translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

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


text: Heb “spoken.”


text: Or “she conceived.”


text: Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.


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


text: The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).


text: Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”


text: The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “said.”


text: The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.


text: Heb “made.”


text: Heb “saw.”


text: 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).


text: 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.


text: Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע ( ra ’ a ’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.


text: Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”


text: Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see ), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.


text: The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.


text: Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.


text: Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”


text: Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.


text: Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”


text: Heb “she went and wandered.”


text: Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.


text: Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.


text: Heb “said.”


text: Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל ,’ al ) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.


text: Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.


text: Heb “What to you?”


text: Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”


text: Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”


text: Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”


text: The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.


text: The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.


text: Or “kindness.”


text: Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”


text: Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.


text: 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.


text: Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”


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


text: Heb “and also.”


text: Heb “cut a covenant.”


text: Heb “What are these?”


text: Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”


text: Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”


text: Heb “arose and returned.”


text: Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord .” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25 ). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.


text: Heb “many days.”