So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
- KJV Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
- BSB and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
- NKJV Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”
- NASB Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Sarah demands that Hagar and Ishmael be cast out so Ishmael will not share Isaac's inheritance. She insists the son of the slave woman not be co-heir.
Overview
Sarah's demand, though harsh, aligns with God's purpose to establish the covenant line through Isaac alone. Paul cites these very words to illustrate that the inheritance of grace cannot be mingled with the bondage of the flesh and the law. The expulsion, painful as it is, safeguards the distinct line of promise leading to Christ and the freedom of the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- John 8:35A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever.
- Gal 4:22–31For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman.
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
- Gen 36:6–7Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob.
- 1 Pet 1:4to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
- Matt 8:11–12I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven,
- Gal 4:7So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- Matt 22:13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
- Gen 25:19This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac.
- Gal 3:18For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.
- Gen 25:6but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country.
- Gen 22:10Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
- Gen 20:11Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’
- Gen 17:21But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
- Gen 17:19God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 21:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.