Discovery BoxGenesis 21:17-20 
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. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 4 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.
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 “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
