¹ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

² tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

³ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

⁷ tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.

⁸ tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

¹² tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

¹⁵ tn Heb “made.”

¹⁶ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

¹⁷ tn Heb “saw.”

¹⁸ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

sn Mocking. Here Sarah interprets Ishmael’s actions as being sinister. Ishmael probably did not take the younger child seriously and Sarah saw this as a threat to Isaac. Paul in Gal 4:29 says that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. He uses a Greek word that can mean “to put to flight; to chase away; to pursue” and may be drawing on a rabbinic interpretation of the passage. In Paul’s analogical application of the passage, he points out that once the promised child Isaac (symbolizing Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise) has come, there is no room left for the slave woman and her son (who symbolize the Mosaic law).

¹⁹ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

²⁰ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

²¹ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

²² tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

²³ tn Heb “What are these?”

²⁴ tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).

²⁵ tn Heb “and the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.