When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
Parallel translations
- WEB The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
- KJV And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
- BSB When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
- NKJV And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
- NLT When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush.
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
When the water runs out, Hagar lays the child under a bush. Their desperate situation reaches a crisis point.
Overview
With supplies exhausted in the harsh wilderness, Hagar faces the apparent death of her son. The dire circumstance strips away every human resource and casts them upon God's mercy alone. Such moments of helplessness in Scripture often precede God's gracious intervention, teaching that human extremity is the occasion for divine deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 15:22–25Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
- Jer 14:3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
- Ps 63:1A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
- 2 Kgs 3:9So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.
- Exod 17:1–3All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
- Isa 44:12The blacksmith takes an ax, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
- Gen 21:14Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 21:15 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.