Genesis 21:15

Translations

Modern

When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

Traditional

And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

Literal

And the water was used up from the skin, and she cast the boy under one of the bushes.

Latin

Cumque consumpta esset aqua in utre, abjecit puerum subter unam arborum, quæ ibi erant.

Interlinear

Hebrew

English

When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

Notes

Genesis 21:14–21

God rescued Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness and promised them a future (compare 16:7–14). This passage is like chapter 16, but there are key differences. God saves Hagar and Ishmael, but there is no special naming. God repeats the promise to Hagar, but she is not told to return to Sarah.

These repeated themes show God's plan for Hagar and Ishmael. As Joseph later explained to Pharaoh, a repeated event confirms God's plan (41:32). God did not leave Hagar and Ishmael alone. He met them in their time of despair (compare 16:7). He gave them what they needed and promised again that Ishmael would start a great nation (21:13; see 16:11–12).

Paul uses this story in his letter to the Galatians to show that God’s people must let go of anything that could block God’s promise from being fulfilled (Galatians 4:21–31).

Genesis 21:8–21

God used the incident of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac to separate Ishmael and Hagar from the family and the child of promise. They would constantly threaten the promised descendant if they remained with the family.

Theme notes and profiles

Abraham Hagar Ishmael Symbolic Numbers

Related verses

Jeremiah 14:3
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
Exodus 15:22–25
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.
Psalm 63:1
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
2 Kings 3:9
So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and after they had traveled a roundabout route for seven days, they had no water for their army or for their animals.
Exodus 17:1–3
Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
Isaiah 44:12
The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
Genesis 21:14
Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

Genesis 21:15

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