who is around fourteen years old at the time, playing with Isaac. “The Hebrew is ‘laughing’, here in the negative sense of ‘laughing at’. To the distress of Sarah, the teenager Ishmael is taunting or mocking the toddler Isaac. Paul will later interpret this as an act of persecution (Gal 4:29),” (ICSB, p. 84). Sarah, as she did in Genesis 16, tells Abraham to “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac,” (Gen 21:10); just as “Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her,” (Gen 16:6).
“whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you,” - Gen 21:11-13
Abraham is also upset by this behavior, and rightly so. Instead of Abram passing responsibility off to Sarai in Genesis 16, he turns to the Lord and He gives Abraham permission to follow the will of Sarah because it is in accordance with the Will of God. Imagine if Adam would have turned to the Lord instead of listening to Eve, and passing blame and responsibility on to her.
The Lord, however, reassures Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the lad … for through Isaac shall your descendants be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring,” (Gen 21:12-13). Abraham still has love for Ishmael in his heart, again, rightly so, because even though he was brought about through illicit means, Ishmael is still his son. The Lord says that He will remain true to the promises He made to Abram concerning Ishmael, but it will be through Isaac that the Lord “will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you,” (Gen 17:6) and He will establish “an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God,” (Gen 17:7-8).
Abraham … took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar - Gen 21:14
Recall how in Genesis 2 we discussed how the spouses were to help each other understand themselves and assist each other on the way to Heaven, making their vocation clear and accessible. The husband can image God. We see this in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” (Eph 5:25). And throughout the Song of Songs, we can understand the relationship between the bridegroom and the bride in three ways: God and Israel, Christ and the Church, and Christ and the individual soul. So though Abraham and Hagar are not in a Marriage covenant together, to a degree, he is her husband because he laid with her. He, therefore, in this moment, is acting as the Lord would act toward her. He has provided her with water and bread for the journey. He has some degree of affection for her, as well, as he does for Ishmael. Not only is she a member of his family, even if she is a servant from Egypt, but they entered into the spousal embrace together. People like to believe that they can enter into this sacred union with whomever they please without having some sort of attachment to them afterwards. In the language of the body, the body expresses the marital promises “till death do us part.” If this is part of a temporary relationship, then the two people have spoken falsehoods with their bodies.
wandered in the wilderness … He lived in the wilderness of Par’an - Gen 21:14-21
Hagar and Ishmael will continue the nomadic tradition of their Abrahamic home. The constant need to rely on God in the wilderness can be understood as a good thing or a bad thing. When the skin of water runs out and Ishmael, who is about fourteen years old, “lifted up his voice and wept,” (Gen 21:16), an angel of the Lord, presumably the same one from Genesis 16, says to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation,” (Gen 21:17-18). Then when she opened her eyes, “she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink,” (Gen 21:19). The parallel between Abraham giving her water and the Lord giving her water should not be overlooked. In Hebrew, as we will see later in Hosea, ba’al (בַּעַל) can be translated and understood as ‘husband’ or ‘lord.’ We see this, in particular, with Jesus and Saint Photini at the well in John 4.
Ishmael and his mother continued to live out in the wilderness, moving from Be’er-she’ba, which is the same as Beer-sheba in the verses that follow, to Par’an; moving from the west of the Dead Sea down deeper into the Sinai peninsula. It also records Hagar finding Ishmael and Egyptian wife.
As sort of an aside, it is very interesting to see the Lord’s provision and revelation to Hagar. It seems that in some overviews of Genesis, she is truly a side character that is just the mother of Ishmael, and sometimes he does not even get that much attention. However, when reading the text, we see that this is not the case. Not only does Abraham have somewhat of a soft spot in his heart for Hagar and Ishmael, but so does the Lord. He does not condemn Ishmael or withhold blessing from him, as Noah did with Ham. Rather, it seems that the Lord remains faithful to the promises He made with Abram in Genesis. Obviously, it should not surprise us that the Lord is faithful to His promises, but it is interesting to see how He is faithful to them; that is, both His promises and Hagar and Ishmael. She is first met by a well in Genesis 16, then the Lord shows her another well in Genesis 21. The first time, the angel meets her without the prompting of a prayer. It seems that Hagar remembers what the Lord has done for her, and cries out, “Let me not look upon the death of the child,” (Gen 21:16). The Lord sends according to this prayer, presumably, the same angel to her to console her. There is much more to meditate upon concerning Hagar, but this is as far as my thoughts have come at the moment.
