BOOK 1 OF 66 · LAW · KING JAMES BIBLE

Genesis 21

Genesis book home•Chapter 21 of 50•34 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Genesis 21 Overview

Genesis 21 records the long-promised birth of Isaac exactly as God had said. Sarah’s laughter turns to joy. Conflict then arises over Ishmael, and Abraham is distressed when Sarah demands Hagar and Ishmael be sent away. God tells Abraham to heed Sarah concerning the covenant line through Isaac while promising to make a nation of Ishmael. God hears the boy in the wilderness and provides water. The chapter closes with Abraham and Abimelech making a covenant at Beersheba.

GenesisBook

21Chapter

34Verses

LawDivision

Before you read Genesis 21

Coming from

Genesis 20 shows God protecting Sarah from Abimelech immediately before the promised birth.

In this chapter

God fulfills the impossible promise of Isaac while also caring for Hagar and Ishmael and distinguishing covenant inheritance from broader blessing.

Leads into

Genesis 22 brings the supreme test in which Abraham is commanded to offer Isaac, the very son through whom the promise is named.

Key understanding

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God fulfills his promise at the appointed time.

Truth 2

Isaac’s name turns earlier laughter into fulfilled joy.

Truth 3

The covenant line is explicitly called through Isaac.

Truth 4

Ishmael is not abandoned; God hears and preserves him.

Truth 5

Abraham’s growing permanence in the land is reflected in the Beersheba agreement and planting.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Romans 9:7 and Hebrews 11 emphasize the promise line through Isaac.

Connection 2

Galatians 4 uses Hagar and Sarah allegorically in an argument about bondage and promise.

Connection 3

Hebrews 11 prepares readers for Genesis 22 by stressing Isaac as the promised son.

Connection 4

Genesis 17 had already promised Ishmael a nation while reserving covenant establishment for Isaac.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Sending Hagar away is a painful historical event; the text simultaneously records God’s instruction concerning the covenant line and his care for Hagar and Ishmael.

Keep this clear 2

Ishmael is likely older than popular artwork often portrays; earlier chronology should guide visualization.

Keep this clear 3

The chapter does not teach that one child is loved by God and the other hated; it distinguishes covenant role and blessing.

Keep this clear 4

The Beersheba covenant concerns wells and peaceful relations, not the Abrahamic covenant itself.

Read Genesis 21 watching for…Explore deeper

Every fulfillment phrase tied to what God had spoken.

Sarah’s transformed laughter.

Abraham’s grief over Ishmael.

God hearing the boy and opening Hagar’s eyes to provision.

The repeated Beersheba setting that will matter again.

Chapter outline4 sections

1-8Isaac is born and weaned 9-14Hagar and Ishmael are sent away 15-21God cares for Hagar and Ishmael 22-34Abraham and Abimelech make a covenant

And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

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.

And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

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

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

And Abraham said, I will swear.

And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

STUDY THIS VERSE

Genesis 21:11

Back to verse ↑

Cross References

Cross-reference storage is active. This passage does not yet have curated references loaded.

Related TWBC Resources

The Scripture resource graph is active. Sermons, Bible Overviews, courses, questions, and studies can attach here without changing the Bible text.