Genesis 21:1-2

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁴  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

Genesis 21:10

21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ⁵  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

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¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

² tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “spoken.”

⁴ tn Or “she conceived.”

⁵ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.