“God is with you … swear to me by God” - Gen 21:22-24
The command to not make covenants with other nations (see Ex 23:32-33) is not yet put in place as a way to keep Israel from defilement; that is, idolatry and unfaithfulness to the Lord, of the other nations. Abimelech and Abraham, thus, enter into a covenant, swearing peace between their houses: “now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned,” (Gen 21:23).
Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well … which … had seized - Gen 21:25-26
It seems like there was a well that belonged to Abraham that Abimelech’s servants had seized. There is nothing saying that there was not a previous agreement between the two houses, but Abraham’s mention of this seems like this is a matter he desires to be resolved before the covenant ritual and consummation occurs. Abimelech says that he is unaware of this: “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today,” (Gen 21:26). Again, as when Abraham tried to explain his way out of tricking Abimelech, Abimelech trying to talk his way out of this situation does not change the fact that a wrong has been committed.
Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart - Gen 21:27-32
An agreement must have been reached because, “Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abim′elech, and the two men made a covenant,” (Gen 21:27). But the ratification and consummation of the covenant must still happen through ritual. According to the Study Bible, “A covenant of mutual peace between Abraham and Abimelech. It follows the pattern of a Near Eastern kinship or parity covenant between equals. Both parties swear a solemn oath during the ratification ceremony (21:31), invoking God’s name (21:23) and expressing their mutual commitments through a verbal declaration (21:30) and ritual action (21:28),” (ICSB, p. 84). This is why “Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart,” (Gen 21:28). Abimelech seems confused about covenant making rituals or the significance, asking, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?” (Gen 21:29). Abraham responds; “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well,” (Gen 21:30). This exchange of the ewe lambs and the well that is to be dug both show that there is a future for both the flock, which now belongs to Abimelech, and the well which Abraham will dig, providing water for the generations of Isaac. This is why the place is called Beer-sheba, as Genesis explains, “because there both of them swore an oath,” (Gen 21:32), which sheba, sharing a root with shaba being the Hebrew for “to seven oneself” and or to swear a covenant; see the note on Genesis 17:7-14).
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree … the Everlasting God - Gen 21:33-34
This tree is “A sacred landmark, planted as a memorial of God’s blessing to Abraham during his sojourn in Canaan,” (ICSB, p. 84). This physical reminder by the well reminds Abraham not only of the covenant with Abimelech, but how the Lord has provided for him, not only in sparing his life when he traveled through Gerar, but also protects the descendants of Isaac from the descendants of Abimelech, so hopefully Isaac does not commit the same sin as his father; that is, giving his wife away as a bride for another.
It is interesting to note the addition of the phrase “the Everlasting God,” (Gen 21:33) when Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. Through Abraham’s journey, the Lord has revealed more of Himself and has raised Abraham from a servant, who does not know what his master is doing, to a friend, who is aware of His actions. This characteristic of being everlasting is interesting. Perhaps, Abraham is remembering his time in Egypt with Pharaoh in light of the events in the previous chapter. He is seeing the Lord’s faithfulness not only to him in that moment, but also to Sarah with the birth of Isaac, and the provision and continuation of the blessing of Hagar and Ishmael. Both the Hebrew עוֹלָֽם (olam) and the Greek αἰώνῐος (aionios) denote eternity, with the Greek having the idea of metaphysical endlessness. Abraham might have known the nature of the divine name “I am who I am,” (Gen 3:14), or , יהוה (Yahweh) which comes from the Hebrew ‘to be’ or ‘I am,’ meaning pure existence. This is why in metaphysics, God is pure act, He is existence itself. We can understand, then, that everything that exists partakes of His existence, since He is being itself.
Finally, to close the chapter, we see Abraham continue to wander and sojourn in the land of the Philistines, who at the beginning of the conquests, were dwelling in the Promised Land of Canaan.