Discovery BoxGenesis 21:17 
Context21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 1 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 2 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 3 the boy’s voice right where he is crying.
Genesis 31:42
Context31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears 4 – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, 5 and he rebuked you last night.”
1 sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the
2 tn Heb “What to you?”
3 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
4 tn Heb “the fear of Isaac,” that is, the one whom Isaac feared and respected. For further discussion of this title see M. Malul, “More on pahad yitschaq (Gen. 31:42,53) and the Oath by the Thigh,” VT 35 (1985): 192-200.
5 tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”
