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Genesis 21

God fulfills his promise through Isaac, preserves Hagar’s son in the wilderness, and establishes Abraham’s standing with Abimelech.

Sarah bears Isaac when Abraham is one hundred years old, and her laughter marks the fulfillment of God’s promise. At Isaac’s weaning feast, conflict over Hagar’s son leads to his departure with his mother. In the wilderness, their water runs out, and God hears the boy and provides water. Abraham then makes a covenant with Abimelech, settles a dispute over a well, and calls on the name of YHWH at Beersheba, where he lives as a foreigner.

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1The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken.
2Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
4Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.
6Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
7She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
10Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
11The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son.
12God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.
13I will also make a nation of the son of the servant, because he is your child.”
14Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15The water in the container was spent, and she put the child under one of the shrubs.
16She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
17God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
19God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer.
22At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.
23Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”
24Abraham said, “I will swear.”
25Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
26Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”
27Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant.
29Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”
30He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.”
31Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore an oath there.
32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
34Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Genesis 21:1The opening verse anchors Isaac’s birth in God’s spoken promise, emphasizing that God has done what he said.
Genesis 21:6Sarah’s laughter expresses the wonder of bearing Isaac in old age and makes her joy something others can share.
Genesis 21:22Abimelech’s recognition that God is with Abraham leads into a covenant that addresses honesty and a disputed well.
Where this chapter reaches

Romans and Hebrews quote the declaration that Abraham’s offspring will be named through Isaac, sharing this chapter’s focus on God’s promise and chosen line. Galatians draws on Sarah’s demand concerning the inheritance and uses the two sons to discuss slavery, freedom, and the children of promise.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about God’s care for Hagar’s son alongside his promise concerning Isaac?

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How does Sarah’s laughter affect your reading of the grief that follows in Abraham’s household?

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Questions people ask about Genesis 21

Why did Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away in Genesis 21?

Sarah sees Hagar’s son mocking and demands that he have no share in Isaac’s inheritance. Abraham is grieved, but God tells him to listen to Sarah because his offspring will be named through Isaac. God also promises to make Hagar’s son a nation. The account then records their danger in the wilderness and God’s provision.

Did God create a well for Hagar in Genesis 21?

The text says God opened Hagar’s eyes and she saw a well of water. It does not say whether the well had just appeared or had been there before. The emphasis falls on God hearing the boy, speaking to Hagar through his angel, and enabling her to give her son water.

Why is Beersheba important in Genesis 21?

Beersheba is the wilderness setting where Hagar wanders and the place where Abraham and Abimelech make their covenant. The account connects its name with their oath. Seven ewe lambs serve as witness that Abraham dug the disputed well. Abraham also plants a tamarisk there and calls on YHWH, the Everlasting God.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).